Word Meanings
Firstly, discussion of the meaning of the verb to see in these sentences (lines 2 and 3):
- "Yes I have been this way."
- "I must have seen the building twenty times but I never noticed it."
- "I mean, I must have looked at it twenty times, but I never saw it."
- Which use of the verb to see means the person gazed at the building?
- Which use of the verb to see means the person let the building enter his or her awareness?
Secondly, discussion of the meaning of the verb to go in these sentences:
- The customer wants to be downstairs.
- There are choices of the way down.
- The central staircase goes from the first floor to the ground floor.
- Alternatively, the lift goes from the first floor to the ground floor.
- Anyway, the bus goes in five minutes.
- So the customer goes from the first floor to the ground floor.
- Which use of the verb to go describes an action of movement from a starting point to a finishing point?
- Which use of the verb to go connects start and finish without movement?
- Which use of the verb to go does not connect (that is has no apparent destination)?
- Which use of the verb to go implies both no movement and movement?
Finally, the explanation for these varied uses of words (especially verbs) lies in defining the "prototypical" use of each word, that is the most expected and standard use. This is always negotiated and very likely contextual:
- What do the verbs to see, to go, and the description downstairs normally - prototypically - imply?
See Aitchison, J. (1987), Words in the Mind: An Introduction to the Mental Lexicon, Oxford: Blackwell, 57.
Adrian Worsfold