H. develops a general conception of a psychologically oriented language theory in which semantics is the central notion. The book contains discussions on a variety of topics: competense/performance, syntax and semantics, the lexicon, the concept of 'Sinnkonstanz', generative semantics, language philosophy, Russian language psychology, language use and non-verbal situation, language development, etc. The approach is primarily hearer-oriented: problems of communication of thought, linguistic functionality, etc. are considered from the point of view of the hearer faced with the problem of making sense of what he hears.