Longman Dictionary of

PE2379 ch06.qxd 24/1/02 16:07 Page 485
ists) and those who oppose it (the oralists). Oralists argue that teaching
the hearing-impaired sign language prevents them from communicating
with the outside world and limits their interaction to other people who
know sign language.
signal n
see INFORMATION THEORY
significance level n
see STATISTICAL SIGNIFICANCE
significant difference n
see STATISTICAL SIGNIFICANCE
signification n
see SIGNS, USAGE 2
signify v
see SIGNS
silent reading
signs n
in linguistics, the words and other expressions of a language which signify,
that is, “stand for”, other things. In English, the word table, for instance,
stands for a particular piece of furniture in the real world. Some linguists
and philosophers include a third item in the process of signification, that
is, an abstract CONCEPT of the thing for which the sign stands, e.g.:
abstract concept
of table
word (sign) table
silent pause n
see PAUSING
silent reading n
see READING
real object “table”
485