Where is the meaning of words?
Philosophy · asked by user [] · 2007-07-16 · 4 answers
Some may say that words have meaning because of experience or because you associate and object to that word.
You see an airplane and say, the airplane word refers to that. But...airplane also refers to planes that you have no experience of and to all airplanes that exist now and in the future so...
One may correct and say that it is actually a concept that you associate with a word. An airplane is a flying object with wings that transports people. So when you hear "airplane" you refer to that concept and understand the meaning of the word but...
Why does a word which is just a sound or shape on a page evoke a meaning on our minds?
Suhotra Swami elaborates on this on his book Substance and Shadow.
http://www.suhotraprabhu.com/library/library.php
You see an airplane and say, the airplane word refers to that. But...airplane also refers to planes that you have no experience of and to all airplanes that exist now and in the future so...
One may correct and say that it is actually a concept that you associate with a word. An airplane is a flying object with wings that transports people. So when you hear "airplane" you refer to that concept and understand the meaning of the word but...
Why does a word which is just a sound or shape on a page evoke a meaning on our minds?
Suhotra Swami elaborates on this on his book Substance and Shadow.
http://www.suhotraprabhu.com/library/library.php
user [19] · 2007-07-16
Attached is the chapter I am referring to:user [2] · 2007-07-16
Words are overpowered by meaning, objects and experience. If you try to give more importance to the word than it really has, a medium, then you are trying to advance spiritual understanding by material explanations and objective experience, and that is just not possible cause the very nature of spiritual science has the scientist consciousness as the object of experimentation.
When you say "transcendental form", somebody with the direct experience of transcendence will understand, up to where her/his experience has arrived.
On the other hand, you see that sanskrit language is the best approximation of sound to substance as explained in this article:
http://www.vedanews.com/story.php?title=Sanskrit_for_your_emotions
user [19] · 2007-07-25
any thoughts on this?"Persons who are learned and who have true knowledge define sound as that which conveys the idea of an object, indicates the presence of a speaker and constitutes the subtle form of ether."
This may not be an absolute definition of sound, as there are various levels of sound to define, but it provides us with a solid foundation to begin our study of this topic. This definition, as given in Srimad Bhagavatam, is very interesting in that it differs completely from western and modern views of defining sound.
http://www.indiadivine.org/hinduism/articles/7/1/The-Vedic-Conception-of-Sound-in-Four-Features/
user [2] · 2007-07-31
on a side note:Of late, several persons have expressed the opinion that Sanskrit is the best language for use with computers
http://www.samskrita-bharati.org/newsite/news/why_sans.html