# I mean / the word means



## ThomasK

I would like to know if you (can) use the same verb in these cases, when referrring to meaning or intended meaning. A general answer is alright - and if you can refer to the precise meaning: great !

(I am trying to give some answers myself, but ..)

English:* 'mean',* but also, I think
1. The word *means/ signifies* (conveys, stands for ?) ....
2. I *meant* Z by X (wanted/ intended to say ...)... 

Dutch: 
1. Het woord *betekent* (signi-fy)
2. Ik *bedoel* (I aim/ _doel_ can be purpose as well) ... 

And there is the abbreviation : _i.e._ in English, _c-à-d_ in French, _d.w.z._ in Dutch... 

French: 
1. Le mot *signifie* (...)
2. Je *veux dire* (j'entends) par cela ... 

German: 
1. Das Wort *bedeutet* (signi-fy)/ heißt (is called...)
2. Ich *meine* (will sagen ?)


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## jazyk

In Portuguese:

A palavra significa/quer dizer... (The word means/wants to say...)
(Eu) quero dizer ... (I want to say...)


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## Rallino

In Turkish, we use a rather weird form:

What does it mean ? = Bu ne demek ? (Lit: This what to say ?)

When we say "I mean" "What do you mean?" etc, we go with:

I mean ..... = .... demek istiyorum. = I want to say..... (Lit: ....... to say I want.)

What do you mean? = Ne demek istiyorsun? = What do you want to say? (Lit: What to say you want?)


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## ThomasK

So in both languages you (can) use the same verb. It is interesting, because the feeling I have is that our Dutch word _bedoelen_ for wanting to say, is fairly recent.


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## phosphore

Here it is similar to French.

značiti=to signify
ta reč znači=that word means

hteti reći/kazati=to want to say/tell
hoću da kažem=I want to say


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## ThomasK

Can you also say: 'that word wants to say' literally? (The 'wants' sounds awkward in English, but OK...)


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## Orlin

phosphore said:


> Here it is similar to French.
> 
> značiti=to signify BG знача/znacha (означавам/oznachavam can also be used)
> ta reč znači=that word means BG тази дума значи/означава/tazi duma znachi/oznachava
> 
> hteti reći/kazati=to want to say/tell
> hoću da kažem=I want to say BG (аз) искам да кажа/ (az) iskam da kazha


 
Added Bulgarian - the models are very similar.


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## ThomasK

But here, Orlin, I'd like to read the transcription; I can decipher some Slavic signs, but not well, and not correctly. Thanks !


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## Orlin

ThomasK said:


> But here, Orlin, I'd like to read the transcription; I can decipher some Slavic signs, but not well, and not correctly. Thanks !


 
Transliteration added!


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## phosphore

ThomasK said:


> Can you also say: 'that word wants to say' literally? (The 'wants' sounds awkward in English, but OK...)


 
Not really. I can imagine *ovo hoće reći*=_this wants to say_ (infinitive) but not *ovo hoće da kaže*=_this wants to tell_ (another construction) and definitely not *ova reč hoće reći/da kaže*=_this word wants to say/tell_, and that probably because just *hoće reći* is used in the sense of _in other words, c'est-à-dire_.


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## miguel89

Spanish, as (almost) always like Portuguese:

The word means.... = La palabra quiere decir.... (The word wants to say....)
I mean.... = Quiero decir.... (I want to say....)


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## ThomasK

Thanks, all of you. You are pointing out something interesting, Phosphore: the separate phrase 
_- *i.e/ id est*_ in English, 
_- *dat wil zeggen*_*/ d.w.z.,*in Dutch 
_- *c'est-à-dire/ c-à-d *(?)_ in French, 
_- *das heißt/ d.h.*_ in German, 
abbreviated in many languages, indeed. Mostly quite similar to the translation of 'that means', but still different sometimes. Please add that version in your language, whoever reads this. Thanks!

Here again I realize that translating is a complex matter - and so is asking about it. ;-)


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## Rallino

_In Turkish_, i.e. / c-à-d... is *yani*. It's a 4-letter short word, so there is no abbreviation.


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## ThomasK

Does it mean anything, Rallino, something like a verb ?


