13/04/2023

"Human Sense and Lexical Sense in Language Learning: the case of Tamil"Dr.S.Sundarabalu

Assistant ProfessorDepartment of Linguistics

Bharathiar University,Coimbatore-46Visiting Professor ,ICCR’s Tamil Chair

Institute of Oriental Studies, Dept. of Indology Jagiellonian University,

Krakow-Poland Sunder_balu@yahoo.co.in

India- 9715769995

2

• Introduction1) How does our brain observes the lexical meaning

of a word?2) How doses the lexical sense and human sense

combined to form the knowledge required by the brain from the external world?

3) How does a word and its sense express language thought?

These questions are to be discussed with the help of neurolinguistics and semantics.

3

• What is language? Speech is the representation of the

experience of the mind -Aristotle • What is linguistics?

It is the scientific study of language.• What is science?

It is the knowledge based on facts that are proven logically and systematically.

• How many vowels and consonants exist in the English/Polish language?

• Who stated the above facts?• On what grounds have they been stated?

4

Language - defines the actions that occur in the world. Language is thus composed of sign, letter, sentence,

gesture, sound, light, movements, space, silence, function and the like.

Language is rightly used by those who intently observe the events of the world.

The growth of the brain should not be associated with a corresponding growth of knowledge, as knowledge can develop only when the brain is trained by constant intellectual musing .

What is required for the proper growth of the body?Food.What is required for the proper growth of the brain?Thinking.

5

• Once you thing in deep level, your optics can not

look in the external world.

• Whenever get good knowledge / ideas of your psyche at that time your eyes not working.

• In this concept you thing and thing in deep then you come to conclude this is right.

6

7

• Language: Language mainly has two functions,

1) External exchange (sound)

2) Internal exchange (electrical signals)

• We have to properly connect the internal and

external things.

1. The relationship between the external world

events and sense organs.

2. The relationship between the sense organs and

the brain.

8

• The two types of language expressions are:

• 1. The language spoken to oneself under the command of one’s brain.

• 2. The language commanded to others by one’s brain.

(These two aspects are studied by semantics and linguistics.)

9

The two types of language expressions are:1. The language spoken to myself under the command of my brain. (electro magnetic)

2. The language commanded to others by my brain. (sound)

These two aspects are studied by semantics and linguistics.

10

Fig. 1. Five stages and three levels in chain of speechtransmission from brain of Speaker to brain of Listener. (From Fig. 1.1 of Denes and Pinson 2000:5)

2speaker transforms messageInto speech sounds

4. The listener receivesMessage throughPerceiving sound waves

5.Message is processed and interpreted in Listener’sbrain

3.Speech sounds are transmitted as sound waves through air

1. The message begins as idea inSpeaker’s brain

11

Phonetics

Phonology

Morphology

Syntax

Semantics

Branches of Linguistics

12

• Phonetics can be classified into three groups:

• 1. Articulatory phonetics: It deals with the movements of the speech organs in the production of speech sounds.

• 2. Acoustic phonetics: The transmission of sound from the speaker to the listener is studied by acoustic analysis.

• 3. Auditory phonetics: It studies the reception and perception of speech sounds.

13

1. Articulatory phonetics

13/04/2023

2. Acoustic phonetics

15

16

3. Auditory phonetics

17

18

19

• That is why,• Meaning [noun] (exists as an idea or feeling)• 1. It is non-living and exists in the solid/ liquid state

(substance)• 2. Money, wealth, etc. (My father went to Sri Lanka

in search of wealth)• 3. A word or a sentence signifies or denotes

meaning (sense of a word lexical meaning)• 4. Meaning- Significance• 5. Feeling, action, etc. (Or a work of art that gives a

message which reveals its meaning)• Can you explain the meaning of the painting?

20

• Therefore, meaning is acquired from the sense

organs.

• How do we acquire knowledge? Knowledge is

acquired when it is sent to the brain from the

external world through the sense organs. Thus,

sense organs are fundamental for language skills.

21

• What is the sense?• Sense: n. an ability to understand, recognize, value

or react to something, especially any of the five physical abilities to see, hear, smell, taste and feel.

