But let's see: is the
cry || call
“slab!” in
example
(
4) a sentence or a word? – If
it's a word,
then
surely it hasn't
anyway the same
meaning as the word
that's pronounced the
same || “slab” in our
ordinary language, for in
our language
(
4) it is a
cry || call; but if
it's a sentence, then
surely it isn't
the elliptical sentence “slab!” of
our language. ‒ ‒ ‒ As regards the first
question
, || : you can
call “slab!” a word, and you can
also call it a sentence; perhaps
fittingly || best a
“degenerate sentence”
(as one
speaks of a degenerate hyperbola). And it is precisely
our “elliptical” sentence. ‒ ‒ ‒ But
that is surely just a
shortened form of the sentence, “Bring me a
slab”, and || isn't this a shortened form of the
sentence “Bring me a slab”?
And there isn't
any such || such
a sentence in
example || the language
(
4).
– But
why
should I not || shouldn't
I rather call the sentence
“Bring me a slab” a
lengthening of
the sentence “slab!”
?
‒ ‒ ‒ Because the person who calls out
“slab!” really means “Bring me
a slab!”. ‒ ‒ ‒ But how do you do
that || this,
meaning this while you
say
“slab”? Do you say the unshortened
sentence to yourself? And why should I, in order to
say what you mean by the
cry || call “slab!”, translate
this expression into another? And if they mean the
same, – why shouldn't I say:
“When you say ‘slab!’ you mean
‘slab!’”? –
Or: Why shouldn't it be possible
for you to mean “slab!”, if you can mean
“Bring me the slab”? ‒ ‒ ‒
But when I shout “slab!”, then surely what
I want is
11
¤ that
he
shall || shall bring me a
slab. ‒ ‒ ‒ Certainly, but does
“wanting this” consist in the fact that
you
, in some way, think || think in
any form a different sentence from the one you
speak? –