The meaning of the meaning

Author's name: Ogden Rutchards Publisher: Dar Al-Kitab Al-Jadid Al-Muttahida Year of publication: 2015 Literary classification: Language learning About the book: "Language is the most important tool of civilization." This is what the authors boldly declare in their introduction to the book "The Meaning of Meaning," which is a classic work that has maintained its importance—and its challenge—to the study of language, literature, and philosophy since its first edition. Much of what relates to language still does not receive effective understanding, due to distortion caused by our usual attitude—which is often characterized by indifference—towards words, or by the assumptions based on unreliable theories. So what is the relationship between words and what words refer to? And between words and the way we think? And can understanding these matters lead to greater accuracy in communication? Readers concerned with these questions find themselves at a crossroads of linguistics, communication theory, literary criticism, and philosophy—an interconnected set of disciplines demanded by the increasingly influential field of semiotics. The book "The Meaning of Meaning" will prove to be a fundamental source in this regard, as it has over the last six decades. The introduction by Umberto Eco, novelist and semiotician, not by chance, offers a remarkable, captivating perspective on this pioneering work, which continues to disturb mental complacency and stimulate thought and discussion.