Communication and Linguistics Studies

| Peer-Reviewed |

Perception-Need Theory of Meaning: Definition and Demonstration

Received: Jun. 02, 2018    Accepted: Jun. 19, 2018    Published: Jul. 09, 2018
Views:       Downloads:

Share This Article

Abstract

There are many theories of meaning such as semantic theories (Rusellianism, fregeanism, Possible World Semantics, Davidsonianism, Internalist theories, etc and foundational theories of meaning (Gricean Program, interpretational theories, etc). Philosophers of language such as Russell, Frege, Grice, Davidson, and Chomskyan internalists have constructed theories of meaning by focusing on the following elements as meaning determiners: referent, property, thought, circumstances, truth-condition, intention, language faculty, interpretation, causes, use, representations, and idea. None of these philosophers of language has thought of “speaker’s need” which is the core element on which the above elements are based in order to state what determines meaning. Therefore, the objective of this article is to demonstrate how the perception of the speaker’s need by the listener or hearer determines meaning in a linguistic communication. This demonstration is based on the results of a research conducted in Bonzola Hospital (a hospital in Mbujimayi City in Democratic Republic of Congo. The data in this study were collected through observation and interview. The observation consisted in attending the interaction between doctors and patients so as to listen to their utterances and watch their gestures, facial expressions, actions and whatever can occur during their communication. As far as the analysis of data is concerned, the Conversation Analysis was used so as to analyze the utterances, facial expressions, actions, gestures, and other elements that can occur in communication between doctors and patients. The results show clearly that the conveyance and reception of meaning does not depend mainly on referent, property, thought, circumstances, truth-condition, intention, language faculty, interpretation, causes, use, representations, and idea but the conveyance and reception of meaning depend on the perception of the speaker’s need by the listener or hearer. The interpretation of the results led to the conclusion that meaning is determined by the perception of the speaker’s need by the listener or hearer.

DOI 10.11648/j.cls.20180402.13
Published in Communication and Linguistics Studies ( Volume 4, Issue 2, June 2018 )
Page(s) 37-44
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Meaning, Theory, Need, and Perception

