In chapter 8, we looked at the meaning of German words. First, we explored the general relationship between words and meaning. Then we considered how meaning is structured within groups of words, that is to say, in terms of similarity, inclusion, opposition, etc.

One of the things which became clear was the fact that it is not always possible to understand a sentence merely by analysing the individual words it contains. This is particularly true of idioms such as Wo sich Fuchs und Hase gute Nacht sagen or metaphors such as Sie ist ein richtiger Affe. We saw how familiarity with all the words which make up such sentences will not necessarily guarantee your grasping the overall meaning: in order to understand idioms and metaphors, you need to draw upon additional knowledge or experience, which is outside the language system itself.

In this chapter, we shall be pursuing this point further. Consider, for example, the statement Mir ist kalt. If you analyse this sentence simply in terms of the individual words it contains, then it means ‘I am cold’. However, there are many situations in which it could mean something rather different. For example, if it is snowing and you have just entered somebody's house, by saying Mir ist kalt, you might in fact be asking for a hot drink. Alternatively, you could be sitting in a draughty room, and by pointing out that you are cold, you might be making a polite request for a window to be closed.