Semantics is the branch of linguistics that studies meaning in language.

It focuses on
how words, phrases, and sentences convey meaning, including both literal and
implied meanings. Semantics explores how language users understand and interpret
meanings based on context, structure, and cultural conventions.

The 7 Types of Meaning

Semantics can be broken down into several types of meaning. Linguist Geoffrey
Leech famously identified seven types of meaning that help capture the complexity of
how words and sentences convey information.

Conceptual (Denotative) Meaning:

Definition: This is the literal, dictionary meaning of a word—the core idea it

represents, independent of any associated feelings or emotions. Conceptual meaning
is based on objective facts and is context-independent.

Example: The word cat refers to a small, domesticated feline animal. This is its
conceptual or denotative meaning.

Connotative Meaning:

Definition: Connotative meaning refers to the additional meanings or associations a

word carries beyond its literal definition. These meanings often depend on cultural or
personal associations.

Example: The word home conceptually means a place of residence, but connotatively
it might evoke warmth, safety, and family for some people. For others, it may evoke
loneliness or isolation, depending on personal experiences.

Social Meaning:

Definition: Social meaning reflects what a word or phrase conveys about the social
context of the speaker or the situation. It often signals the speaker’s social status, level
of formality, politeness, or dialect.

Example: The difference between saying hello and hi reflects a shift in social
meaning—hello might be more formal, while hi is casual. Similarly, addressing
someone as Sir vs. dude conveys different levels of respect and formality.

Affective (Emotive) Meaning:

Definition: Affective meaning is the emotional response a word or phrase evokes. It

reflects the speaker’s feelings, attitudes, or emotions toward the subject matter.

Example: The word terrorist vs. freedom fighter can evoke strong emotional
reactions based on a person's perspective, even if they refer to individuals involved in
similar activities. Words like hate or love carry powerful affective meanings due to
the emotions they elicit.
Reflected Meaning:

Definition: Reflected meaning occurs when a word or phrase has more than one
meaning, and one of its meanings unintentionally evokes another, often with
humorous or unintended consequences. This typically happens when one sense of the
word interferes with the primary meaning.

Example: In a religious context, the word holy evokes feelings of sanctity. But in
casual speech, a phrase like holy cow might unintentionally reflect a more colloquial
or humorous use, interfering with the serious religious tone.

Collocative Meaning:

Definition: Collocative meaning refers to the way certain words tend to occur
together in specific combinations or contexts, which in turn affects their meaning. The
words gain meaning from the habitual company they keep (collocations).

Example: The word pretty typically collocates with nouns like girl or flower (e.g.,
pretty girl), whereas handsome often collocates with nouns like man or building (e.g.,
handsome man). The different collocations subtly influence the words' meanings.

Thematic Meaning:

Definition: Thematic meaning deals with the way information is structured or

organized in a sentence to highlight certain elements or ideas. It involves choices in
word order, stress, or intonation that affect how meaning is interpreted.

Example: Consider the sentences John gave Mary a book vs. Mary was given a book
by John. Both sentences have the same conceptual meaning, but the thematic meaning
differs because the first sentence emphasizes John as the doer of the action, while the
second emphasizes Mary as the recipient.

Summary Table:

Type of
Definition Example
Meaning
Conceptual The literal, core meaning of a Cat = a small, domesticated
Meaning word or phrase feline animal
Connotative Additional associations or implied Home = warmth, family (beyond
Meaning meanings just a residence)
Information about the social
Social Meaning Hello (formal) vs. Hi (informal)
context or formality level
Affective Emotional tone or attitude Hate vs. dislike evokes different
Meaning conveyed by the speaker emotional responses
Reflected When one meaning of a word Holy (religious) vs. holy cow
Meaning evokes an unintended association (humorous)
Collocative Meaning derived from typical Pretty girl vs. handsome man
 Type of
Definition Example
Meaning
Meaning word combinations
Thematic Emphasis or structure affecting John gave Mary a book vs. Mary
Meaning meaning interpretation was given a book by John

Lexical meaning and grammatical meaning

1. Lexical Meaning:

 Definition: Lexical meaning refers to the inherent, core meaning of a word

that is independent of its grammatical function in a sentence. It is the
dictionary meaning of a word and reflects its semantic content.: Lexical
meaning does not change depending on grammatical structures but rather
reflects the word's meaning in any context.