References
[1] http://www.templeok.com/SP6 (2012) 4. 43201 Semantics and Pragmatics. Lectures 6 and 7: Theories of meaning.
[2] ADCOMM. (2009). Communications glossary. Management Briefing N0 1. ADCOMM Engineering.
[3] Addler, R. B. (2000). Understanding Human Communication. Harcourt: Harcourt College.
[4] Aguis, M. (2014). “The Medical Consultation and the Human Person” in Psychiatria Danubina. Croatia: Zagreb. Vol. 26, Suppl. 1, pp 15–18.
[5] Bach, K. (2006) Impliciture vs. Expliciture. No place: No Publisher.
[6] Bateman, H. at al. (2005). Dictionary of Medical Terms. Fourth Edition. London: A & C Black.
[7] Bates, E. (1976). Language and context: The Acquisition of Pragmatics. New York: Academic Press.
[8] Berlo, D. (1960). The Process of Communication: An introduction to Theory and Practice. Hott.
[9] Bolinger, D. (1975). Aspects of language. Harcourt: Harcourt College.
[10] Brown, T. H. (1966. Conversational English. Xeron.
[11] Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique. (2005). Focus the Brain.
[12] Coates, G. T. (2009). Notes on Communication: A few thoughts about the way we interact with the people we meet. Free e-book.
[13] fromwww.wanterfall.com
[14] Cohen, M. (2008). “Kaplan on Demonstratives”. Lecture.
[15] Collin, P. H. (2004). Dictionary of Law. Fourth Edition. London: Bloomsbury.
[16] Cruse, A. (2006). A Glossary of Semantics and Pragmatics. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
[17] Crystal, D. (2008). A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics: Sixth Edition. USA: Blackwell Publishing.
[18] Dijk, T. V. (1977). Text and Context: explorations in the semantics. London: Longman.
[19] Dixon, T. And M. O’Hara in www.practicebaselearning.org
[20] Flexner, S. B. And L. C. Hauck. (1987). The Random House Dictionary of the English Language: Second edition. New York: Random House.
[21] Grabski, W. And D. Nowak. (2009). Guide to the Practical Course in Clinical Medicine. Lodz: Medical University of Lodz.
[22] Griffiths, P. (2006). An Introduction to English Semantics and Pragmatics. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
[23] Ha, J. F. And Longnecker, N. (2010). “Doctor-Patient Communication: A Review” in the Ochsner Journal. Louisiana: Ochsner Journal, vol. 10 spring, pp 38-43.
[24] Ja’far, A. A. (2007). Entailment and Presupposition. Babylon: Babylon University.
[25] Jackendoff, R. (1989). “What is a Concept, that a Person May Grasp?” in Mind & Language. Vol. 4 Nos. 1 and 2 Spring/Summer 1989. Brasil: Brasil Blackwell.
[26] Kopczynski, A. (1980). Conference interpreting: some linguistics and communicative problems.
[27] Leech, G. (1974). Semantics.
[28] Longman. (1992). Longman Dictionary of English Language and Culture Great Britain: Longman Group UK.
[29] Miller, G. (1973). Communication, Language and meaning: Psychological perceptive.
[30] Potts, C. (2014). Presupposition and Implicature. Stanford: Stanford Linguistics.
[31] Richards and Smith. (1983). Language and Communication. London: Longman.
[32] Richards, J. C. and R. Schmidt (2010) Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics. Fourth Edition. Great Britain: Longman.
[33] Scott, A. F. (1962). Meaning and style. Macmillan.
[34] Searle, J. R. (2006). What is Language: Some Preliminary Remarks. Self, L. S. And C. S. Carlson-Liu. (1988). Oral Communication skill: A Multicultural Approach. USA: Publishing Company.
[35] Shaw, H. (1972) Dictionary of literary terms. New York: Mcgraw-Hill Book Company.
[36] Speaks, J. (2007). “Double-Indexing and the Kaplan semantics”. Lecture.
[37] Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. (2014). Theories of Meaning
[38] Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. (2015). Theories of Meaning
[39] Steinberg, D. (1971). Semantics: An interdisciplinary reader in philosophy, linguistics and Psychology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[40] Velentzas, J. And G. Broni (-----) Communication cycle: Watson, J. and A. Hill. (2012) Dictionary of Media and Communication studies. 8th Edition. New York: Bloomsbury.
[41] Widdowson, H. G. (1960). Teaching Language as Communication. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[42] www.free-management-ebooks.com
[43] Yang, H. S. (2014). The Use of Questions and the Consequences for face work in Media discourse: An Empirical Analysis of the Jeremy Kyle Show. Brighton: The University of Brighton.
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Etienne Mupemba Kabwe Kantanda. (2018). Perception-Need Theory of Meaning: Definition and Demonstration. Communication and Linguistics Studies, 4(2), 37-44. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.cls.20180402.13

    Copy | Download

    ACS Style

    Etienne Mupemba Kabwe Kantanda. Perception-Need Theory of Meaning: Definition and Demonstration. Commun. Linguist. Stud. 2018, 4(2), 37-44. doi: 10.11648/j.cls.20180402.13

    Copy | Download

    AMA Style

    Etienne Mupemba Kabwe Kantanda. Perception-Need Theory of Meaning: Definition and Demonstration. Commun Linguist Stud. 2018;4(2):37-44. doi: 10.11648/j.cls.20180402.13

