SEMANTICS

Semantics

      Semantics is the study of meaning in language.  The term is taken from the Greek seme, meaning sign.   The word meaning can be defined in many ways, but the definition most pertinent to linguistics and the one we will use is that meaning is "the function of signs in language." Linguists have a second way of looking at the distinction between linguistic and real-world knowledge.

Some  important areas of semantic theory or related subjects include these:

·        Symbol and referent

·        Conceptions of meaning

·        Words and lexemes

·        Denotation, connotation, implication

·        Pragmatics

·        Ambiguity

·        Metaphor, simile, and symbol

·        Semantic fields

·        Synonym, antonym, and hyponym

Synonyms are words with similar meanings.  They are listed in a special type of dictionary called a thesaurus.

Antonyms are words that have the opposite meaning.  Oppositeness is a logical category.  There are three types:

      Complementary pairs are antonyms in which the presence of one quality or state signifies the absence of the other and vice versa.  single/ married, not pregnant/pregnant  There are no intermediate states.

       

Gradable pairs are antonyms which allow for a gradual transition between two poles, the possibility of making a comparison--a little/a lot  good/bad,    hot/ cold    cf. the complementary pair: pregnant/not pregnant

       

Relational opposites are antonyms which share the same semantic features, only the focus, or direction, is reversed: tie/untie, buy/sell, give/receive, teacher/pupil, father/son.

Homonyms are words that have the same form but different meanings.  There are two major types of homonyms, based upon whether the meanings of the word are historically connected or result from coincidence.

metaphor is an implied comparison using a word to mean something similar to its literal meaning.

simile is a direct comparison using like or as: Examples: quiet as a mouse, as mad as a hatter.  New similes can be created, but each language has its own particular store of accepted similes that function as collocations. 

 sources:

 http://pandora.cii.wwu.edu/vajda/ling201/test3materials/semantics.htm

http://www.slideshare.net/BerkayFrtna/semantics-10890070