"The feature of language essential for the constitution of institutional facts is the existence of symbolic devices, such as words, that by convention **mean or represent or symbolize** something beyond themselces.【60】"
"There are words, symbols, or other conventional devices that **mean** something or express something or represent or symbolize something beyond themselves,** in a way that is publicly understandable**.【61】"
"The principle is clear enough—a fact is language independent if that very fact requires no linguistic elements for its existence.【61】"
"Some thoughts are language dependent in the sense that an animal could not have that very thought, but some thoughts are language independent in the sense that an animal can have those thoughts without having words or any other linguistic devices.【61】"
"First, mental repreentations, such as thoughts, must be partly constitutive of the fact; and second, the representations in question must be language dependent.【62】"
"The features in virtue of which today is Tuesday the 26th of October cannot exist independently of a verbal system, because its being Tuesday the 26th of October is a matter of its relation to a verbal system. If there were no verbal system, there would be no such fact, even though this day remains "
"The key element in the move from the collective imposition of function to the creation of institutional facts is the imposition of a collectively recognized **status** to which a function is attached.【41】"
"The "counts as" locution names a feature of the imposition of a status to which a function is attached by way of collective intentionality, where the status and its accompanying function go beyond the sheer brute physical functions that can be assigned to physical objects.【44】"