ABSTRACT
“Ostensive definition” may be defined as “any process by which a person is taught to understand a word otherwise than by the use of other words”. Suppose that, knowing no French, you are shipwrecked on the coast of Normandy: you make your way into a farmhouse, you see bread on the table, and, being famished, you point at it with an inquiring gesture. If the farmer thereupon says “pain”, you will conclude, at least provisionally, that this is the French for “bread”, and you will be confirmed in this view if the word is not repeated when you point at other kinds of eatables. You will then have learnt the meaning of the word by ostensive definition. It is clear that, if you know no French and your teacher knows no English, you must depend upon this process during your first lessons, since you have no linguistic means of communication.
