An Ontology of Meaning vs A Theory of Meaning

An ontology of meaning specifies the fundamental relational structure and potentiality of meaning itself: what kinds of meaning events are possible, how they can be actualised, and how they relate across systems. It does not prescribe how meaning is represented, communicated, or interpreted within any particular semiotic system.

A theory of meaning, by contrast, explains how meaning functions within a system, for example through signs, grammatical structures, or interpretive rules. Hallidayan systemic functional linguistics, for instance, provides a theory of how meanings are realised in language and context, but does not address the ontological status of meaning in general.