• The above mentioned senses are associated with the eyes, ears, nose, tongue and body. Therefore, language/ knowledge is perceived by the brain through these sense organs.

• (Sense/feeling : The firm/ strong/ doubt-free/ clear awareness of something.)

13/04/2023

23

What are Five Senses_ - YouTube qqq.mp4

13/04/2023

25

Touch

Skin

Illusion na

Taste

Tongue

Arrogance

ma

Sight Eye Go

d ci

Smell

Nose

Power

va

Ear

Sound

Soul

ya

13/04/2023

CN I

CN III

CN VII

CN IX

CN XI

CN II

CN IV

CN VI

CN VIII

CN X

CN XII

CN V

Parts of Cranial Nerves

13/04/2023

13/04/2023

13/04/2023

13/04/2023

7. Crown Center – Top of head towards back; Connection to divinity, spirit, bliss; Drive to transcend.6. Third Eye – Slightly above midpoint between eyes; Intuition, metaphysical wisdom, stillness; Drive to know.5. Throat Chakra – Center of throat; Self-expression, speaking truth; Drive to communicate.4. Heart Chakra – Center of chest at breastbone; Love, compassion, beauty, joy, balance; Drive to connect.3. Navel Chakra – Just below navel; Personal power, self-definition, boundaries; Drive to act successfully.2. Sacral Chakra – Internal reproductive organs; Sensuality, creativity, abundance, passion; Drive to create.1. Root Chakra – Tailbone; Connection to earth, nature, physicality; Drive to survive.

13/04/2023

13/04/2023

Where is your language?

13/04/2023

The human brain may contain up to one trillion neurons. These nerve cells are interconnected, as shown in this microscopic image. a cell that sends messages to your brain and receives messages from your brain through electrical signals

This is a channel for transferring language

How successful communicators achieved their success

13/04/2023

ax·on-that process of a neuron by which impulses travel away from the cell body;

synapse / the site of functional apposition between neurons, where an impulse is transmitted from one to another, usually by a chemical neurotransmitter released by the axon terminal of the presynaptic neuron.

35

Semantics are the branch of linguistics that deals with the study of meaning, changes in meaning, and the principles that govern the relationship between sentences or words and their meanings.

The semantics also describe the relationship that exists among a symbol, its referent and the thought associated with them.

THOUGHT OR REFERENCE

------------------------------

SYMBOL REFERENT

36

பூ

1.“Designatum/ THOUGHT is the notion of the respective thing of the denotatum/ referent as conceived by the speakers of a language (Zgusta, 1971. p. 28).

2. Symbol – பூ to refer

To refer a letter

Dog

37

3.REFERENT (world things)• The word denotatum refers not only to class of objects but to class of actions, events, ideas, feelings, institutions, concepts etc., of the world or reality which are referred to by particular words.

• Walk – what is the world meaning of this word?

• Love – what is the world meaning of this word?

38

39

• There are two boundaries in language:• 1. Sound• 2. Meaning.• Both sound and meaning are stable components of

language, it is natural and abstract. Words/ sentences are man-made creations and artificial in nature.

• When a sound is born, it is born with its meaning. A sound without meaning is useless.

• A sound can convey meaning if it stands alone or as a group (word).

40

• Language exchange occurs in two modes:• 1. We can understand the meaning through

language.• 2. We can obtain victory by making others

understand the meaning of language.• While speaking, the inner sense meanings of the

speakers are revealed, not only through their words but also by their non-verbal signals, and by listening and realizing naturally, the minds of the speakers and listeners enable them to understand what has happened, and is explained.

• It is based on a series of underlying assumptions about how the mind works and how people act and interact

41

How we communicate

37%

8%

55%

37% How we sound

8% What we say

55% Things we see

42

• Meaning denotes, the sense of the word, and is understood by the listener’s sense organs. The meaning as intended by the speaker should be carefully understood in the exact ratio by the listener, otherwise, it would lead to difficulty in the comprehension by both (The speaker waits for his listener to reach the complete level of his intended meaning in every word).

• This difficulty would lead to the incorrect meaning of each utterance,

thus producing meaningless words.

• A word journeys through its meaning. Meaning is supported by the word.

