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Comprehend Languages and "literal" meaning
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<blockquote data-quote="Macv12" data-source="post: 6748389" data-attributes="member: 6801600"><p>I've had times where I can't remember what language I had a conversation in, or what language I heard just minutes ago, but I remember the meaning of what was said. I imagine Comprehend Languages would work similarly: you understand what was said as if you spoke that language, but you don't hear it in any specific language, necessarily.</p><p></p><p>I don't know Chinese, but in Japanese, there are a number of stock phrases used in various situations, similar in concept to the way "thank you" or "nice to meet you" are used. There are phrases for leaving the house, finishing a meal, and generally endearing yourself to the listener when receiving a favor (which is particularly hard to translate), etc. The literal meanings of most of these would be nonsense to a non-speaker, but they're perfectly intuitive once you know them and any Japanese speaker would know what they mean. I imagine that with Comprehend Languages, you would understand that intuitive meaning, but be hard-pressed to explain what was said to anyone else.</p><p></p><p>As for the importance of "literal meaning," I think this would mean you understand what would be clearly understood by a native speaker of the language, but you don't pick up on double entendre, code, or other meta-level "meaning" that was part of the speech but not the regular meaning of those words.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Macv12, post: 6748389, member: 6801600"] I've had times where I can't remember what language I had a conversation in, or what language I heard just minutes ago, but I remember the meaning of what was said. I imagine Comprehend Languages would work similarly: you understand what was said as if you spoke that language, but you don't hear it in any specific language, necessarily. I don't know Chinese, but in Japanese, there are a number of stock phrases used in various situations, similar in concept to the way "thank you" or "nice to meet you" are used. There are phrases for leaving the house, finishing a meal, and generally endearing yourself to the listener when receiving a favor (which is particularly hard to translate), etc. The literal meanings of most of these would be nonsense to a non-speaker, but they're perfectly intuitive once you know them and any Japanese speaker would know what they mean. I imagine that with Comprehend Languages, you would understand that intuitive meaning, but be hard-pressed to explain what was said to anyone else. As for the importance of "literal meaning," I think this would mean you understand what would be clearly understood by a native speaker of the language, but you don't pick up on double entendre, code, or other meta-level "meaning" that was part of the speech but not the regular meaning of those words. [/QUOTE]
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