Semantics

Semantics (from sēmantikós, "significant") is the linguistic and philosophical study of meaning, in language, programming languages, formal logics, and semiotics. In linguistics, it is the study of the interpretation of signs or symbols used in agents or communities within particular circumstances and contexts. 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.

Linguistics is the scientific study of language, and it involves an analysis of language form, language meaning, and language in context.

The word semantics was first used by Michel Bréal, a French philologist.

He is often identified as a founder of modern semantics.

Semantics (from sēmantikós, "significant") is the linguistic and philosophical study of meaning, in language, programming languages, formal logics, and semiotics.

To coin a word to refer to a thing (see lexical words), the community must agree on a simple meaning (a denotative meaning) within their language, but that word can transmit that meaning only within the language's grammatical structures and codes (see syntax and semantics).

The formal study of semantics intersects with many other fields of inquiry, including lexicology, syntax, pragmatics, etymology and others.

Unlike semantics, which examines meaning that is conventional or "coded" in a given language, pragmatics studies how the transmission of meaning depends not only on structural and linguistic knowledge (e.g., grammar, lexicon, etc.) of the speaker and listener, but also on the context of the utterance, any pre-existing knowledge about those involved, the inferred intent of the speaker, and other factors.

Semantics (from sēmantikós, "significant") is the linguistic and philosophical study of meaning, in language, programming languages, formal logics, and semiotics.

The signified is the signification (semantic) side, the mental construction or image associated with the sound, by either a speaker and hearer.

In linguistics, it is the study of the interpretation of signs or symbols used in agents or communities within particular circumstances and contexts.

The agent is a semantic concept distinct from the subject of a sentence.

The formal study of semantics intersects with many other fields of inquiry, including lexicology, syntax, pragmatics, etymology and others.

Lexicology also involves relations between words, which may involve semantics (for example, love vs. affection), derivation (for example, fathom vs. unfathomably), use and sociolinguistic distinctions (for example, flesh vs. meat), and any other issues involved in analyzing the whole lexicon of a language.

In the philosophy of language, semantics and reference are closely connected.

Semantic trees, on the other hand, focus upon the role of the meaning of the words and how those meanings combine to provide insight onto the genesis of semantic facts.

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.

In semantics and pragmatics, a truth condition is the condition under which a sentence is true.

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.

Meronymy (from Greek μέρος meros, "part" and ὄνομα onoma, "name") is a semantic relation specific to linguistics, distinct from the similar metonymy.

Semantics (from sēmantikós, "significant") is the linguistic and philosophical study of meaning, in language, programming languages, formal logics, and semiotics.

The meaning that is connected to individual signs, morphemes, words, phrases, and texts is called semantics.

In the philosophy of language, semantics and reference are closely connected. 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.

In semantics, reference is generally construed as the relationships between nouns or pronouns and objects that are named by them.

Despite its elegance, Montague grammar was limited by the context-dependent variability in word sense, and led to several attempts at incorporating context, such as:

Montague grammar is an approach to natural language semantics, named after American logician Richard Montague.

In these terms, the syntactic parse of the sentence John ate every bagel would consist of a subject (John) and a predicate (ate every bagel); Montague demonstrated that the meaning of the sentence altogether could be decomposed into the meanings of its parts and in relatively few rules of combination.

Within computational linguistics the term is used to refer to the formal analysis by a computer of a sentence or other string of words into its constituents, resulting in a parse tree showing their syntactic relation to each other, which may also contain semantic and other information.

Generative lexicon (1990s): categories (types) are incomplete, and get assigned based on context

Generative Lexicon (GL) is a theory of linguistic semantics which focuses

In the late 1960s, Richard Montague proposed a system for defining semantic entries in the lexicon in terms of the lambda calculus.

The λ-calculus provides a simple semantics for computation, enabling properties of computation to be studied formally.

In international scientific vocabulary semantics is also called semasiology.

It is often used as a synonym of semantics (the study of the meaning of words, phrases, and longer forms of expression).

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.

In semantics and discourse analysis: Discourse is a conceptual generalization of conversation within each modality and context of communication.

This view was also thought unable to address many issues such as metaphor or associative meanings, and semantic change, where meanings within a linguistic community change over time, and qualia or subjective experience.

The study of semantic change can be seen as part of etymology, onomasiology, semasiology, and semantics.

It is often used in ordinary language for denoting a problem of understanding that comes down to word selection or connotation.

In logic and semantics, connotation is roughly synonymous with intension.

This view of semantics, as an innate finite meaning inherent in a lexical unit that can be composed to generate meanings for larger chunks of discourse, is now being fiercely debated in the emerging domain of cognitive linguistics

Since cognitive linguistics sees language as embedded in the overall cognitive capacities of human beings, topics of special interest for cognitive linguistics include: the structural characteristics of natural language categorization (such as prototypicality, systematic polysemy, cognitive models, mental imagery, and conceptual metaphor); the functional principles of linguistic organization (such as iconicity and naturalness); the conceptual interface between syntax and semantics (as explored by cognitive grammar and construction grammar); the experiential and pragmatic background of language-in-use; and the relationship between language and thought, including questions about linguistic relativity and conceptual universals.

It is concerned with the relationship between signifiers—like words, phrases, signs, and symbols—and what they stand for, their denotation.

In linguistics, a word is the smallest element that can be uttered in isolation with objective or practical meaning.

Another set of concepts related to fuzziness in semantics is based on prototypes.

Prototype theory has also been applied in linguistics, as part of the mapping from phonological structure to semantics.

In the late 1960s, Richard Montague proposed a system for defining semantic entries in the lexicon in terms of the lambda calculus.

He pioneered a logical approach to natural language semantics which became known as Montague grammar.

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.

Holonymy (in Greek ὅλον holon, "whole" and ὄνομα onoma, "name") is a semantic relation.