• Lexical sense – it is the collection of all the semantic features of the linguistic form, by the society.

43

• Therefore, based on the above mentioned statements, there are two types of senses:

• 1. Human sense• 2. Lexical sense• Lexical sense means • a) The relationship between one word and another word.(bad and

good)

• b) The relationship between a word and its inner sense of meaning. muRi

Pen and PencilFather and AppaGood morning and vanakkam

44

• Human sense refers to:1. The relationship between the external world and

the sense organs.

2. The relationship between sense organs and brain.

• How is there a relationship between lexical sense and human sense? It is composed of knowledge and is delineated by neurosemantics.

45

– When do words denote meaning? it happens when meaning sense and human sense connect properly with each other.

– When a word is received by the brain, it should be received along with its internal meaning. But, do all words possess internal meaning? If they do, then all words have meaning, if not, the vocabulary is meaningless.

46

• If a word denotes a meaning and we understand the

meaning of that word, why is there a difference of understanding amongst ourselves regarding the same? Why do my sense organs show a mistake I commit regarding the meaning of the word? Thus, meaning depends on the sense organs.

47

• Thus, meaning is revealed by the sense organs.• How is the knowledge I possess, sent to my brain

from the external world?.• Knowledge/ linguistic knowledge is transferred only

through the sense organs. Thus, sense organs are vital for linguistic knowledge.

• If we have to properly understand meaning sense, it should properly exist in our human sense.

• Otherwise,

48

1. Don’t you understand me at all?2. There is a sudden misunderstanding between him and

myself.3. He does not understand the meaning of what I am saying.4. There is no harmony between her and myself.5. I have a different mindset and he has a different mindset.6. What is the meaning of his words?7. It seems that I have misunderstood.8. I am saying one thing and he, another.9. He is contradicting whatever I say.10. He does not even have proper discipline; you go and

speak to him.11. He is not a good person; he says one thing today and

another to him?

49

12. He does not understand anything, how can anyone speak to him?

13.There is no relation between what he speaks, and what he does.

14.He treats himself in one way, and others, in a different way.

15.Do not speak without understanding my words.16. I do not like what he says because; he does not live as

he should.17. Is he speaking in a mature manner?18.He does not know what respect is.19.What do you think about myself?20. Do you know who you are speaking to? (Satisfactory)

50

21. He will change only after I teach him a lesson.22. You can understand everyone, but, your family.23. How can you call yourself a human being when you

cannot even understand what I am feeling?24. I do not want to hear your explanation, just listen to what

I say.25. You can only understand what he says and not what I say.26. He is fifty years old and still does not know how to speak.27. I mean one thing and he does another.28. Is this how you speak before others? Speak according to

the situation.29. Do not you understand? Do I have to repeat myself over

and over again?

51

• We cannot survive in the world without meaning.• The world is constructed by meaning.• If one goes beyond the boundary of meaning of

another, both of them will suffer.• You cannot physically see meaning just as you

cannot see the language.• Clarity in the understanding of meaning leads to the

growth of knowledge.

13/04/2023Chakra energy connection between people

Silent language Sex Friendship Research Evaluation Etc..,

53

• When can one understand the meaning of life?

• We can understand the meaning of life only when we fully comprehend the meaning of every word we speak.

• About the future: do you know the meaning of future vocabulary

• How many semantic domains can I classify my vocabulary into?

13/04/2023

Basic vocabularyDepartment related words

Family related words

Relationship

Consciousness

Friend related

Enemy related

Harm related

Mind disturbance

Anger related

Life

Other Language

55

Department related words

• Office – staff• Things ( document) related

– files• Common education• Special subject• Students• Occupation related –

teachers

Family related words

• Family structure – grandfather

• Marriage related• Savings and expenses• Travel, budget (scheduled)• Money, wealth, buying,

selling• House maintenance, tax,

deed• Beliefs, temples, worship• Yield, love, habits

56

• Relationship• My family structure• Relationship through

father and mother• Relationship through

uncle• Relationship through

children• Relationship through

spouse• Relationship through

sibling

• Consciousness• Happiness• Death• Body parts/organs• Covert feelings• Human sense• Discipline, personal,

