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Deutsch: bedeuten

Englisch translation: to mean / to signify



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Glossareintrag (aus Frage unten abgeleitet)
Deutsch Begriff oder Satz:bedeuten / bezeichnen
Englisch Übersetzung:to mean / to signify
Eingetragen von:Steffen Walter
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6:42pm Feb 14, 2004Login or register (free) for more options.
Übersetzungen Deutsch > Englisch [PRO]
Social Sciences - Philosophie / understanding Wittgenstein
Deutsch Begriff oder Satz: bedeuten
How does bedeuten and bedeutung compare to bezeichnen and zeichen? Can any of the above words correspond with "significance?"
Sandra Dimas
Notiz(en) an den/des Fragesteller(s)
Tobias Ernst: 7:49pm Feb 14, 2004: Maybe you would want to post a sample sentence from Wittgenstein for eaach word? -
Non-ProZ.com (asker): 8:05pm Feb 14, 2004: Philosophical Investigations - I am wondering if it matters that Wittgenstein switches between "mean" and "signify" in his discussion from Philosophical Investigations. Does it matter that bedueten and bedeutung are seldom used with personal subjects?
SwissTell: 8:46pm Feb 14, 2004: Not sure whether I understand your additional concern - and as Tobias Ernst already pointed out, a correct answer might be easier with a sentence to be guided by. Offhand I would have to say: no, it does NOT matter that bedeuten und Bedeutung are .... -
elisp: 9:49pm Feb 14, 2004: Not just most of Wittgenstein's works, but a major part of 20th century philosophy is about the meaning of *meaning*. We can't help you to understand Wittgenstein by translating his terms into English. -
Johanna Timm, PhD: 1:13am Feb 15, 2004: As Tobias suggested: please give us a sample sentence!! -

(cf de Saussure?)
Erklärung:
In Std German usage these days, "Bedeutung" can take a meaning of "significance", but also of "meaning".

Now I haven't been into philosophy (after c18) that much myself, but Wittgenstein borders on some linguistic topics. "bezeichnen" and "bedeuten" reminds me of the Saussurean distinction of "signifiant" and "signifiee"... in this sense, they are very similar (to me) but not quite:
- whereas "bezeichnen" would indicate the actional quality of a signifiant (which is considered to be) pointing to one *specific* (class of) signifiee,
- "bedeuten" would indicate a signifiant pointing *in the general direction* of a signifiee.
Does that help in any way?

I don't think example sentences could be of much use with comprehension questions about philosophical texts... there, one should rather ask for an example *text* - which, however, could only serve to help figure out the meaning of the words in it _as_far_as_they_are_in_it_.
Ausgewählte Antwort von:

Robert M Maier
Vereinigtes Königreich
Hinweis von Fragesteller an den Antwortenden
4 KudoZ-Punkte wurden für diese Antwort vergeben



ZUSAMMENFASSUNG ALLER ÜBERSETZUNGEN (ENGLISCH)
4 +3bedeuten = to mean / to signify ........
SwissTell
5 +2not important
Lars Helbig
4several meanings
Alexandra Bühler
3 +1Meaning/significationAnne Gillard-Groddeck
3(cf de Saussure?)
Robert M Maier


  

Antworten

5 Min.   Antwortsicherheit: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
several meanings

Erklärung:
significance = Bedeutung (often in the sense of "importance".

bedeuten: Das bedeutet = This means ...

zeichnen means subscribe for shares (financial context)



Alexandra Bühler
Deutschland
Muttersprache: Deutsch

Kommentare zu dieser Antwort (und Antworten vom Beantworter der Frage)
Neutraler Kommentar Chris Rowson: "zecihnen" also means draw (as in portray) and "bezeichnen" can also mean describe, delineate etc. which seems more relevant to Wittgenstein than share issues do.
46 Min.

Neutraler Kommentar elisp: It says *Zeichen*, misspelt as *zeichen* in the question, not *zeichnen*. - Obviously the asker does not really have a German version of Wittgenstein's text at hand, he is just teasing us.(sign-designation, Zeichen-Bezeichnung)
3 Stunden
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7 Min.   Antwortsicherheit: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 Zustimmung (Netto): +3
bedeuten = to mean / to signify ........