Examples:

 The word dog has the lexical meaning of a domesticated canine animal.
 The word run has the lexical meaning of moving at a fast pace on foot.

2. Grammatical Meaning:

 Definition: Grammatical meaning refers to the meaning a word or phrase

conveys due to its role or function in a sentence. This type of meaning shows
how the word fits into the sentence's structure, expressing relationships like
tense, number, case, or part of speech. Grammatical meaning is more abstract
and relies on function words like articles, prepositions, auxiliary verbs, and
inflectional affixes Grammatical meaning can change based on sentence
structure or the word’s grammatical role.

Examples:

 In dogs, the -s ending indicates plural, providing grammatical meaning

(plurality) while the lexical meaning of dog remains unchanged.
 In He runs, the -s ending on runs indicates third-person singular present tense,
which is grammatical meaning.
 Synonymy, Antonymy, Hyponymy, Homonymy, And
Polysemy
Synonymy:

Synonymy refers to the relationship between two or

more words that have the same or very similar
meanings. Synonyms can be interchangeable in many
contexts without significantly altering the meaning of
a sentence.
 Example: Big and large are synonyms because they both refer to something of substantial
size.
o She lives in a big house = She lives in a large house.

However, synonyms may still have subtle differences in usage or connotation (e.g.,
happy vs. joyful).

Antonymy:

Definition: Antonymy is the relationship between two words that have

opposite meanings. Antonyms can be divided into different types, such as
complementary antonyms (where one term excludes the other) and gradable
antonyms (where the opposition is a matter of degree).

Complementary Antonyms: If one is true, the other must be false.

 Example: Dead and alive are complementary antonyms—something

cannot be both.

Gradable Antonyms: These represent opposite ends of a spectrum.

 Example: Hot and cold are gradable antonyms—something can be hot,

warm, cool, or cold depending on the degree

Example: Tall vs. short; happy vs. sad.

Hyponymy:
Hyponymy is a hierarchical relationship where the meaning of one word (the hyponym) is
included within the meaning of another, more general word (the hypernym). In this relationship,
the hypernym refers to a broad category, while the hyponym refers to specific members of that
category.

 Example: Rose is a hyponym of flower, because a rose is a specific type of flower. Here,
flower is the hypernym.
o Dog is a hyponym of animal, and poodle is a hyponym of dog.
Homonymy:

Definition: Homonymy refers to a relationship where two words have the

same spelling or pronunciation (or both) but different, unrelated meanings.
Homonyms can be further divided into homophones (same pronunciation but
different spelling and meaning) and homographs (same spelling but different
meanings).

Types of Homonyms

o Homophones: Same sound, different spelling/meaning.

o Example: Bear (the animal) and bare (exposed) are homophones—they sound the
same but have different meanings and spellings.

o Homographs: Same spelling, different meanings.

o Example: Lead (to guide) and lead (a metal) are homographs—they are spelled the
same but have different meanings and pronunciations.

Example: Bank (a financial institution) and bank (the side of a river) are
homonyms—they share the same spelling but have unrelated meanings.

5. Polysemy:
Definition: Polysemy refers to a single word that has multiple related meanings. Unlike
homonyms, which have entirely different and unrelated meanings, the meanings of polysemous
words are conceptually linked.

 Example: The word head has multiple related meanings, such as:
o The head of a person (the body part).
o The head of a company (the leader).
o The head of a table (the top position at the table).

All these meanings are related to the idea of being at the top or forefront.

Summary Table:

Term Definition Example

Synony Words with the same or very
Big and large
my similar meanings
Antony
Words with opposite meanings Hot and cold
my
A word whose meaning is
Hypony Rose (hyponym) of flower
included within a broader
my (hypernym)
category
 Term Definition Example
Words with the same spelling or Bank (financial
Homon
pronunciation but different institution) and bank
ymy
meanings (river side)
Polyse A word with multiple related Head (body part, leader,
my meanings top of the table)

Ambiguity

Ambiguity occurs when a word, phrase, or sentence has more than one
possible interpretation or meaning, leading to confusion or multiple
readings. Ambiguity can arise at different levels of language—lexical
(word-level) or structural (sentence-level).

