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Does someone only understand English by being able to explain the language? Can someone understand English and not know any of the grammatical rules? Can someon

Does someone only understand English by being able to explain the language? Can someone understand English and not know any of the grammatical rules? Can someone understand English without being able to read and write? If you ask someone to pass you the salt, and they pass you the salt, do they not understand some English? Does everyone understand all English?

moffkalast 4y ago
Well there seem to be three dictionary definitions: - perceive the intended meaning of words, a language, or a speaker (e.g. "he didn't understand a word I said") - interpret or view (something) in a particular way (e.g. "I understand you're at art school") - be sympathetically or knowledgeably aware of the character or nature of (e.g. "Picasso understood colour") I suppose I meant the 3rd one, but it's not so different from the 1st one in concept, since they both mean some kind of mastery of being able to give or receive information. The second one isn't all that relevant.
- williamcotton 4y ago
  So only someone who has a mastery of English can be said to understand English? Does someone who speaks only a little bit of English not understand some English? Does someone need to “understand color” like Picasso in order to say they understand the difference between red and yellow? Why did we need the dictionary definitions? Do we not already both understand what we mean by the word? Isn’t asking someone to pass the small blue box and then experiencing them pass you that small blue box show that they perceived the intended meaning of the words? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Use_theory_of_meaning https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Use_theory_of_meaning
  - moffkalast 4y ago
    > Does someone who speaks only a little bit of English not understand some English? I mean yeah, sure? It's not a binary thing. Hardly anyone understands anything fully. But putting "sorta" before every "understand" gets old quick.
  - f6v 4y ago
    > Isn’t asking someone to pass the small blue box and then experiencing them pass you that small blue box show that they perceived the intended meaning of the words? You can teach a dog to fetch something particular. The utility of that is quiet limited.

moffkalast 4y ago

Well there seem to be three dictionary definitions: - perceive the intended meaning of words, a language, or a speaker (e.g. "he didn't understand a word I said") - interpret or view (something) in a particular way (e.g. "I understand you're at art school") - be sympathetically or knowledgeably aware of the character or nature of (e.g. "Picasso understood colour") I suppose I meant the 3rd one, but it's not so different from the 1st one in concept, since they both mean some kind of mastery of being able to give or receive information. The second one isn't all that relevant.

williamcotton 4y ago
So only someone who has a mastery of English can be said to understand English? Does someone who speaks only a little bit of English not understand some English? Does someone need to “understand color” like Picasso in order to say they understand the difference between red and yellow? Why did we need the dictionary definitions? Do we not already both understand what we mean by the word? Isn’t asking someone to pass the small blue box and then experiencing them pass you that small blue box show that they perceived the intended meaning of the words? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Use_theory_of_meaning https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Use_theory_of_meaning
- moffkalast 4y ago
  > Does someone who speaks only a little bit of English not understand some English? I mean yeah, sure? It's not a binary thing. Hardly anyone understands anything fully. But putting "sorta" before every "understand" gets old quick.
- f6v 4y ago
  > Isn’t asking someone to pass the small blue box and then experiencing them pass you that small blue box show that they perceived the intended meaning of the words? You can teach a dog to fetch something particular. The utility of that is quiet limited.