Impersonal ( general)

57

• Friend related • Related to male

friendship• Related to female

friendship• Related to family

friendship• Related to neighbor’s

friendship• Related to friendship in

the office/among colleagues

• Related to friendship towards superiors

• Enemy related• Mortal enemy • Transient enemy• Office enemy• Colleague enemy• Familial enemy/

neighbor enemy• Enemy by chance• Friend who is an enemy

58

• Harm related • Bad omens • Sin, revenge• Curse, scold• Pain, virtue• Black magic• Cheating, betrayal• Disturbance, revenge• Pride, arrogance

• Anger related• Infants, children• One’s spouse and

children• Scolding directed at

relatives• Scolding towards

colleagues, superiors, inferiors

• Public scolding

13/04/2023

Identification of semantic features

13/04/2023

A Drop- Nanosemantics views

13/04/2023

Liquid Movement Verbs in Tamil

1. coTTu - to drip

2.cintu - to spill3.citaRu - to scatter4.kaci - to ooze out5.koTTu - to pour6.o:Tu - to flow7.oluku - to ooze/leak8.pa:y - to flow9.paravu - to spread10.Pay - to come down or pour11.poNku - to rise12.talumpu - to brim13.teRi - to splash/spray14.u:Rru - to pour15.u:Ru - to secrete16.vali - to over flow17.vaRRu - to dry up18.vaTi - to trickle

62

• A verb • Denotes a verb • Denotes an object, but object denoting a verb

is not compulsory

63

• Drip• (Verb) [liquid] - to fall in small drops• (noun) [liquid] – a small drop of liquid that falls

from something• 1. Very small,( our village has not seen even a

single drop of rain.)

13/04/2023

13/04/2023

13/04/2023

13/04/2023

13/04/2023

13/04/2023

cottu 'to drip'

• from top to bottom and also advanced or later at the stage of ooze, but the quantity of some liquid is very less. Therefore, it flows down drop by drop.

13/04/2023

A drop is formed by its previous and succeeding state.

13/04/2023

An event gains its identity owing to its previous and succeeding states.

For example, walk and run are related to each other based on their successive stage of movement.

To explain something, we need the help of another and should be careful to maintain the boundaries of both.

In the same way, we should note the previous and succeeding stages of a drop

72

Kaci ' to ooze out'

• Not only from top to bottom but also the same level or evenness floor.

• Progressing for a certain time/period.• When a very tiny quantity of liquid oozes an out• If there is a small hole in the container for storing/in a thing • Advanced stage of spreading liquid• The next stage of this action may be the stage of

vaTi 'to trickle' or coTTu 'to drip'.

oluku

‘to ooze/leak

'

• from top to bottom and also either advanced or later at the stage of coTTu 'to drop '.Mostly, a tiny quantity of some liquid is slowly dripping out but progressively

13/04/2023

teRi 'to splash/ spray'

• Not only from top to bottom and also side-wards

• The quantity of the liquid is more or less than a drop.

• The starting and reaching places are not same ie. different places.

• Not a progressive process but forcefully.• Quantity is less.

pey ‘to come down/

pour’

• Moves from upward to downward• Falling drop by drop or • sometimes falling continuously• It is concerned only with liquid.

74

vaTi

‘to trick'

• From top to bottom• Progressing for certain time• With or without the help of object/vertical surface

coTTu 'to drip'

• from top to bottom and also advanced or later at the stage of ooze, but the quantity of some liquid is very less. Therefore, it flows down drop by drop.

75

koTTu

'to pour'• From top to bottom, Progressing for certain time/period. With force fully. Due to the excess of pouring some liquid.

•koncama:ka tanni:r u:RRu/koTTu ‘Pour some water’ From the above said instance, the term koTTu 'to pour' is taking place in the sense of mikuti 'excess' only. And then the term kottutal is used not only for liquid but also for solid and semisolid substances whereas the term u:RRu is used for both liquid and semi solid substances, but not for solid substances.eg.mannai koTTu "Pour mud/sand" (mannai u:RRu*)

•ariciyai koTTu "Pour the rice“ *ariciyai u:Rru * Semantically incorret

u:RRu ‘to pour’

• From top to bottom• Progressing for certain time/period• The quantity of some liquid is more• Advanced or latter stage of kottu

'to pour'

76

poṅku 'to rise'

• Foam rising up and down due to the high pressure

• Progressing for certain time• While comparing the drops of water the quantity of some liquid is more.

vali 'to overflow

'

• After filling up the container of storing some liquid.

