2.1 Some Characterisitcs of Language

As we noted in the unit overview, natural language is disorderly and confusing; meanings can be imprecise.  Being aware of usage patterns and attributes of natural (ordinary) language is helpful when it comes to recognizing good arguments and alerting us when features of questionable arguments deserve more scrutiny.

2.1.1 Layers of Meaning

In our everyday interactions with others, we use language in a variety of ways. Sometimes (especially and hopefully in good arguments!) propositions use words and phrases that are intended to convey information. Propositions that convey information have cognitive meaning. For example:

Other times, the words chosen for use in propositions are used with the intent to elicit feelings. Propositions that invoke feelings have emotive meaning. For example:

Still, even within the emotionally charged version of the description of Gerrymandering, there is underlying cognitive meaning. Logic (and good arguments) are typically concerned with cognitive meaning, so it is a good practice to extract the cognitive meaning from the emotive language when working with arguments.

Speakers (and writers) often use language with emotive meaning to embellish their arguments and claims.  In upcoming sections of this unit on informal fallacies, we will explore some explicit logical flaws arising from language with emotive meaning

2.1.2 Value-Laden Propositions

In the example from section 2.1.1 on meanings, notice that the emotive version of the proposition about Gerrymandering is conveying the meaning that the practice is wrong. It is making a value judgment. (One might argue that the cognitive version of this proposition also suggests a value claim, though more subtly, with the term advantage.)  Language that makes value claims, that something is Good or Bad, is prescriptive; such statements express how things ought or ought not to be. Language that just claims how things are, on the other hand, is descriptive.

Arguments often make claims about values — how things ought to be. Sometimes speakers and writers adorn prescriptive arguments and claims with highly emotive language. However, good, convincing arguments that make value claims need supporting evidence with cognitive meaning that conveys information.

2.1.3 Imprecise Meanings

Even when language is stripped of emotive meaning, intended cognitive meaning is vulnerable to other flaws that distort clear understanding and obscure the intended meanings of propositions. Language can be imprecise in a variety of ways.

Vagueness

Sometimes a term, phrase, or statement is vague. Vague words or phrases have a range of meanings, and the speaker’s intent remains imprecise and uncertain. Here are a few simple examples:

With the first example, what do we mean by tall. Depending on Jacob’s age, this could mean that Jacob is anywhere from 3 feet to 7 feet. The meaning becomes a bit more precise by saying Jacob is tall compared to other students in his class. At least there’s a frame of reference. Such a statement could provide distinct meaning by including Jacob’s height and age.

And what about Marie? She is nice. As a positive descriptor, nice is fuzzy, broad, and a matter of opinion. More detail can make such a statement less vague. We think Marie is nice because she brings cookies to class every Friday.

In the third example, the term expensive is vague in at least two ways. The speaker’s idea of expensive, or what constitutes a high price, may be different from yours or mine. Also, the real estate market itself is quite dynamic, with home prices varying by region and demand.

Ambiguity

Another type of imprecise meaning comes from ambiguous terminology where words or statements are open to more than one distinct meaning. Ambiguous language is different from vague language in that it has multiple specific meanings, whereas with vague language, there is uncertainty as to where the meaning falls on a broad continuum of possibility.

Words with more than one distinct meaning, depending on their context, can be ambiguous if insufficient context is provided in their use.

Does this mean inexpensive or low-quality?

Was he angry or was he enthusiastic?

When statements are ambiguous, it is often a result of hasty sentence structure:

Who was wearing those goggles? And who had on that Telletubby outfit?

2.1.4 Language As Dynamic

As noted already, natural language is in flux. The meanings of words change in the way they are both used and understood. Long before cookies were digital markers maintained by your browser, they were goodies grandma baked (or were bought at the store). Indeed, we can attribute an expansive list of new terms and old terms with new meanings to the pervasive influence of digital technology on everyday life. And other aspects of life and culture which also are fast-moving and dynamic (for example, sports, climate, politics, and technology, to name a few) influence changes in how we use words in new ways.

