An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax

grammar is impeccable (nominal subject ‘ideas,’ with qualifying adjectives
‘colorless’ and ‘green,’ plural predicate ‘sleep,’ adverb ‘furiously’), but its
reference to the extra-linguistic world is nonexistent, so the sentence is gibberish. 9
Chomsky argues that if a sentence can be grammatical and still be semantically
deviant, then semantical and syntactical components of a language are separate.
The terms sense and reference aid in explaining what is wrong with Chomsky’s
example. Reference involves the relationship between linguistic elements and the
non-linguistic sphere. Sense involves the relationships that hold between linguistic
elements; it is concerned only with the linguistic sphere. 10 In these terms, the
Chomsky sentence makes sense but is non-referential. Whether or not this
argument is accepted, it remains the case that the grammatical system of a
language can profitably be studied on its own terms.
3.2.3 Polysemy and Context
a “Language is an infinite use of finite means,” said the German thinker Wilhelm
von Humboldt. 11 The material that can be “put into” language is unending—it is
impossible to name a finite number that cannot be topped—but the code used to
communicate that material is finite. The code of language is by no means simple;
it is much more sophisticated than most other semiotic systems, for example,
facial gestures or clothing. Despite this sophistication language uses a small
number of resources.
b Since the code of language is finite, the elements of the code must be used in a
variety of ways. Often one sign has more than one meaning; such a sign is called
polysemous. In spoken English /tu/ is polysemous; three major meanings are
distinguished [Page 48] in spelling—to, two, and too. Consider the following
sentences, each using the word ‘with.’ 12
1. I ate ice cream with my friend.
2. I ate ice cream with my pie.
9
See F. R. Palmer, Semantics: A New Outline (London: Cambridge University, 1976)
30.
10
Cf. John Lyons, Introduction to Theoretical Linguistics (Cambridge: Cambridge
University, 1968) 404–5, 424–28. The term “signification” is also used for reference
or situational meaning.
11
Quoted in Reagan and Stewart, Philosophy of Paul Ricoeur, 127. On this topic, see
A. Martinet, “Que faire du ‘mot’?,” MPD 75–84.
12
Examples after D. G. Frantz, “Translation and Underlying Structure. 1. Relations,”
Notes on Translation (Santa Ana, California: Summer Institute of Linguistics, 1968)
22–23. The example involves the simplest kind of polyseme, the homonym: actual
homonyms are rare in Hebrew.