I still would say the same could be said for people. If from birth I was told that stand means sit, and I was raised in that manner, my response to being told to stand would be to sit, language is overall a response to a trained stimulus. It’s a very complex and interwoven response to trained stimulus but I am not interpreting the word itself, I am responding to what I have been trained that the word means. When I learn a new word I don’t respond based on what it means without having it demonstrated or explained.

Is that not just understanding language though? I could say the exact same thing about myself.