Mental States, Imagery, and Linguistic Devices: A Comprehensive Overview
Mental States and Imagery
Mental states can be represented in ways analogous to expressions of natural languages or visual mediums like drawings, paintings, maps, photographs, or movies. Perceptual states, such as seeing that something is blue, are sometimes considered hybrid states, potentially composed of a non-conceptual sensory experience and a belief, or a more integrated combination of conceptual and non-conceptual elements.
Imagery in Philosophy and Psychology
While imagery has historically played a significant role in the philosophy of mind, contemporary literature on the subject primarily resides within the domain of psychology. The notion that pictorial representations are literal pictures in the head is not widely accepted by proponents of the pictorial view of imagery.
Internalism and Externalism in Mental Representation
Generally, those aligned with informational theories posit that relations to one’s environment (both natural and social) are at least partially determinative of the content of mental representations.
Sentence Meaning and its Components
Sentence meaning is determined by the words comprising the sentence. Various components contribute to the sentence’s meaning, including the event, participants, setting, and the ground.
Metaphor vs. Metonymy
Metaphor and metonymy are frequently employed literary devices. A metaphor is a figure of speech that compares two unrelated subjects without using connecting words like “like” or “as.” Conversely, metonymy substitutes the name of an idea or object with another name closely associated with the original. The main difference is that a metaphor compares while metonymy replaces.
Function:
- Metaphor: Compares two unrelated concepts.
- Metonymy: Substitutes the thing named for the thing meant.
What is a Metaphor?
A metaphor is a literary device that draws a comparison between two unrelated things without using connecting words like “like” or “as.” Examples:
- She is the true angel in my life.
- My teacher is a dragon.
Metonymy
This figure of speech substitutes the name of an idea with another name closely associated with the original. Examples:
- Let me give you a hand. (Hand means help.)
- Keep your eye on the ball. (Eye = attention)
Definitions:
- Metaphor: A literary device where a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable.
- Metonymy: A literary device involving the substitution of the name of an attribute or adjunct for that of the thing meant.
Polysemy, Homonymy, and Synonymy
Polysemy
Polysemy is the association of one word with two or more distinct meanings. A polyseme is a word or phrase with multiple meanings. For example, the word “FIX” has various meanings such as attach, arrange, prepare (food or drinks), repair, punish, and set right (hair).
Homonymy
Homonymy is the relation between words with identical forms but different meanings. These words are called homonyms. A common example is the word “bank” in “river bank” and “savings bank.” Other examples include “stalk” (part of a plant) and “stalk” (follow/harass a person), and “tire” (rubber wheel) and “tire” (become fatigued).
Synonym
A synonym is a word or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word or phrase in the same language. Words that are synonyms are said to be synonymous. For example, “little” and “small” are synonyms. Other examples include “begin,” “start,” “commence,” and “initiate.”
Phonetics: Phonemes, Allophones, and Phones
Phoneme
A phoneme is the smallest contrastive linguistic unit that can change a word’s meaning. For example, the difference between “mat” and “bat” lies in the initial phoneme /m/ and /b/.
Allophone
Allophones are variations of phonemes. They are a set of possible spoken sounds used to pronounce a single phoneme. For example, [pʰ] (as in pin) and [p] (as in spin) are allophones of the phoneme /p/.
Phone
A phone is a unit of speech sound. It can refer to any speech sound or gesture without considering its place in the phonology of a language. A phoneme, on the other hand, is a set of phones or sound features considered the same element within a specific language’s phonology.