Erklärung:
.. Bedeutung = meaning or significance
... bezeichnen = to mark, denote, designate
.... Bezeichnung = mark, denotation, designation

off the top of my head. There are no doubt more possibilities but this ought to answer your question.

SwissTell
Vereinigte Staaten
Muttersprache: Deutsch
PRO-Punkte in Kategorie: 4

Kommentare zu dieser Antwort (und Antworten vom Beantworter der Frage)
Zustimmung Chris Rowson
44 Min.

Zustimmung Mario Marcolin: yes :) somewhat simplified: bedeutung = connotation, bezeichnung = denotation
17 Stunden

Zustimmung gangels
19 Stunden
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3 Stunden   Antwortsicherheit: Answerer confidence 5/5 Zustimmung (Netto): +2
not important

Erklärung:
I think a accurate definition of the 'meaning of meaning' goes beyond the capabilities of this forum. You should not put to much worth on the fact that the terms used originated in the german language. The everyday german meaning of the words has little in common with their usage in those philosphical texts.

Yes, you could translate Bedeutung into english and get 'meaning' or 'signifance' but that alone means nothing. You have to actually read the books to get an understanding of what Wittgenstein means with Bedeutung.


    Quelle: http://www.kfs.org/~jonathan/witt/tlph.html
Lars Helbig
Deutschland
Muttersprache: Deutsch

Kommentare zu dieser Antwort (und Antworten vom Beantworter der Frage)
Zustimmung Kim Metzger
8 Min.

Zustimmung elisp: That's exactly what I meant to say in my comment to the question.
26 Min.
  -> sorry I had only read the answers and not seen your comment up there

Zustimmung Geneviève von Levetzow
1 Stunde

Zustimmung Bentext: Comment of the month :)
3 Stunden

Zustimmung Cécile Kellermayr
11 Stunden

Widerspruch Robert M Maier: Philosophical usage springs monodirectionally from everyday usage. Even when reading the original, you may have difficulties to comprehend the full semantic range that the author had at her/his command, if you're not a native speaker yourself.
12 Stunden

Widerspruch Mario Marcolin: Yes, you have to read Wittgenstein to know what he means, but that doesn't change the fact that he uses words that are indeed translatable! :)
13 Stunden

Widerspruch gangels: with Robert/Mario
16 Stunden
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16 Stunden   Antwortsicherheit: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
(cf de Saussure?)

Erklärung:
In Std German usage these days, "Bedeutung" can take a meaning of "significance", but also of "meaning".

Now I haven't been into philosophy (after c18) that much myself, but Wittgenstein borders on some linguistic topics. "bezeichnen" and "bedeuten" reminds me of the Saussurean distinction of "signifiant" and "signifiee"... in this sense, they are very similar (to me) but not quite:
- whereas "bezeichnen" would indicate the actional quality of a signifiant (which is considered to be) pointing to one *specific* (class of) signifiee,
- "bedeuten" would indicate a signifiant pointing *in the general direction* of a signifiee.
Does that help in any way?

I don't think example sentences could be of much use with comprehension questions about philosophical texts... there, one should rather ask for an example *text* - which, however, could only serve to help figure out the meaning of the words in it _as_far_as_they_are_in_it_.

Robert M Maier
Vereinigtes Königreich
Muttersprache: Deutsch
PRO-Punkte in Kategorie: 4
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)


17 Stunden   Antwortsicherheit: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 Zustimmung (Netto): +1
Meaning/signification

Erklärung:
Putting it very simply:

In semiotics a sign is broken down into signifier (Bezeichnung) and signified (Bezeichneten), which is the "thing in itself" or an abstract concept. According to Saussure, I believe, the relationship between Bezeichnung and Bezeichneten is purely arbitrary. However the system is not arbitrary in itself.

This means that we cannot just invent our own language. We move within a system of signs.

Bedeutung is derived from the relationship of the signs amongst themselves within specific contexts.

Without knowing Wittgenstein I believe that his work explores these topics and also the idea of a "private language".

Anne Gillard-Groddeck
Deutschland
Muttersprache: Englisch
PRO-Punkte in Kategorie: 4

Kommentare zu dieser Antwort (und Antworten vom Beantworter der Frage)
Zustimmung gangels
2 Stunden
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