Semantics
Semantics (from Ancient Greek: σημαντικός sēmantikós,
"significant")[1][a] is the linguistic and philosophical study of meaning in language, programming languages, formal logics, and semiotics. It is concerned with the relationship
between signifiers—like words, phrases, signs, and symbols—and what they stand for in reality, their denotation.
In International
scientific vocabulary semantics is also
called semasiology. The word semantics was
first used by Michel Bréal, a French philologist.[2] It denotes a range of ideas—from the popular
to the highly technical. It is often used in ordinary language for denoting a
problem of understanding that comes down to word selection or connotation. This problem of understanding has been the
subject of many formal enquiries, over a long period of time, especially in the
field of formal semantics.
In linguistics, it is the study of the interpretation of signs or
symbols used in agents or communities within
particular circumstances and contexts.[3] Within this view, sounds, facial expressions,
body language, and proxemics have semantic (meaningful) content, and each
comprises several branches of study. In written language, things like paragraph
structure and punctuation bear semantic content; other forms of language bear
other semantic content.[3]
The
formal study of semantics intersects with many other fields of inquiry, including lexicology, syntax, pragmatics, etymology and others. Independently, semantics is also
a well-defined field in its own right, often with synthetic properties.[4] In the philosophy of
language, semantics and reference are
closely connected. Further related fields include philology, communication,
and semiotics. The formal study of semantics can therefore be
manifold and complex.
Semantics
contrasts with syntax, the study of the combinatorics of units of a
language (without reference to their meaning), and pragmatics, the study of the relationships between the
symbols of a language, their meaning, and the users of the language.[5] Semantics as a field of study also has
significant ties to various representational theories of meaning including
truth theories of meaning, coherence theories of meaning, and correspondence
theories of meaning. Each of these is related to the general philosophical
study of reality and the representation of meaning. In 1960s psycho-semantic
studies became popular after Osgood's
massive cross-cultural studies using his semantic
differential (SD) method that used thousands of nouns and
adjective bipolar scales. A specific form of the SD, Projective Semantics
method[6] uses only most common and neutral nouns that
correspond to the 7 groups (factors) of adjective-scales most consistently
found in cross-cultural studies (Evaluation, Potency, Activity as found by
Osgood, and Reality, Organization, Complexity, Limitation as found in other
studies). In this method, seven groups of bipolar adjective scales corresponded
to seven types of nouns so the method was thought to have the object-scale
symmetry (OSS) between the scales and nouns for evaluation using these scales.
For example, the nouns corresponding to the listed 7 factors would be: Beauty,
Power, Motion, Life, Work, Chaos, Law. Beauty was expected to be assessed
unequivocally as “very good” on adjectives of Evaluation-related scales, Life
as “very real” on Reality-related scales, etc. However, deviations in this
symmetric and very basic matrix might show underlying biases of two types:
scales-related bias and objects-related bias. This OSS design meant to increase
the sensitivity of the SD method to any semantic biases in responses of people
within the same culture and educational background.[7][8]
In linguistics, semantics is the subfield that is
devoted to the study of meaning, as inherent at the levels of words, phrases,
sentences, and larger units of discourse (termed texts,
or narratives). The study of semantics is also closely linked to
the subjects of representation, reference and denotation. The basic study of
semantics is oriented to the examination of the meaning of signs, and the study of relations between different
linguistic units and compounds: homonymy, synonymy, antonymy, hypernymy, hyponymy, meronymy, metonymy, holonymy, paronyms. A key concern is how
meaning attaches to larger chunks of text, possibly as a result of the
composition from smaller units of meaning. Traditionally, semantics has
included the study of sense and denotative reference, truth conditions,
argument structure, thematic roles, discourse analysis, and the
linkage of all of these to syntax.
Semantics, or the study of relationships between words and
how we construct meaning, sheds light on how we experience the world and how we
understand others and ourselves. Explore this concept with a definition and
examples, and then check out the quiz to challenge your newfound knowledge.
Definition
of Semantics
Philosophers
and linguists alike have long debated the intricacies of language, how we
construct meaning, and how stationary those meanings really are. You've
probably heard the line, 'That which we call a rose by any other name would
smell as sweet.' Shakespeare asserts here then that a name doesn't matter -
it's what that thing or concept really is. Even if we ceased to call a rose a
rose, we could still smell its fragrance, feel its velvety petals, and be
pricked by its thorns.
|
Rose
|
You
can see from the picture above the mental image I had when I read the word
'rose.' Human communication would become extremely tricky if we all associated
completely different meanings with a given vocabulary word. If you said 'mango'
when I saw a rose, and we were trying to describe the same thing, you can see
where we'd have a problem.
Semantics means
the meaning and interpretation of words, signs, and sentence structure.
Semantics largely determine our reading comprehension, how we understand
others, and even what decisions we make as a result of our interpretations.
Semantics can also refer to the branch of study within linguistics that deals
with language and how we understand meaning. This has been a particularly
interesting field for philosophers as they debate the essence of meaning, how
we build meaning, how we share meaning with others, and how meaning changes
over time.
Examples
of Semantics
One
of the central issues with semantics is the distinction between literal meaning
and figurative meaning. With literal meaning, we take concepts at face
value. For example, if we said, 'Fall began with the turning of the leaves,' we
would mean that the season began to change when the leaves turned colors. Figurative
meaning utilizes similes and metaphors to represent meaning and convey
greater emotion. For example, 'I'm as hungry as a bear' would be a simile and a
comparison to show a great need for sustenance.
Let's
look at the context of the Shakespearean quote we mentioned earlier:
'Juliet:
O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?
Deny
thy father and refuse thy name;
Or,
if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
And
I'll no longer be a Capulet.
Romeo:
(Aside) Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this?
Juliet:
'Tis but thy name that is my enemy;
Thou
art thyself, though not a Montague.
What's
Montague? It is nor hand, nor foot,
Nor
arm, nor face, nor any other part
Belonging
to a man. O, be some other name!
What's
in a name? That which we call a rose
By
any other name would smell as sweet;
So
Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd,
Retain
that dear perfection which he owes
Without
that title. Romeo, doff thy name,
And
for that name which is no part of thee
Take
all myself.'
The
quote, 'That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet,' is
actually an example of figurative meaning when we look at the context, the
surrounding text that clarifies meaning. Romeo and Juliet's families, the
Montagues and the Capulets, were in a notoriously hideous feud, hence the
couple's characterization as star-crossed lovers. Juliet uses this metaphor to
make the argument to Romeo that his name (his family) does not matter to her;
she wants Romeo for himself. Juliet's dialogue about their families would be an
example of literal meaning.
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