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## Rallino

ThomasK said:


> Does it mean anything, Rallino, something like a verb ?



No, it doesn't have any other meaning. The dictionary says: 

_Demek şu ki, demek ki, sözün kısası, doğrusu anlamlarında bir söz.

_(A word that is used to say: _It means that, it wants to say that, long story short, the truth is..._)


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## sakvaka

*Finnish* follows quite the same tracks as English.

_Mitä tuo sana tarkoittaa? _What does that word mean?
_Mitä sinä sillä tarkoitit?_ What did you mean by that?

(rarer: _Mitä sinä tarkoitit sanomalla... _What did you mean by saying that... I'd say_ Mitä sinä tarkoitit, kun sanoit..._)


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## Favara

In Catalan it's either _significar_ (to signify) or _voler dir_ (to "want to say"), as seems to be the norm in Romance languages.
Does anybody know how they said this in Latin? Did they use _to want + to say_ too?


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## ThomasK

Thanks, but I do not think a person can say: 'Io (?) significa/o ..' in Catalan, when meaning 'I mean')? _(Sorry, only know some Italian)_ And how about id est/i.e. ?


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## Favara

Oh, sorry...
_Significar:_ Words, symbols, events. ->"To be a sign of..." People (usually) aren't signs/symbols, so they can't signify anything.
_Voler dir:_ People, words, symbols, events. -> Seems we're OK with abstract ideas "wanting to say" things like they were people.

_Què vols dir?_ What do you mean?
_Què volia dir URSS? Què significava URSS?_ What did USSR mean?
_Què vol dir el 4 de juliol per als americans? Què significa el 4 de juliol per als americans?_ What does the 4th of July mean to Americans?


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## apmoy70

In Greek:*
I mean-->*«Εννοώ» (eno'o); derives from the classical verb  «ἐννοέω/ἐννοῶ» (ennŏ'ĕō [uncontracted]/ennŏ'ō [contracted])-->_to_ _form a notion of, __have in one's thoughts, consider, reflect, __consider.
_*The word means-->*«Σημαίνω» (si'meno) which derives from the classical verb «σημαίνω» (sē'mænō)-->lit. _to show by a sign, _metaph. _to indicate, point out.
_


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## bibax

Czech:

1. *To slovo znamená ...* = The word means/signifies ...

*to znamená ...* (abbr. *tzn.*) = it means ...
also *to jest ...* (abbr. *tj.*) = it is ... (id est ...)

*znamenati* (derived from the noun *znamení* _= sign, signal, omen, auspice_) = to signify;
We have also *značiti* (like in Serbian, Russian, ...), it is derived from the noun *znak* (_= a sign_).

Both *znamení* and *znak* are derived from the stem *zna-* (related to Gr. gno-, gnoma)

2. *Míním ... * = I mean/Ich meine ...

*míniti* = Germ. meinen;

Míniti and meinen (and mean) are obviously related.


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## Outsider

ThomasK said:


> And there is the abbreviation : _i.e._ in English, _c-à-d_ in French, _d.w.z._ in Dutch...
> 
> French:
> 1. Le mot *signifie/veut dire* (...)
> 2. Je *veux dire* (j'entends) par cela ...


In French, like in the other Romance languages mentioned so far, you can say that a word "signifies" or that it "wants/means to say", but you only say "I want/mean to say".

As for the conjunctive phrase "that is to say" (*c'est à dire* in French, abbreviated *c-à-d*), this would be:

in Portuguese: *quer/quero dizer,* (that/I) want(s) to say; *isto é*, this is; *ou seja*, or be it
in Spanish: *es decir* (that) is to say; *o sea*, or be it

These expressions are not commonly abbreviated, as far as I know, but the abbreviation *i.e.* of the Latin phrase *id est*, "that is", is sometimes used.

Incidentally, in Portuguese the verb *ser* "to be" can also be used to indicate the meaning of a word: *id est é "isto é" em latim*, "_id est_ means 'that is' in Latin".


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## Orlin

bibax said:


> :
> also *to jest ...* (abbr. *tj.*) = it is ... (id est ...)


 
I forgot that this is also found in other Slavic languages: Bulgarian: то ест (т. е.), Russian: то есть (т. е.), Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian: to jest (tj.).


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