The specification of the attributes of a concept is not a simple matter, and in fact, there are no known ways of generating such specifications in a completely adequate manner. Similar difficulties beset the lexicographer's attempt to specify in full the attributes of a word. One might think, at first, that this kind of fuzziness of the meaning of words is a disadvantage. Quite the contrary is true. Some constraints must operate.
Syntax is an efficient device for indexicality.
For instance, simple conceptualizations can be expressed by means of complex syntactic structures, but there are limits on the degree of complexity of conceptualization that can be expressed by means of simple syntactic structures. The availability of a powerful syntax can foster intellectual development in two ways. Second, as the child's intellectual capacities grow, syntactic transformations provide a vehicle for the realization of inferential reasoning and continued explorations of more complex conceptualizations for which he can receive social support and help from others. The recognition of the indexical nature of language use, and its investigation, pave the way for the understanding of individual differences in communicative competence, a theme to be explored in the last two sections below. The fact that linguists choose terms reflecting specific types of cognitive processes to tag various transformation rules is an indication that they accept this relationship.