Definition of Semantic and Word Meaning: The Study of Meaning

1. Definition of Semantics
Word Meaning: The Study of
Meaning
By
Poppy Pujawetri
1132040100
PBI - C

2. Semantics is a sub discipline of linguistics
which focuses on the study of meaning.
Semantics tries to understand what meaning
is as an element of language and how it is
constructed by language as well as
interpreted, obscured and negotiated by
speakers and listeners of language.

3. Semantics is interested in:
• How meaning works in language
• How the way in which words are put
together creates meaning
• The relationships between words
• The relationships between sentences
• Ambiguity

4. • Linguists also attach different interpretations
to the word meaning. Because the goal of
linguistics is to explain precisely how
languages are structured and used, among
other
• things to represent situations in the world, it is
important to distinguish among the different
ways of interpreting the word meaning.

5. So meaning, in semantics, is defined as being
Extension: The thing in the world that the
word/phrase refers to, plus Intention: The
concepts/mental images that the word/phrase
evokes.
A few examples will illustrate why we need to
develop a precise way of talking about meaning.
Consider these sentences:
1. I went to the store this morning.
2. All dogs are animals.

6. when we feel that there is something wrong
with the meaning of a sentence, it may be
because the sentence is contradictory,
anomalous, ambiguous, or merely vague. One
purpose of semantics is to distinguish among
these different ways in which language
“means.”

7. For our purposes we can initially distinguish
three types of meaning.
• Linguistic meaning encompasses both sense
and reference.
• Social meaning is what we rely on when we
identify certain social characteristics of
speakers and situations from the character of
the language used.
• Affective meaning is the emotional
connotation that is attached to words and
utterances.