Just as science is a systematic method of exploring and evaluating nature, philosophy is a systematic exploration and evaluation of beliefs.
One of the main branches of philosophy, epistemology, deals with the methods and means by which we obtain and verify knowledge. One of the main issues concerning epistemology is the role that concepts play in the process of obtaining and verifying what we know. Among many aspects of this question commonly considered are whether meaning exists independently of thought or is meaning a product of the mind and what role and at what stage does language or linguistics enter and leave the process of obtaining or deriving meaning from our observations and experience and in applying it to our actions in the world.
Rather than lead you further astray with my person views on this question I�ll leave you at this point to continue your search for an answer that may be more widely regarded as appropriate
here.