Peter T. Daniels wrote:

> i18n@... wrote:
> > To me an utterance conveys meaning verbally, but it may or may not be
> > part of the syntax and grammar of any particular language. I am pretty
> > sure ululating conveys meaning in context, as much as a moan or a yelp
> > or muttering under one's breath might.
>
> None of which are utterances.


> > Maybe I missed that day in vocabulary class... is there a more academic
> > meaning you are referring to?
>
> Of course. It's the very beginning of Bloomfield's Postulates for the
> Study of Language (Language 1 [1924]). An utterance is a stretch of
> speech, and the first Post"ulate is "Utterances may be the same or partly
> the same." (Don't hold me to the wording. You can find the article in
> Joos's Readings in Linguistics and in Hockett's Bloomfield Anthology --
> I assume it survived the condensations of both books published by
> Chicago.)

Is that the common meaning of utterance? I don't think "utterance" is an
unknown word to masses of people with 8th grade education, yet I somehow
doubt that is what they have in mind - I looked at a few definitions in
online dicts
(http://www.google.com/search?q=definition:+utterance&hl=en&lr=&safe=off&start=10&sa=N).
Many if not most of them rely on a sense of "vocalization" as opposed to
"speech".

While I don't doubt your guy wrote that in 1924, 80 years later, it is
not the common usage, nor was it apparently the definition in popular
dictionaries even before that (see Webster 1913 at
http://www.google.com/search?q=definition:+utterance&hl=en&lr=&safe=off&start=10&sa=N)

Perhaps in certain academic circles "Utterance" is Jargon meaning
specifically "a vocalized stream of words", but I don't think that is
the common vernacular of it - do you?

Best,

Barry

PS - BTW in your definition does the speech have to make sense in order
for it to be a utterance? If so, then it seems the definition lies in
the ears f the beholder, just as beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder.

But if not, then does it rely on the intent of the utterer to convey
meaning? If so, then ululating surely applies. If not, then the
definition is reduced to "making sounds with the mouth", which I don't
think either of us intends.