There are countless examples of words with meanings that have changed over time. We tend to be less aware of changed meanings that occurred centuries ago. For example:

• The word girl originally referred to a child or young person of any gender, while today the word usually refers to a female person.
• The word awful, which was used originally to denote something inspiring awe or reverential fear, now implies that something is just plain horrible or unpleasant.

Other words have more recently acquired new meanings. For example:

• The word gay was used as a reference to homosexuals as early as the 1930s and acquired common usage by the 1960s. Before that time, it meant being lighthearted and carefree.
• Until the advent of the technological devices with flat-panel areas for data or images, the word screen when used as a noun referred mainly to separators between physical spaces, or to sieves to separate larger pieces of stuff from smaller ones.
• Cookie as mentioned above is among numerous terms that have acquired new meanings in our computer era. Once just a sugary snack item, now it is also a digital marker maintained by your browser. Ah yes, another term – browser – with a new meaning; once a non-buying shopper, or a field animal’s poking around for food, it is the centerpiece software for online experiences.)

Sometimes a change in a word’s usage represents a narrowing of its former meaning. The change explained above in the meaning of the word girl represents a narrowing, in that the word formerly referred to young people of any gender, before meaning female youth. Linguist John McWhorter points out some contemporary cases of narrowed meaning (semantic narrowing):

• Lately, we commonly hear the word minority narrowed and used to refer specifically to people of color, whereas the wider meaning of minority is the smaller portion. [from Ideas Ted.com, WE HUMANS – 5 words that don’t mean what they used to mean Oct 25, 2016, John McWhorter]
• Similarly, while the wider meaning of the word diversity refers to variety, chances are pretty good that when you hear that word today, it explicitly means having a fair proportion of black and Latino people in the mix with white people. [NYT, Opinion, John McWhorter, OCT 1, 2021, in a column titled “Our Discussion of Race Becomes Distorted”]

Our language is also rich with words that have acquired broader, more inclusive meanings. A widened use of a word occurs, for example, when the use of a particular brand name for a consumer product becomes the generic name for all products of that type. Here are just a few examples of product names that have widened to generic usage:

• dumpster
• trampoline
• laundromat
• zipper

The word guy is an example of widened usage. Guy originally referred to the first name of an infamous plot leader who attempted to blow up the English Houses of Parliament in 1605. By the 1800s it was used to refer to any male person. And today, especially in its plural form (you guys) refers to people of any gender.

2.1.5 Definitions

Our discussion about meanings that are elusive or shifting inspires a quick look at what constitutes a definition, and what a word means. As we have seen, the meanings of terms change. With the advent of dictionaries online, it’s more efficient to keep up with shifts in common usage.  This is the basic anatomy of a definition:

• The term being defined is the definiendum.
• The words that define the term are the definiens.

Here’s an example of a “dictionary” definition:

Note in the example above that when there are multiple ways to define a word, the definiens for the most current usage of the word occurs first. It’s a word with a common meaning that has narrowed in the internet age.

The dictionary definition of a word is its lexical definition; it describes the common usage of a word.  For words that have more than one common-usage meaning, there will be more than one lexical definition.

There are other types of definitions that have special purposes. In our course material, we use a type of definition called a precising definition for terms that have explicit and strict meanings. In Unit 1, there is a very explicit definition of the term ‘valid’. The precision of its meaning for the study of deductive logic is so important that three logically equivalent definitions are provided! Also note that in the glossary for this course, many of the terms are defined precisely in terms of their usage in introductory logic.

There are various other types of definitions, but we’ll talk here about only one more type that is frequently associated with arguments and fallacies. A persuasive definition is one with wording (definiens) that is intended to invoke either a positive or negative reaction to the definiendum. Typically the definition is loaded with emotional language. Recall this example from our earlier discussion of descriptive versus prescriptive language; it serves as a good example of a persuasive definition: