Two Sides of the Same Coin: Chapter 4

Is There a Difference Between What You Said and What You Mean?

"Abie, take me to the Holy Trinity church?" Emma kept insisting Abie since two days. Today, Abie has to accept it, "Yes, let's go". They start walking on the sheep street. No sooner Emma heard the ringing bell of Holy Trinity church, than she rushes to church alone. She forgets Abie, who is following her.

The Holy Trinity church is one of the famous churches in England. William Shakespeare and his wife Anne Hathaway were interred in this church. The church is surrounded by evergreen lime trees, planted in a straight row that welcomes devotees. Although Abie is an atheist, he finds himself bowing down to praise the calm atmosphere at parish church. Holy Trinity church is situated on the bank of the Avon. The present limestone building is cross-shaped, which is said to be rebuilt thrice. In the initial stage, it was wooden and then Norman reconstructed the church with stones.

Emma reaches to the porch that forms a doorway to enter. It is a beautiful wooden art of 15th century. Both Emma and Abie are amazed seeing the religious symbols in carvings of the Biblical and English saints on the large stained glass windows. These carvings depict the Resurrection and Ascension of Christ and Day of Pentecost. There are the images of Christ around Balsall's tomb that may be drawn during the period of Reformation. When Emma reaches the tomb of William Shakespeare, her eyes deepen into tears of sympathy. It is said that William Shakespeare visited The Holy Trinity every week and participated in the prayer ceremony. Both Emma and Abie leave the place with a calm. Their calm faces seem more appealing and asking God why do great people like William Shakespeare die and leave their memories in the history through church, museum and books to bless us.

Abie knows anyhow he has to change Emma's state of agony. Abie asked her, "Are you alright? Hey, see this river, Avon. People are enjoying boating. Let's go there...?" Abie cannot stop himself when it comes to boating. But Emma stops Abie to go there because she wants some peace. How could Abie think of boating when they just came from the church. Emma says, "What do you mean by that? I feel your words are meaningless. Are you the same Abie?" Abie is really smart and he catches Emma's sentence - I feel your words are meaningless and replies, "Cool. Do you know, every word has its own meaning, whereas group of words may be meaningless?" Emma replied, "huh?".

To justify his sentences, Abie gives Emma one example, "A word is a group of sounds formed by human beings through the ages. Shakespeare coined some words like - assassination, zany, ode, glow, eyeball etc. We use these words because now they are commonly applied in English. We can define each word deductively and can refer dictionary for its meaning. Let's find out the meaning of a phrase - 'Colorless green ideas sleep furiously'. How can an idea be colorless and at the same time green, and possess quality of being furious and sleep as human beings? Although, phrase is grammatically correct according to the rules of sentence construction, here an adjective (green/colorless) comes before a noun (idea) and a verb (sleep) is modified by an adverb (furiously)".

Emma always loved the nitty-gritty of literature. She replies Abie, "I know we should not take the meaning as its conveyed in the phrase. It has a deeper meaning. I would better call it a poetic deviation, where creative people enhance their skills than the actual speaking. They are more precisely foregrounded by the creative people for specific purposes. I will try to define your example - 'Colorless green ideas sleep furiously'. It means there is a new idea that circulates in the unconscious mind that needs to be defined. This idea engages a person to think rapidly at a furious rate while he or she is in sleep. Isn't it?"

Abie nods his head and appreciates Emma's response, "You have a beautiful mind. Would you let me elaborate seven types of meanings in the languages that can be used in our daily communication."

Seven Types of Meanings are

Conceptual meaning - Literal or core meaning of the word, which we use while communicating.

Connotative meaning - Internal, associative or suggestive meaning, which is more than a literal dictionary meaning.

Social meaning - Some languages have their own dialectical words that may be or may not be used in other languages. This usage is called 'social meaning' of that particular language. E.g Britishers use the word - 'autumn' for the season when the leaves fall off the trees. On the contrary, the Americans simply call it - fall. Generally, the word 'fall' could mean anything to people.

Affective meaning - Affective meaning is also known as emotive meaning that deals with the personal feelings. E.g the word - 'liberal' - means political philosophy of progress and liberty to the British people, while the South Africans find the word 'liberal' derogatory due to the impact of colonialism on history.

Reflective meaning - There are some words that lose its meaning or usage in time or some new words get added in English. E.g. the word 'gay' was often in use in the period of William Wordsworth. Gay means merry, happiness that time. Now it has become a rarely used taboo word related to homosexuality.

Collocative meaning - Collocative meaning exists in the presence of certain group of words. E.g. 'Good looking, handsome' are the words related to boys or men. While 'pretty, beautiful' are used for women or girls. An opportunity can be golden not silver, as we commonly call golden opportunity.

Thematic meaning - Thematic meaning is totally dependent on what you want to convey and where you want to emphasize. Of course, it depends on the order of words, the word that has more importance will get the first preference. E.g. 'Ten thousand saw I at a glance', here emphasis is on the word, 'Ten thousand' to show surprise. If the sentence construct like 'I saw ten thousand at glance', the theme transfers on the word 'I' .

"That's it...the world of meanings." Abie looked tired of explaining, takes a pause and looked at Emma. Whereas Emma smiled like a Cheshire cat who recognizes the vast information of meanings. And Abie was very sure that Emma will contribute something to the seven types of meanings.

Emma, "Abie, What have you told is right. I like these seven types of meanings like the seven continents of the world! But it is difficult to understand the hidden and implicate meanings of a sentence."

"I will elaborate this with my experience. Everyone in my family was irritated by a maid who used to forget her assigned work. But she follows granny's order without any complain. Because instead of asking her directly, granny used an ambiguous way. If granny wants the maid to pick up clothes put for drying, granny will ask her, "I think it may rain today." As soon as the maid listens granny's words, she rushes and collects all the clothes and puts them before granny. I too tried this theory many times. When I want water, I tell her, "I am very thirsty." When I want her to switch on the fan, I ask her, "It's too hot today, isn't it?" The maid understands the hidden meanings faster than the actual meaning, which my family members failed to implement for years. Today, I realized that how the maid was wise enough to deal with her masters and moreover seven types of meanings!"

Have you always said the same that you mean? Isn't it the two sides of the same coin? Words and meaning. Feel free to post your comments.