LANGUAGE AND THE CONCEPTUALIZATION OF MEANING.

This paper attempts to examine what is involved when language is treated as a phenomenon of theoretic concern for the sociologist. The approach to `meaning' suggested by Wittgenstem is outlined and counterposed to formalized representations of the `semantics' of natural languages. The critical issue of rules of correct use' of language symbols is discussed, and some theoretical problems m describing linguistic competence are raised. Some of these problems are located also in a sociological domain where cultural grammars are theoretical goals of research. It is suggested that since linguistic knowledge is practical knowledge, codifications of it in rule-like form can only be for practical purposes. An alternative approach to the analysis of members' speech practices is proposed wherein the theorist investigates members' methods for resolving the indexical properties of communicative interaction, and treats `rules' and other order-assembly devices as elements of practical reasoning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]