Lexical Ambiguity:This occurs when a single word has multiple

meanings, and the context does not clarify which meaning is intended.

Example: The word bat can refer to both an animal (a flying mammal) or
a piece of sports equipment (used in baseball or cricket).

She held the bat (Is she holding a flying mammal or a sports bat?).

Structural Ambiguity:This occurs when a sentence has more than one

possible structure, leading to multiple interpretations of its meaning.

Example: I saw the man with the telescope.

This can mean: (a) I used a telescope to see the man, or (b) I saw a man
who had a telescope.

Phonological Ambiguity: When spoken words sound the same but have
different meanings.Example: I scream and ice cream sound similar when
spoken quickly, causing ambiguity.

SEMANTIC CHANGES

Semantic change refers to the process by which the meaning of a word evolves over
time. Words can shift in meaning due to social, cultural, or linguistic factors.
Semantic changes can occur in various ways, such as a word acquiring new meanings,
losing old ones, or expanding or narrowing its scope.Its types are as follows
 Metaphor:

A metaphorical semantic change occurs when a word is used to describe something by drawing a
comparison between two unlike things, transferring meaning from one context to another based on
perceived similarity.

Example: The word mouth originally referred to the opening of a face, but by metaphor, it has come
to refer to the opening of a river (e.g., the mouth of the river). Similarly the word star used to mean ‘a
celestial body but now it means a performer/artist/movie star

Substitution:

Substitution occurs when one word replaces another in usage, often due to social or cultural changes,
which may shift the meaning slightly or completely.

Example: The word automobile has been largely substituted by car in modern English, though both
refer to the same object. The shift involves the replacement of a more formal term with a more casual
one.

Analogy:

In analogy-based semantic change, a word's meaning shifts to become similar to the meaning of
another word due to perceived connections between them.

Example: The verb broadcast originally referred to scattering seeds, but through analogy with the
spread of information, it now commonly refers to transmitting radio or television signals.

Shortening:

Shortening occurs when a part of a word or expression is lost over time resulting in an abbrieviated
form . This can be further divided in to two types- clipping (where a single word is shortened; eg
omnibus-bus) and omission ( an expression containing two or more words is shortened ; eg private
soldier-private)

Permutation:

Permutation, or shift, involves a complete change in meaning where the original sense of the word is
either lost or drastically altered.

Example: The word bead used to mean a prayer but now it means small, often round piece of plastic, wood,
glass,sometimes used as jewellery

Adequation:

Adequation refers to the process where a word’s meaning is adjusted to fit a new context, often for
reasons of political correctness, technological advancements, or social changes.

Example: The word partner has undergone adequation to accommodate new social norms, now
commonly referring to a significant other in a relationship, regardless of gender or marital status.
Broadening:

Broadening, also known as generalization, occurs when a word's meaning becomes more inclusive or
general than it previously was.

Example: The word holiday once referred specifically to religious holy days, but it now includes any
day of celebration or time off from work.

Narrowing:

Narrowing, or specialization, happens when a word's meaning becomes more specific or restricted
compared to its original broader sense.

Example: The word hound originally referred to all types of dogs, but now it specifically refers to
certain breeds of hunting dogs.

Summary of Semantic Changes:

Type Definition Example

A shift in meaning by
Mouth (of a person → of a
Metaphor drawing a comparison
river)
between two things
A word replaces another
Substituti
due to social or cultural Car replacing automobile
on
factors
Meaning changes due to
Broadcast (scattering seeds
Analogy similarity with another
→ transmitting signals)
concept
Shortenin Meaning becomes
Omnibus- bus
g narrower or more specific
Permutati Complete shift in meaning Bear (prayer- short round
on over time object used as jewellery)
Adjusting meaning to fit
Adequatio Partner (significant other,
new social or contextual
n regardless of gender)
norms
Holiday (religious days →
Broadenin Word’s meaning becomes
any day of celebration or
g more inclusive or general
time off)
Word’s meaning becomes Hound (all dogs → specific
Narrowing
more specific breeds of hunting dogs)