What is a word?

[gryphonpoet]

"A unit of language, consisting of one or more spoken sounds or their written representation, that functions as a principal carrier of meaning."

I have to insist that the dictionary is flat out, 100% WRONG. A word can not exist merely as a unit of language. That would ignore about 2/3 of its depth. The word would then miss a majority of its subtlety. A word can not be so shallow.

A word is a picture someone puts into your mind. It stands up and calls out to you from your protective castle and you are compelled to see who is there.

If I say "boy", you imagine a male human child. You haven't a choice, your brain reacts before anything else can happen. I can string words together and give you a part of my story and as long as you hear or read my words, you will see what I am telling you.

While it is true that we may each read the same thing and hold a different visual interpretation, the essence of the writing will give a similar picture. The boy may be blonde or brunette, ruddy or dark, 5 years old or 12. But you still see a boy, not a dog.

As an example to support my point, I offer the following example...

"The water washed across the little boy, cleansing the sand from between his legs and under his arms."

So where is the boy? Tell me what do you see in that one line? I would love it if everyone who reads these words would explain what they see between the lines. The differences will be fascinating, I believe.

[Lylie]

The salty ocean water crashing into the boy as he lifts his arms up to the brillient blue sky and hot red yellow sun. The sand washing away from him after he had been burried up to his neck in the sand by his friends. His hair is a sandy blonde bleached by the rays of the sun and his skin once fair now browned by the suns warmth. The laughter, the innocent sound only a child can make, as the water sparys him in the face and the cools and washes his skin clean.

[gryphonpoet]

Alexander, what did you see when you read the sentence, "The water washed across the little boy, cleansing the sand from between his legs and under his arms."?

That is the point I am trying to make with this statement. Post what you saw in that line, then I'll continue with what I was saying.

[curulambe]

I, for one, do not "see" a boy when I hear or read the word "boy". The concept of a male human child is communicated to me, but there is no accompanying image - or, if there is, it is a very vague sketch.

A word is not a picture, but a label placed on a concept. I for one agree with the dictionary's definition - its function is the important part, as "a principal carrier of meaning".

As to the sensory impressions I get when I read that line - they actually have much more to do with the sand than with the boy or the water.

[gryphonpoet]

The vague sketch is exactly what I am talking about. The listener will fill in sketch's details. As humans, we generally feel awkward about incompleteness. So if the writer doesn't show a detail to the reader, the reader will provide it for himself (or herself) until the writer does.

How many times do you read a novel and find out later that something in a certain character's description contradicts what you've pictured?

Or am I speaking a foreign language to everyone? Am I in the minority in thinking in pictures attached to meanings?

[curulambe]

gryphonpoet said:

The vague sketch is exactly what I am talking about. The listener will fill in sketch's details. As humans, we generally feel awkward about incompleteness. So if the writer doesn't show a detail to the reader, the reader will provide it for himself (or herself) until the writer does.

I can speak only for myself, but I don't do this. The details remain blank until I have them from another source. The exception is with houses, when I tend to involuntarily visualize them as an agglomeration of houses I have lived in or visited, even when presented with details that contradict.

gryphonpoet said:

How many times do you read a novel and find out later that something in a certain character's description contradicts what you've pictured?

Only when I see a film of the novel. The actor tends to stamp out any image I may have of the character - even if the actor looks nothing like the character, the image still remains.

gryphonpoet said:

Or am I speaking a foreign language to everyone? Am I in the minority in thinking in pictures attached to meanings?

I suspect I'm in the minority here, actually, because my head is wired a little weird, but I can only speak for my own experience.

[gryphonpoet]

So the point is made, I believe. Thank you for responding, Lylie.

A word is actually... for the majority of readers, anyway... a picture. To link the pictures together in a sentence and then in either a verse or a paragraph will give those pictures motion in the same way an animation will "come to life" when linking drawings in a flip book.

If you want to get a specific idea across, then pay special attention to your word choice. The smallest of difference between synonyms could easily have a relatively major impact on the end result of your message and story.

Hence the need for editing, but that is a story for another day. ;-)

[alexander]

Oh, sorry dad. I think the little boy is at Maumee Bay State Park. I think so because, there is sand at Maumee Bay State Park and it is the only area around her that has sand and a place to swim close to sand.

[gryphonpoet]

And that is the picture that the words placed in your mind. The elements I gave in the sentence are still similar, but the images get completed by your own mind, memories and preferences...