A small theory for constructing commonsense-based assumptions about sentences

 A small theory for constructing commonsense-based assumptions about sentences : 

In any sentence we encounter and cognize, there are generally 2 parts - what is explicitly stated in the sentence and what assumptions we make attached to its elements, based upon our commonsense, to comprise our understanding of the sentence. With the help of the latter, we construct a visualization or an assumptive model of whats going on. 

Applying commonsense is synonymous with visualisation.

Lets integrate this theory with how we cognize a sentence in general. That is, building the commonsense model would be a part of the theory. 

When someone says to us - John is standing on the stage - we imagine a man standing upright on his feet and head at the top, on the stage. When someone tells us - John gave a ball to Jack - we commonsensically assume that John gave the ball with his hands to Jack. Here commonsense assumption-making is involved. 

Here is the theory : 

Most text or spoken speech content falls under the category of 'WHAT'. Let me explain this. Whatever is stated in books and speech is the 'WHAT'. Consider 'John flew from New York to Boston'. Here, this sentence talks about 'WHAT did John do?' 'John fell down' talks about 'WHAT happened to John?' John gave a book to Jack talks about 'WHAT did John do?' or 'WHAT did John give to Jack?' or 'WHAT transpired between John and Jack?' A lot of sentences talk about the WHAT, in general. 

Upon hearing the sentence, the first thing the mind does is to think about, if not mentioned, the 'HOW?' As in, how did the 'what' happen? - the way. So upon hearing 'John is standing on the stage', we first think about the HOW i.e. how is he standing? This is important for the cognitive visualisation.

To answer this HOW, we tap our commonsense knowledge. In this we obviously draw forth from our libraries of memory, what are the usual ways of the 'WHAT' happening i.e. the HOW. Commonsense answers the HOW.

Now, here is a Linguistic sub-theory for how the mind finds out the HOW commonsensically - 

Mostly, the WHAT refers to the verb in the sentence - (standing, flew, gave etc. in the examples above). Now, there are 2 kinds of verbs I propose - Dependent verbs and Independent verbs. Dependent verbs are those verbs which require some additional information attached to them (usually a noun) for completion of their meaning. For example, if someone says, 'I am building' or 'I am preparing', one immediately needs to know and ask - What are you preparing or building? The answer could be - building a house/a net/a model and preparing a plan/for an exam/a dish. Independent verbs dont require additional information for completion of their meaning. They are "self-sufficient". For example, when someone says - I am dancing or jogging or running, one doesnt need to know more to understand. 'Dancing', 'running' and 'jogging' are self-sufficient to a great extent. 

So, coming back to our main theory, when the mind encounters a HOW and taps the commonsense knowledge-library for an answer, if the verb is an independent verb, it constructs a visualisation on the basis of the repeatedly seen/known visuals of the verb. For example, in the sentence 'John is standing on the stage', the verb is standing. It is an independent verb. So the answer to HOW John is standing is on the basis of the hundreds of thousands of images of people seen standing - upright, on their legs with their head on the top. Hence the mind visualizes John standing upright on the stage. In the case of 'John gave a book to Jack;, the situation is different, since the verb - 'gave' - is dependent. That is, it is unclear as to 'gave a name' verbally, or 'gave a house' on paper, or 'gave an object' with hands'? In such cases, the additional surrounding data in the sentence is drawn forth. Here, it is 'a book' since John gave a book to Jack. Now, commonsense libraries are tapped for what are the typical, usual, repeatedly-seen visuals of books being given by one person to another. The answer happens to be - with hands. (In rare cases, by emailing e-books as attachments). Hence the answer to the HOW in this case is 'with hands' and in the former case, 'upright, on the legs with the head at the top'. This is what and how commonsense helps construct the assumptive visualisation of the data in the sentence - in other words, the "construction of the assumption", as mentioned in the title.

Going on further, if commonsense can complete the picture by answering the HOW, we keep quiet upon hearing the sentence, and keep our understanding to ourselves, by saying nothing further. If commonsense cannot complete the picture, we ask the speaker or the source - HOW? For example, if your friend tells you - lets go to some restaurant, you dont know how far he is talking of going and there is no way commonsense can answer the HOW - go by bus, train, his private vehicle or walking. So you ask explicitly - how are we going?

Data is the WHAT; knowledge is the HOW. 

This theory explains the basic, broad sentence-cognition framework, with commonsense-based assumptive modeling.