Semantics Study: Meanings in Language

What did Ferdinand de Saussure stress the study of linguistic meaning was a part of?

Which term is used to describe anything that creates meaning?

What distinguishes word meaning from phrase and sentence meaning?

What does it mean for sentence meaning to be 'compositional'?

In what field is the message conveyed by words, sentences, and symbols in context studied?

What is the focus of Semantics?

What distinguishes 'rage' from 'anger' based on the text?

Why is Semantics considered an important area of study?

What does the verb 'mean' represent in the example 'His high temperature may mean he has a virus'?

In Semantics, linguistic meaning is viewed as:

Semantics

Semantics is the study of meaning communicated through language, examining the meanings of words and sentences.
It involves distinguishing subtle differences between words with similar meanings, such as 'anger' and 'rage'.

Importance of Semantics

The study of semantics increases our understanding and awareness of word meaning, sentence relationships, and discourse and context.
It helps us understand why meaning is more complex than simply the words formed in a sentence.

Semantics and Semiotics

Semantics is a part of the general study of sign systems, called semiotics.
Semiotics examines the use of signs, including linguistic meaning, to create and interpret symbols.
Examples of signs include vultures indicating a dead animal, a red flag indicating danger, and uniform stripes indicating rank.

Word Meaning and Sentence Meaning

A word is a string of characters that can have different meanings, such as 'jaguar' referring to a car or animal.
A sentence is a group of words expressing a complete thought.
Meaning in semantics and pragmatics is the message conveyed by words, sentences, and symbols in a context.
Sentence meaning is compositional, determined by the meaning of its component parts and their combination.

Compositionality

Sentence meaning cannot be listed in a lexicon like word meanings, but must be created by rules of combination.
In a model of grammar, there is a stable body of word meanings in the lexicon, and limitless composed meanings of sentences.

Explore the study of meanings of words and sentences in the field of semantics. Learn about distinguishing subtle differences between similar words and synonyms. Discover the importance of word meanings, references, senses, logic, and various types of linguistic reactions.