What Does Language Mean?

The main goal of your book is to explore what we know about how we figure out what language means. So i guess a good place for us to start on that is to talk about why it matters and what the theories are about it. The science has sort of best coalesced on the front end of that process. And we understand pretty well how you hear, at least at the low level of hearing. But then what, right? What happens once youve, let'se, even recognized a word? How do you know what it means? Does the story get more complicated if the meaning of the word depends on the context?