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Semantics: Theory of Semantic

Semantics is the study of meaning in language. It examines how individual words and phrases contribute to overall meaning, and how context also influences interpretation. There are several theories within semantics, including formal semantics which uses logic to analyze truth and possibility, lexical semantics which breaks down individual word meanings, and conceptual semantics which considers basic word concepts separate from contextually-derived meanings. Semantics plays an important role in everyday communication as well, as the same words can take on different implications depending on contextual factors like tone, situation, and additional implied meanings.

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245 views3 pages

Semantics: Theory of Semantic

Semantics is the study of meaning in language. It examines how individual words and phrases contribute to overall meaning, and how context also influences interpretation. There are several theories within semantics, including formal semantics which uses logic to analyze truth and possibility, lexical semantics which breaks down individual word meanings, and conceptual semantics which considers basic word concepts separate from contextually-derived meanings. Semantics plays an important role in everyday communication as well, as the same words can take on different implications depending on contextual factors like tone, situation, and additional implied meanings.

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ines sitompul
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Name : Ines Margaretha Sitompul

Nim : 200705063
 Linguistics summary
SEMANTICS
Semantics is the study of the meaning of linguistic expressions. The language can be a
natural language, such as English or Navajo, or an artificial language, like a computer
programming language. Meaning in natural languages is mainly studied by linguists. In fact,
semantics is one of the main branches of contemporary linguistics. Theoretical computer
scientists and logicians think about artificial languages. In some areas of computer science,
these divisions are crossed. In machine translation, for instance, computer scientists may
want to relate natural language texts to abstract representations of their meanings; to do this,
they have to design artificial languages for representing meanings.
For example : semantics will help you see the many meanings of English words , In everyday
use, a child might make use of semantics to understand a mom’s directive to “do your
chores” as, “do your chores whenever you feel like it.” However, the mother was probably
saying, “do your chores right now.”
 How meaning works in language:
The study of semantics looks at how meaning works in language, and because of this it often
uses native speaker intuitions about the meaning of words and phrases to base research on.
We all understand semantics already on a subconscious level, it’s how we understand each
other when we speak.
 How the way in which words are put together creates meaning:
One of the things that Semantics looks at, and is based on, is how the meaning of speech is
not just derived from the meanings of the individual words all put together, as you can see
from the example below.
Theory Of Semantic
Since meaning in language is so complex, there are actually different theories used within
semantics, such as formal semantics, lexical semantics, and conceptual semantics.
1) Formal Semantics – Formal semantics uses techniques from math, philosophy, and
logic to analyze the broader relationship between language and reality, truth and
possibility. Has your teacher ever asked you to use an “if… then” question? It breaks
apart lines of information to detect the underlying meaning or consequence of events.
2) Lexical Semantics – Lexical semantics deconstruct words and phrases within a line of
text to understand the meaning in terms of context. This can include a study of
individual nouns, verbs, adjectives, prefixes, root words, suffixes, or longer phrases or
idioms.
3) Conceptual Semantics – Conceptual semantics deals with the most basic concept and
form of a word before our thoughts and feelings added context to it.For example, at its
most basic we know a cougar to be a large wild cat. But, the word cougar has also
come to indicate an older woman who’s dating a younger man. This is where context
is important.
Types of Semantics
Connotative Semantic
When a word suggests a set of associations, or is an imaginative or emotional suggestion
connected with the words, while readers can relate to such associations. Simply, it represents
figurative meaning.
Denotative Semantic
It suggests the literal, explicit, or dictionary meanings of the words, without using associated
meanings. It also uses symbols in writing that suggest expressions of writers, such as an
exclamation mark, quotation mark, apostrophe, colon, or quotation mark.
Semantics in Everyday Life

One part of studying language is understanding the many meanings of individual words.
Once you have a handle on the words themselves, context comes into play. The same word
can be said to two people and they can interpret them differently. For example,
imagine a man told a woman, “I care for you… a lot.” Wouldn’t that made the woman’s heart
melt? Sure, if he just said that out of the blue, walking down the beach one day. But, what if
the woman told the man, “I love you,” and, after a long pause, all he said was, “I care for
you… a lot.” She’d be crushed. So, context (the current situation) will always play a role in
everyday semantics.

Here are some examples of everyday words that can have more than one meaning:

 A water pill could be a pill with water in it but it is understood to be a diuretic that


causes a person to lose water from his body.
 “Crash” can mean an auto accident, a drop in the Stock Market, to attend a party
without being invited, ocean waves hitting the shore, or the sound of cymbals being
struck together.
 Depending on context, a flowering plant could be referred to as a weed or a flower.
 A human can be referred to as a male, female, child, adult, baby, bachelor, father or
mother.
 To call someone a lady means more than simply being female. Semantics tell us that,
if she’s a lady, she possesses elegance and grace.
 “Young” can allude to a colt, filly, piglet, baby, puppy, or kitten.
 To say something was challenging leads us to believe it was not a good experience. It
wasn’t just difficult, it was also unpleasant.
 The verb “move” can mean change place, push, pull or carry, or stir emotion.
 To call someone an angel doesn’t mean they inhabit heaven. Semantics leads us to
believe they have a lovely disposition.
 The word “create” can mean build, make, construct, erect, compose or imagine.
 The simple word "on" can have many meanings, such as: on call, on the roof, on
cloud nine, on edge, on fire, on purpose, on demand, on top, or on the phone.

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