ABSTRACT
We start with a very ordinary word indeed, bicycle. What does the word bicycle mean? Before we answer this question, let me remind you that we are talking about what you
have in your mind. One thing you certainly know is the word bicycle: you know how to pronounce it, maybe you even know how to spell it, and you certainly know that it is a noun (though you may not be aware that you know any of these things). You must know all these things, otherwise you couldn’t use the word as you (no doubt) do use it. Another way of saying all this is to say that bicycle is a CONCEPT in your mind, and that you know a variety of FACTS about it-the fact that it is spelt ‘bicycle’, that it is pronounced with stress on the first syllable, that it is a noun, and so on. We don’t need to agonise over exactly what a concept is; for our purposes it is enough to be clear that it is a part of our knowledge about which we know facts.
