This document discusses human sense and lexical sense in language learning with Tamil as a case study. It begins by outlining some questions about how the brain observes the meaning of words and how human and lexical senses combine to form knowledge from the external world. It then provides definitions and explanations of key linguistic concepts like language, linguistics, science, phonetics and its branches. The document discusses how language has two functions of external and internal exchange. It explains two types of language expressions that are spoken internally and externally. Finally, it distinguishes between human sense, which relates to sense organs and the external world, and lexical sense, which is the meaning of words.

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http://www.energyenhancement.org/Chakras-above-Sahasrara-Below-Muadhara-External-to-the-Body.htm
"Human Sense and Lexical Sense in Language Learning: the case of Tamil"
• Introduction
1) 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.
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• 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? 3
 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. 4
• 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. 5
• 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.)
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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.
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Fig. 1. Five stages and three levels in chain of speech
transmission from brain of Speaker to brain of Listener. (From Fig. 1.1 of Denes and Pinson 2000:5)
2speaker transforms message
Into speech sounds
4. The listener
receives
Message through
Perceiving sound
waves
5.Message is processed and
interpreted in Listener’s
brain
3.Speech sounds are
transmitted as sound
waves through air
1. The message begins as
idea in
Speaker’s brain
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Phonetics
Phonology
Morphology
Syntax
Semantics
Branches of Linguistics
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• 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.
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1. Articulatory phonetics
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2. Acoustic phonetics
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3. Auditory phonetics
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15 16
• 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? 17
• 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.
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• 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.)
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Touch Skin Illusion na
TasteTaste TongueTongue ArroganceArrogance mama
Sight Eye God ci
Smell Nose Power va
Ear Sound Soul ya
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
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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.
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Where is your language?
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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
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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.
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.
33
THOUGHT OR REFERENCE
------------------------------
SYMBOL REFERENT 34
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
DogDog
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? 35 36

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• 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).
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• 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 38
How we communicate
37%
8%
55%
37% How we sound
8% What we say
55% Things we see
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• 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.
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• 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
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Pen and Pencil
Father and Appa
Good morning and
vanakkam
• 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.
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– 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.
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• 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.
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• 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,
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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? 46
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)47
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? 48

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• 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.
49 2/20/2014Chakra energy connection between people
Silent language
Sex
Friendship
Research
Evaluation
Etc..,
• 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?
51
Basic vocabulary
Department related words
Family related words
Relationship
Consciousness
Friend related
Enemy related
Harm related
Mind disturbance
Anger related
Life
Other Language
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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
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• 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)
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• 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
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• 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
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Identification of semantic features
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AA DropDrop-- NanosemanticsNanosemantics viewsviews
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Liquid Movement VerbsLiquid Movement Verbs in Tamilin Tamil
1.1. cocoTTTTuu -- to dripto drip
2.2. cintucintu -- to spillto spill
3.3. citacitaRRuu -- to scatterto scatter
4.4. kacikaci -- toto ooze outooze out
5.5. kokoTTTTuu -- to pourto pour
6.6. o:o:TTuu -- to flowto flow
7.7. oollukuuku -- toto ooze/leakooze/leak
8.8. pa:ypa:y -- to flowto flow
9.9. paravuparavu -- to spreadto spread
10.10.PayPay -- to come down or pourto come down or pour
11.11.popoNNkuku -- toto riserise
12.12.tatallumpuumpu -- to brimto brim
13.13.teteRRii -- to splash/sprayto splash/spray
14.14.u:u:RrRruu -- to pourto pour
15.15.u:u:RRuu -- to secreteto secrete
16.16.vavallii -- to over flowto over flow
17.17.vavaRRRRuu -- to dry upto dry up
18.18.vavaTTii -- to trickleto trickle
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• A verb
• Denotes a verb
• Denotes an object, but object denoting a verb
is not compulsory
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• 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.)
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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.
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A drop is formed by its previous and
succeeding state.
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 drop2/20/2014 70
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'.
oollukuuku
‘to‘to
ooze/leakooze/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
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‘to
come down/come down/
pour’pour’
• Moves from upward to downward
• Falling drop by drop or
• sometimes falling continuously
• It is concerned only with liquid.
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vaTivaTi
‘to trick'‘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.

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73
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'
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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.
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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 perukkePuttuvaTikiRatu*
•* Semantically incorrect
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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
perukePuttuo:TukiRatu
•‘Water flows heavily’. *vellam perukePuttu pa:ykiRatu *
Semanticallyincorrect
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'.
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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.
cittaantarettinam Dr.S.Sundarabalu
Assistant Professor
Department of Linguistics
Bharathiar University
Coimbatore-46
Sunder_balu@yahoo.co.in
9715769995
Reading or speaking a language is useless, unless, one is aware of the inner/ deeper meaning
of the words stored in one’s repositoryand apply the same accordingly in an efficient way.
நந ன்ன் றிறி
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.
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Time – present – past – time
to come
Present and Past but Future ?