Generality of Meaning of Words

The meaning of words refers to one objective thing and phenomenon. Thus, the meaning of words is the generalized cognition of the objective thing and phenomenon of the same kind. Some words are used to indicate one certain group of things. The meaning of the words in this circumstance is called the generality of meaning of words. The meaning of the words generalizes the common characteristics of the certain group of things. The generality of the meaning of words is called the abstractness of the meaning of words.

The meaning of words is the generalized reflection of the objective things on the human mind. But the meaning of words can not indicate every objective thing one by one. Instead, the meaning of words is the reflection of one certain group of things. In the reflection process, the concrete features of the one particular objective targets will be abandoned while the common substantive characteristics will be generalized as well as the expanding to the same kind of objects.

The meaning of the common words has generality as well as the proper nouns. Many foreign students have leaned in the online Chinese Lessons that the Yellow River is the mother river and the second longest of China. So let’s take the Yellow River as an example. We all know that the Yellow River is used to refer a river but the generalized meaning of the word means the origin, watershed, water quality and water yield of the different features of the Yellow River as well as the history and current circumstance of the river. Thus, the meaning of the word is generalized.

Let’s take another example. Shanghai is not strange to many foreign students who go to school to study in China. Shanghai is a noun indicting a place. The meaning of the word generalizes the history and current situation of the city. Thus, it can be seen that the generality of the words is the fundamental feature of the meaning of words. The generality of the meaning of words plays an essential role in the communication among people. Due to the generality of the meaning of words, a word can be used to generalize a certain group of things. The meaning of words is the generalized reflection of the human mind and it is formed by the use of the humans through a long period of time.