TSL—Part 4/6, "Language is SENSE"
Channel: esukhiaX
Date: 2017-09-04

3) Language is Sense: Communicating is about "making sense;" How do we *make* sense? Or, give someone else the same sense that we feel? By using words that evoke sensation, or sense imagery -- the feelings, sights, sounds, colors, and the visceral nature of representative thought... 

This isn't just for common, everyday objects -- it is the foundation of language, even sophisticated and abstract literature. Our conceptual framework, grounded in everyday sense, is what our higher language draws upon to create meaning. "Framework" gives us a picture of an un-finished house; "conceptual framework" is the abstract idea that "concepts" are "frame-able." "Grounded" is the sense of being connected to the ground; "grounded in sense" is that feeling of closeness and gravity. Think now about "higher" language and "draws upon" and "create" -- all non-literal language is metaphorical in this way, and varies language to language... 

To get a sense of the Tibetan conceptual framework, we first need a sense of the everyday language, of sensation and experience as it is embodied by a person living in that language. 

Originally presented at IATS 2016 (Norway).