SOME PERSPECTIVES ON UNDERSTANDING IN SPOKEN INTERACTION 1)
Jens Allwood · 1986
ION Acta Philosophica Gothoburgensia No 1 Gteborg 1986 2 2. AN INITIAL CHARACTERIZATION OF UNDERSTANDING Let me start by the following abstract characterization of understanding. Understanding is a relation between an agent and some particular type of information. In the discussion below I will try to become more specific about the nature of the relationship and about the nature of the relational objects - the agent that understands and the information that is understood. Some initial guidance can perhaps be found by studying the lexical item understand and its derived forms understanding (noun or adjective), understandable (adjective) and ability (noun). If we look at the meaning of these forms, the stemform understand is by itself most naturally taken as a verb denoting a relational process or state. The noun understanding denotes the reified relational process or state of understanding. The adjective understanding denotes a quality which an agent who understands has. The adjec...