[PRL] linguistics question
John Clements
clements at brinckerhoff.org
Wed Dec 1 10:23:49 EST 2004
On Dec 1, 2004, at 9:04 AM, Jeffrey D Palm wrote:
> There's a linguistics theory (I think) that states something such as:
>
> Speakers are lazy and want to use as limited a vocublary as possible
> -- i.e. have multiple meanings for words. But listeners would rather
> have as unabmiguous a vocabulary as possible -- one word, one meaning.
>
> Does any know the name of this theory? I'm pretty sure it has a name.
Don't know, but if conscious thought consists largely of speaking to
ourselves[*], then the lazy speaker is also a lazy thinker.
john
[*] cf. the book I'm reading with the pompous but provocative title
"Conscousness Explained".
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