"Hear" as "understand"

[Johanna Rubba]

English has something quite similar: A person complains about  
something, and the interlocutor says "I hear you, man." This seems to  
express sympathy, but also understanding. People also will say "I  
hear what  you're saying," but again, it seems to be a mixture of  
understanding and a message that one is taking the speaker seriously.  
Further exploration might be in order.



On Feb 1, 2010, at 11:37 AM, Nino Amiridze wrote:

Dear colleagues,

I was wondering whether you could help me in finding languages that
use the verb 'hear' for 'understand', just like English uses 'see' for
the same purpose (I see (=I understand)).

I would be grateful if you could give data and/or references, if there
are investigations on the use of the 'see' vs. 'hear' verbs in
figurative language.

Thank you very much.

Best regards,
Nino Amiridze
http://www.hum.uu.nl/medewerkers/n.amiridze/

Dr. Johanna Rubba, Associate Professor, Linguistics
Linguistics Minor Advisor
English Department
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
E-mail: jrubba at calpoly.edu
Tel.: 805.756.2184
Dept. Ofc. Tel.: 805.756.2596
Dept. Fax: 805.756.6374
URL: http://www.cla.calpoly.edu/~jrubba