How meaning works―from monkey calls to human language, from spoken language to sign language, from gestures to music―and how meaning is connected to truth.We communicate through language, connecting what we mean to the words we say. But humans convey meaning in other ways as well, with facial expressions, hand gestures, and other methods. Animals, too, can get their meanings across without words. In What It All Means, linguist Philippe Schlenker explains how meaning works, from monkey calls to human language, from spoken language to sign language, from gestures to music. He shows that these extraordinarily diverse types of meaning can be studied and compared within a unified approach―one in which the notion of truth plays a central role. “It’s just semantics” is often said dismissively. But Schlenker shows that semantics―the study of meaning―is an unsung success of modern linguistics, a way to investigate some of the deepest questions about human nature using tools from the empirical a