• Overflowing at any side of the container/object

• The quantity of some liquid is more.

• Progressing for certain time.

vaRRu 'to dry

up'

• The sources of water or any container of storing liquid becoming dry up due to the steam from boiled water or from the petrol etc when exposed to air.

• It may be done when the soil absorbed the water in the field.

• It is mostly done due to the inner functioning.

77

cintu

'to spill'

• From the top to bottom due to stirring/shaking of the container

• It is applicable for both liquid and non-liquid• A tiny quantity of some liquid spilling down quickly• The advance stage of citaru 'scatter‘. There is no

continuity.• It is not applicable for countable items and weighty

object.•*puttakam cintiyullatu,‘The book spilts out’. puttakam viluntu viPPatu .‘The book has fallen down’ * Semantically incorrect.

citaRu 'to

scatter'

• At the plain surface, rising up and spreads in side-wards. It falls in all the places.

• The next stage of cintu 'to spill'• A tiny quantity of some liquid• A quick process in a particular time• It is applicable for both liquid and non-

liquid.• The liquid is scattering at a particular place.

o:Tu 'to run’

• At plain surface• Due to the pressure, low lying area, and the

quantity of liquid can be more or less• It gives the meaning of flowing out and

progressing for certain time•o:Tu 'to run' is used to denote nirampu 'to fill' and kollu 'to contain' whereas vaTi 'to trick' is used to denote only the liquid is coming out. Some places o:Tu 'to run' is replaced by vaTi 'to trick' but it is not replaced in all places.

•vellam perukkePuttu o:TukiRatu ‘Water flows heavily’. vellam perukkePuttu vaTikiRatu*

•* Semantically incorrect

78

pa:y ‘to flow'

• At plain surface• Time and quantity is more for this.• Progresses for certain time• The process pa:y 'flow' is not forcefully-done,

whereas the process o:tu 'runs' is possible with force.

•pa:y can be replaced by o:Tu, if the flow is heavy. The replacement of pa:y by o:Tu is not possible, if the flow is not heavy. eg. vayalil tanni:r o:Pi/pa:yntuk konPirukkiRatu.. ‘Water is flowing in the field’. vellam perukePuttu o:TukiRatu

•‘Water flows heavily’. *vellam perukePuttu pa:ykiRatu * Semantically incorrect

talumpu 'to brim'

• Top to bottom due to the movement of liquid.• Process is not taking place automatically.• Due to less quantity of liquid in the container.• For certain time only but not progressively.• It is applicable for both liquid and semisolid

substances. It may be the increasing stage of teRi 'to spray'.

79

paravu 'to

spread'

• Not only in plain surface but also downwards.

• More time, less force, less quantity.• Later stage of kaci 'to ooze'.• Advanced stage of u:Ru ‘to spring’.

u:Ru ‘to secrete’ • Most probably sending liquid items

out from downwards to upwards.• b) It is concerned only with liquid.

80

• If you are not updating your sense or• if you are not seen by your sense or • significance of your language not satisfied with

your eagerness, definitely cannot solve anything to you and others.

13/04/2023

Dr.S.SundarabaluAssistant Professor

Department of LinguisticsBharathiar University,Coimbatore-46

Visiting Professor ,ICCR’s Tamil Chair Institute of Oriental Studies, Dept. of Indology

Jagiellonian University, Krakow-Poland Sunder_balu@yahoo.co.in

India- 9715769995

Reading or speaking a language is useless, unless, one is aware of the inner/ deeper

meaning of the words stored in one’s repository and apply the same accordingly in an

efficient way.

ந ன�்

றி�

Meaning and vocabulary are acquired through the five senses. If the human internal senses are not clearly formulated/ stimulated, the purpose of our communication is a failure.

Time – present – past – time to comePresent and Past but Future ?