Word Meanings

Firstly, discussion of the meaning of the verb to see in these sentences (lines 2 and 3):

  1. "Yes I have been this way."
  2. "I must have seen the building twenty times but I never noticed it."
  3. "I mean, I must have looked at it twenty times, but I never saw it."

Secondly, discussion of the meaning of the verb to go in these sentences:

  1. The customer wants to be downstairs.
  2. There are choices of the way down.
  3. The central staircase goes from the first floor to the ground floor.
  4. Alternatively, the lift goes from the first floor to the ground floor.
  5. Anyway, the bus goes in five minutes.
  6. So the customer goes from the first floor to the ground floor.

Finally, the explanation for these varied uses of words (especially verbs) lies in defining the "prototypical" use of each word, that is the most expected and standard use. This is always negotiated and very likely contextual:

 

See Aitchison, J. (1987), Words in the Mind: An Introduction to the Mental Lexicon, Oxford: Blackwell, 57.

 

Adrian Worsfold