What is Meaning?
'''Meaning''' is a term in [[linguistics]] and [[philosophy]]. It is also a word in everyday life. The basic idea is this: meaning is the [[information]] which is sent by speech or messages. What that information is can be [[infer]]red by a listener or reader. Meaning makes sense as part of a [[conversation]] between two or more people. The bits of a conversation, like [[questions]] and [[wikt:answer|answers]], [[suggestion]]s and [[explanations]], work to help the meaning get across. [[wikt:request|Requests]] and [[wikt:instruction|instructions]] are other types of communication which depend on meaning. Although humans use language to carry meaning, [[non-verbal communication]] definitely has meaning. In fact it is far more ancient than human language, and interpreting its meaning is mostly done by the [[unconscious mind]]. Messages travel by [[scent]] and sight as well as sound. Humans do some of this as well as almost all animals. In humans, [[face|facial]] [[wikt:expression|expressions]] and the sense of [[touch]] are very important. All these things have meaning. == Related pages == *[[Meaning of life]] *[[Semantics]] [[Category:Communication]] [[Category:Linguistics]] [[Category:Philosophy]]