The three readings we had this week were insightful and offered several different perspectives of understanding and interpreting language, as well as perception. In "How We Mean", the linguistic definition of semantics as the study of the property of meaning in a systematic and objective way, was very different than the commonly used version of the word. Also, the two different interpretations - naturalist and conventionalist - was a very unique dichotomy offered by Plato and Aristotle. I tend to prefer the Aristotelian view of conventionalist vocabulary meaning rather than naturalist, because there seems to be so many more words that do not identify with the sound, at least in the English language. It was also very interesting to me that the author talked about how different languages can "parcel out" vocabulary because that was the topic I wrote about in the culture post (not as eloquently).
In "How The Brain Handles Language", I was able to review what I learned in psychology about Broca and Wernicke. It has always been fascinating to imagine such odd occurrences, but it shows the power of semantics and syntax. Language is obviously extremely fragile and can be changed by even a slight nuance. Localization was also an interesting topic, because I don't particularly subscribe to the belief that the intricacies of the brain can be broken down so simply.
Finally, in "How To Investigate A Language Structure", I was particularly intrigued by the idea that meaning is the starting point for learning language. The author didn't explain their point quite enough to convince me that it is the best way, but it is definitely widely-accepted for its effectiveness.
Through these readings, I have been reminded of the delicacy of language and how intricate it can be. It is interesting that these same concepts (grammar, semantics, phonology) are present universally and their influence on the particular language is always unique. I believe that I will have the most difficult time with grammar rather than semantics, but I will try starting with meanings and see if that helps.
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