1. A computer-implemented method comprising: (A) providing, to a user, representations of a plurality of discriminants of meanings of a plurality of symbols in a natural language, wherein each of the plurality of discriminants is associated with a corresponding finite set of mutually exclusive answers to the discriminant, and wherein the plurality of discriminants are orthogonal to each other; (B) receiving, from the user, input representing a plurality of answers to the plurality of discriminants, wherein each of the plurality of answers from the user is selected from the finite set of mutually exclusive answers to the corresponding discriminant; and (C) generating, in response to the input, a data structure tangibly stored in a computer-readable memory, the data structure comprising data representing the plurality of answers from the user and thereby representing a meaning of one of the plurality of symbols in the natural language.