Why do words by themselves not have meaning?

• A. Meaning is in the dictionary
• B. Meaning is determined by context alone
• C. Meaning resides in the speaker, resides in the listener and among persons
• D. Meaning is in grammar only

Answer: (C)

Meaning is created through people using language in social situations. A word is just a symbol that only gains its sense when speakers intend something and listeners interpret it within a shared cultural and contextual frame. That dynamic, interactive process is why meaning resides in the speaker, the listener, and among people—not in the word itself. Dictionaries capture conventional definitions, but they can’t fix all the way a word is understood in every situation. Context helps, but meaning also depends on intention and shared understandings within a community. Grammar organizes how we connect ideas, but it doesn’t by itself carry the specific sense of what is being said; the actual meaning comes from how people use language together in real moments. For instance, the same word can express different ideas depending on who says it and in what situation, which shows that meaning lives in usage, not in isolated words.