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ENGL 444 Lecture 1

Semantics is the study of meaning in language, focusing on how language conveys various types of meaning and the nature of human language abilities. It encompasses areas such as lexical semantics, grammatical semantics, logical semantics, and linguistic pragmatics, and examines meaning variation across different languages. The document also highlights the historical background of semantics, its relationship with semiotics, and provides examples of meaning differences in various languages.

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10 views15 pages

ENGL 444 Lecture 1

Semantics is the study of meaning in language, focusing on how language conveys various types of meaning and the nature of human language abilities. It encompasses areas such as lexical semantics, grammatical semantics, logical semantics, and linguistic pragmatics, and examines meaning variation across different languages. The document also highlights the historical background of semantics, its relationship with semiotics, and provides examples of meaning differences in various languages.

Uploaded by

Zahraa Alarade
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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INTRODUCTION TO

SEMANTICS
1.What does Semantics
study?
2.Meaning variation across
languages
• Semantics is the study of
meaning in language. It
tries to understand the
nature of language and
human language abilities.

1. What is • Meaning is central to


Semantics? language.

•We use language to convey


various types of meaning.
•Examples: Everyday words
like "the," "not," and
Origins: The study of
meaning is ancient.

Historical Term "Semantics":


Backgroun Coined by Michel Bréal in
the late 19th century.
d
Greek Roots: Derived
from "semantikos"
(relating to signs) and
"sēmeion" (sign).
Semantics and Semiotics

•Semiotics/Semiology: Study of signs in


general.

•General Signs: artificial signs (road signs,


symbols in computer programs; natural signs:
symptoms of diseases, tracks on the ground (
the sign that an animal has passed).

•Linguistics Signs: words, phrases


sentences and utterances

•Key Figures in the study of signs: Charles


Sanders Peirce and Ferdinand de Saussure.
Riemer’s Understanding of
Meaningfulness
• Significance of human behaviour
which does not involve any language
(left/right indicator lights on cars, the use of flags
at sea to convey various specific messages, or the
many types of symbols involving body parts
(bowing, waving, nodding and shaking the head,
the thumbs up/thumbs down signals, etc.)

• Meaningfulness of communication
where situations can be meaningful
with/without a language (check the
example with a choking person at a
table).
FOCUS OF SEMANTICS IS ON:

1. LEXICAL SEMANTICS
2. GRAMMATICAL SEMANTICS
3. LOGICAL SEMANTICS
4. LINGUISTIC PRAGMATICS
• Lexical semantics studies the
meaning of words; the focus is on
‘content’ words rather than
‘form’/grammatical words
Lexical
Semantics • E.g. Tiger, daffodil,
inconsiderate vs
• the, of, than.
• 1.She wore a yellow
hat. (Adjective)

Grammatic • 2.They painted a


room a glowing
al yellow. (Noun)
Semantics
• 3. The leaves yellow
rapidly once the frosts
arrive. (Verb)
• I am studying
that question
(grammatical) vs
Grammatical
Semantics
(another • I am knowing
example) the answer to
that question
(not).
• These studies have
concentrated on the
Logical sentential level of
meaning and have
Semantic rarely attempted to
s delve into the meaning
of words.
• The meaning of the
Linguistic linguistic form is
taken in conjunction
Pragmatics with the context
2. MEANING VARIATION
ACROSS LANGUAGES
LANGUAGES
Discussing meaning in different
language
But at the same time,
it is quite another thing
Informal talk about to develop an explicit,
what pieces of rigorous explanation of
language mean is a it since meanings
very common part of cannot be seen. Thus,
everyday life and we examining meaning in
are all accustomed to it. different languages
shows distinction on
what we call meaning
Examples:

• Hand and hair in English


• Hand applies to an entire arm in
Russian
• Mangka refers to head hair & yuru to
body hair in yankunytjatjara (Central
Australia)
More examples:
• The same applies to words for events and actions. For example:
• In English ‘breaking’ is a single, simple event.

• In Malay there are three words that can cover the range of the
English word:

• Putus (the thing is completely broken)


• Patah (the break is not complete)
• Pecah (is more like ‘smash’ – like what happens when you
break a glass)

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