In Indian tradition the understanding of the meaning of a sentence is known as g~bdabodha. Through ~abdabodha a successful communication holds between the speaker and the hearer, when a sentence is uttered. But how do we understand the meaning of a sentence? A sentence when uttered can deliver its meaning only when it conforms to certain norms. They are the auxiliary conditions which make a sentence semantically acceptable. When a sentence is uttered an attentive hearer cognises the words and understands the meaning of the sentence. This cognition of the meaning of a sentence is a qualificative cognition (viYis.t.a -/~na), a judgment, which results in the wake of the understanding of the meaning of the constituent words in the sentence, not directly but coalesced. The word meanings must be mutually connected. This requires that there must be syntactical relation (saFnsarga). This at the outset differentiates £abdabodha from other types of valid cognition, e.g. perception, and inference, which concern neither with word-meanings nor with their mutual syntactical relation. 1
How do we understand the meaning of a sentence? The Indian theorist assumes a psycho-physical process. When a meaningful sentence is uttered the hearer, if he knows the language and is attentive to it, automatically reacts and instantly understands the meanings of the word elements in the sentence. Thereafter the ideal hearer cognises the syntactic relation between the discrete word meanings. In order to generate gabdabodha, the understanding of the meaning of the word elements is not all. It is no doubt the primary condition, but there are some auxiliary conditions. These are cognition (i) of expectancy (?lkdhks.~), (ii) of semantical competency (yogyatF O, (iii) of contiguity (asatti), (iv) of speaker's intention (tatparya). We need not go into the details of these concepts. 2
We can now concentrate on our main point. Is g~bdabodha a separate type ofpram~.na? At the outset, I must make it clear that the Sanskrit word praman.a is a bit baffling. It has three constituents, a prefix 'pra', a root 'md' meaning 'to cognise', and a suffix 'lyu.t'. This 'lyut.' suffix can be used in two different meanings according to our ways of thinking, and consequently the