What is Sentence meaning in Semantics?
What is Sentence meaning in Semantics?
Sentence meaning in semantics looks at the meaningful interpretations of sentences in a language. Semantics is a field of linguistics that is concerned with the analysis and interpretation of the meaning of words and sentences without recourse to context. As a result, semantics does not study meaning in relation to context, hence it is otherwise known as a context-free analysis of meaning compared to pragmatics, which studies meaning in relation to context and a number of factors that affect it.
Sentence meaning refers to the various interpretations of sentencial meaning in a language. The various ways sentences express meaning from their componential make up is what is known as sentence meaning. That is, the meaning of sentences restricted to their components or elements—words that make up a sentence.
There are a number of ways that sentences express meaning, such as;
1. Paraphrase
2. Vagueness
3. Contradiction
4. Anomaly
5. Ambiguity
Paraphrase
Paraphrase has to do with the restructuring of words in a sentence without altering the overall proposition of the sentence. It is the process where words are replaced by other words that express similar meanings in a sentence. Paraphrase plays a vital role in the explanation of concepts and development of paragraphs as it helps to make a concept clearer to the reader or the addressed.
Paraphrase occurs in three ways;
1. Change of words;
For example:
a. Hope is my sister.
aii. Hope is my sibling.
b. Women love expensive gifts.
bii. Women value luxurious gifts.
2. Passivization: Transformation of a sentence from the active voice to the passive voice. For example;
ai. Our HOD has bought a car.
aii. A car was bought by our HOD.
b. John picked up a cat.
bii. A cat was picked up by John.
3. A combination of both methods 1 and 2, For example;
a. The girls went to a night party.
aii. A club was visited by the girls.
b. Chima sponsors Isaac.
bii. Isaac was placed on scholarship by chima.
Vagueness
Vagueness refers to sentences that contain words with unclear, imprecise, and unspecific meaning or referents. These sentences have words in them that do not refer to anybody or thing in particular or give a tangible amount to quantities. Take for example;
1. Some boys came here.
2. Most crops grow fast here.
3. A few loaves of bread were served.
4. There is little sugar left.
5. Much water has been spilled.
None of the sentences refer to anybody in particular nor give a specific number of persons or things involved in an action or incidence. Adjectives also do not specify in their description of persons or things. Take for example;
1. The beautiful girl is coming.
2. That Sweet food is tempting.
3. Those angry mean are not smiling.
None of the adjectives above specify how beautiful, or sweet, or angry the subjects are. There are no tangible details to be reckoned with in the sentences, hence they are vague sentences.
Contradiction
Contradiction is a situation whereby a proposition at the terminating part of a sentence contradicts the earlier stated proposition. It is simply a situation whereby a part of a sentence runs contrary to what obtains in the other. Take for example;
1. The barren woman has two kids.
2. The mad man teaches in Harvard.
3. The deflated ball bounces high.
4. Her daughter is a good boy.
5. The chicken is roaring.
In all the sentences above, there are two contrasting ideas. Such that the existence of one must nullify the existence of the other, hence they are contradictions.
Anomaly
Anomaly refers to sentences whose meaning defy logic. These are sentences that may pass the hurdles of grammaticality, but their propositions tend to defy logic. That is, what they insinuate is usually scientifically impossible or implausible. Take for instance;
1. The trees waved their hands.
2. The tables stamped their feet.
3. The radio snubbed him.
4. The river's ego rose.
5. The fan chuckled.
While these sentences may find expression in the literary world, their meanings go contrary to what is logical and possible.
Ambiguity
Ambiguity refers to structures with more than one interpretation. These structures can have a variety of meanings associated with them based on how they are arranged or stringed together. There are two types of ambiguity in sentences known as:
1. Lexical ambiguity
2. Structural ambiguity
Lexical Ambiguity
Lexical ambiguity is ambiguity that is achieved by the presence of a single word in a sentence. This is a situation whereby the presence of one word in a sentence attributes several meanings to the sentence. For example;
1. She cannot bear children.
The interpretations could be;
a. She cannot conceive.
b. She cannot stand children.
c. She cannot carry children.
2. He is waiting at the bank.
The various interpretations could be;
a. He is waiting at the financial institution.
b. He is waiting at the river bank.
Structural Ambiguity
Structural ambiguity, however, refers to ambiguity created as a result of the structuring of words in a sentence. It is a situation whereby a sentence attains multiple interpretations as a result of how it is structured.
For example;
1. The shooting of the armed robbers frightened the bystanders.
Possible interpretations;
a. The fact that armed robbers where shooting frightened the bystanders, or
b. The fact that the armed robbers were being shot, frightened the bystanders.
2. Visiting strangers can be dangerous.
Possible interpretations;
a. Visiting a stranger can be dangerous.
b. Strangers that are visiting can be dangerous.
3. They liked the ball.
Possible interpretations:
a. The liked the football.
b. The liked the party.
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