>1) What gives a word meaning in a language?
Besides it already being the conceptualization of an object or an idea,
the context in which the word is used.

>2) Can words not cross languages and have the same meaning?
Laughter in any language means the same thing (with perhaps different
social consequences), but when we laugh we aren't using words are we?
What's beautiful is that Pa and Ma mean virtually the same thing in every
language.  The word "Football" means the exact same thing around the
globe (with the exception of the US, where the abbreviation of Assoc.
Football, "Soccer", is used).

>3) Is " a " a word?
Absolutely (the rule of thumb is that if you can find it in a dictionary,
it's a word).

>So the connection of a written word to sound is the key?
Yes.  Monty Python had a skit about a man who pronounced b instead of c
(e.g., bolor for color).  So long as he was intelligible (albeit
comically), there was no problem, but if he had made unintelligible
sounds he would have been using a private language.  So, in order to sort
out homonyms, we need to know the context (which is a pain and more of an
art in written and spoken English, but of extreme precision in written
and spoken Spanish (e.g., the Spanish word "te" (with an accent) means
"tea", whereas "te" (without the accent) means "to you")).

>Do words change their meaning when included/grouped with other words?
Most definitely.  My favorite current example is the word Reagents (are
they things a chemist uses or a group of administrators in academia?)
When this word is isolated from its context, it is impossible to
determine which of the two meanings the word has.

Fernando Colina
Center for World Languages and Cultures
University of Massachusetts Boston
100 Morrissey Boulevard
Boston, MA  02125-3393