    Copy | Download

  • @article{10.11648/j.cls.20180402.13,
      author = {Etienne Mupemba Kabwe Kantanda},
      title = {Perception-Need Theory of Meaning: Definition and Demonstration},
      journal = {Communication and Linguistics Studies},
      volume = {4},
      number = {2},
      pages = {37-44},
      doi = {10.11648/j.cls.20180402.13},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.cls.20180402.13},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.cls.20180402.13},
      abstract = {There are many theories of meaning such as semantic theories (Rusellianism, fregeanism, Possible World Semantics, Davidsonianism, Internalist theories, etc and foundational theories of meaning (Gricean Program, interpretational theories, etc). Philosophers of language such as Russell, Frege, Grice, Davidson, and Chomskyan internalists have constructed theories of meaning by focusing on the following elements as meaning determiners: referent, property, thought, circumstances, truth-condition, intention, language faculty, interpretation, causes, use, representations, and idea. None of these philosophers of language has thought of “speaker’s need” which is the core element on which the above elements are based in order to state what determines meaning. Therefore, the objective of this article is to demonstrate how the perception of the speaker’s need by the listener or hearer determines meaning in a linguistic communication. This demonstration is based on the results of a research conducted in Bonzola Hospital (a hospital in Mbujimayi City in Democratic Republic of Congo. The data in this study were collected through observation and interview. The observation consisted in attending the interaction between doctors and patients so as to listen to their utterances and watch their gestures, facial expressions, actions and whatever can occur during their communication. As far as the analysis of data is concerned, the Conversation Analysis was used so as to analyze the utterances, facial expressions, actions, gestures, and other elements that can occur in communication between doctors and patients. The results show clearly that the conveyance and reception of meaning does not depend mainly on referent, property, thought, circumstances, truth-condition, intention, language faculty, interpretation, causes, use, representations, and idea but the conveyance and reception of meaning depend on the perception of the speaker’s need by the listener or hearer. The interpretation of the results led to the conclusion that meaning is determined by the perception of the speaker’s need by the listener or hearer.},
     year = {2018}
    }
    

    Copy | Download

  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Perception-Need Theory of Meaning: Definition and Demonstration
    AU  - Etienne Mupemba Kabwe Kantanda
    Y1  - 2018/07/09
    PY  - 2018
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.cls.20180402.13
    DO  - 10.11648/j.cls.20180402.13
    T2  - Communication and Linguistics Studies
    JF  - Communication and Linguistics Studies
    JO  - Communication and Linguistics Studies
    SP  - 37
    EP  - 44
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2380-2529
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.cls.20180402.13
    AB  - There are many theories of meaning such as semantic theories (Rusellianism, fregeanism, Possible World Semantics, Davidsonianism, Internalist theories, etc and foundational theories of meaning (Gricean Program, interpretational theories, etc). Philosophers of language such as Russell, Frege, Grice, Davidson, and Chomskyan internalists have constructed theories of meaning by focusing on the following elements as meaning determiners: referent, property, thought, circumstances, truth-condition, intention, language faculty, interpretation, causes, use, representations, and idea. None of these philosophers of language has thought of “speaker’s need” which is the core element on which the above elements are based in order to state what determines meaning. Therefore, the objective of this article is to demonstrate how the perception of the speaker’s need by the listener or hearer determines meaning in a linguistic communication. This demonstration is based on the results of a research conducted in Bonzola Hospital (a hospital in Mbujimayi City in Democratic Republic of Congo. The data in this study were collected through observation and interview. The observation consisted in attending the interaction between doctors and patients so as to listen to their utterances and watch their gestures, facial expressions, actions and whatever can occur during their communication. As far as the analysis of data is concerned, the Conversation Analysis was used so as to analyze the utterances, facial expressions, actions, gestures, and other elements that can occur in communication between doctors and patients. The results show clearly that the conveyance and reception of meaning does not depend mainly on referent, property, thought, circumstances, truth-condition, intention, language faculty, interpretation, causes, use, representations, and idea but the conveyance and reception of meaning depend on the perception of the speaker’s need by the listener or hearer. The interpretation of the results led to the conclusion that meaning is determined by the perception of the speaker’s need by the listener or hearer.
    VL  - 4
    IS  - 2
    ER  - 

    Copy | Download

Author Information
  • Department of English and African Culture, High Teacher Training College, Mbujimayi, Democratic Republic of Congo

  • Section