Words have meaning. It is not enough to view language from the perspective of structure formation from phrases to clauses and then sentences, because the goal of any language is to facilitate communication which then results in the creation of meaning. To be able to create meaning with words, we need to first of all, understand how words mean what they mean and this brings us to the study of semantics in linguistics.
What is Semantics?
Semantics refers to the study of meaning. It has to do with the evaluation of meaning in languages looking at how words are used to create meaning. Semantics is a context-free study of meaning. This means that it studies how words and sentences create meaning without considering the context of their use. It focuses on the conventional meanings they create, free of any form of contextual clues. The concept that focuses on the study of meaning in context is pragmatics, but since that is not our focus here, we will save it for another day.
Basic Concepts in Semantics
In the study of meaning, there are a number of basic concepts involved, namely;
a. Naming and Concept
b. Sense and Reference
c. Word Meaning
d. Sentence Meaning
Naming and Concept
Naming and concept are two concepts in semantics that deal with words and their meanings. Naming has to do with the assigning of names or labels to objects or abstractions in a language. It is just as the name implies, the process of creating identities for objects and abstractions in a language via labelling. Take for instance:
a. Dog is the name assigned to a four-legged domestic animal that barks.
Concept on the other hand has to do with our comprehension of objects and abstractions. It basically refers to how we understand and process objects in our mind by associating certain features with them. For instance; when the cloud darkens and a loud noise is heard from the sky, we know that it is about to rain. This is what concept is concerned with. Meaning that is derived from association of objects or concepts with certain features by which they are identified, as opposed to assigning names to them arbitrarily. This also applies to animals. When we identify animals by the sounds they make e.g.,. a bark, a moo, a roar, a bleat, etc., we are dealing with concepts instead of naming, because from our experiences, we have come to understand and identify objects and abstractions by certain features generally associated with them like the sounds they make. But the issue with concept is, how do we then identify abstractions that we cannot easily explain like indecision, depression, deceit?
Sense and Reference
Sense has to do with the meanings of words based off of their relationship with other words. That is, the ways words express meaning by their relationship with other words in a language. Sense is not concerned with naming objects or abstractions, or associating them with certain features, or what they represent in reality, rather it is concerned with word relation.
Basic Concepts in Sense
The following are typically associated with sense:
Synonymy
Synonymy has to do with the relationship between words that share the same or identical meanings. For instance; good and fine, fresh and new, old and antique, etc.,.
Antonymy
Antonymy has to do with the relationship between words that have contrasting meanings. For instance: good and bad, young and old, rich and poor, etc.,.
Hyponymy
Hyponymy has to do with the relationship between words that belong to the same group with a single word serving as the unifier for the group. For instance: Animals: Dogs, Lions, Crocodiles, etc.,. The unifying word is known as a hypernym, while the words in the group are known as co-hyponyms.
Polysemy
Polysemy has to do with the relationship between words that are known to possess multiple meanings. For example: the word, "head", can mean a part of the body or the leader of a group.
Homonymy
Homonymy has to do with the relationship between words that share similar spellings and pronunciations but different meanings. For example: sea and see, lead (to guide), and lead (a raw material).
Reference on the other hand has to do with the relationship between words and the objects or concepts they identify in reality. It shows a signifier-signified relationship where the signifier stands for the word that identifies an object or concept, while signified stands for the object or concept being identified. For instance, the word, "pen", is a signifier for a writing material, while a writing material that makes use of ink is the signified being identified by the word, "pen".
Word Meaning
Word Meaning is a concept in semantics that is interested in how words create meaning. As the name implies, it looks at the different types of meanings that can be generated by words, of course without considering the context in which they are used.
Types of Word Meaning
The following are the types of word meaning:
Denotative Meaning
Denotative meaning refers to the conventional or dictionary meaning of words. It is usually the first meaning of a word you find in a dictionary and the meaning with which it is commonly associated. For instance; the denotative meaning of the word: head, is the uppermost part of the human body that houses the brain, eyes, mouths, nose, ears, etc.,.
Connotative Meaning
Connotative meaning refers to the non-conventional meaning of words. It is the meaning of a word that is based on association as opposed to what it is generally recognized as. The connotative meaning of a word is that which is obtained by associating a conventional meaning with a word or concept that it does not originally refer to. For example; Mr. John is the head of the family. The word, head, here, takes on a connotative meaning because of our association of the position of Mr. John with that of the uppermost part of the human body, which is the denotative meaning of the word.
Sentence Meaning
Sentence Meaning has to do with the meaning that is created by a structure larger than the word. Here, we are no longer dealing with individual words, but a grammatical ordering of words in a structure and how they generate meaning also without considering the context of their use.
Types of Sentence Meaning
The following are the types of sentence meaning in semantics:
Paraphrase
Paraphrase has to do with the process of rewriting a sentence to express the same or similar meaning as its original structure. For instance:
i. The school is quite distant.
ii. The educational institution is some kilometers away.
The second sentence is a rewrite of the first sentence that communicates the same meaning using similar words.
Vagueness
Vagueness has to do with sentence meanings that are either unclear or difficult to interpret. Its use of vague words is what makes its interpretation tasking. For instance: A few people walked into this house. This example is a vague expression because it does not give us an accurate account of the number of people that entered the house.
Ambiguity
Ambiguity has to do with sentences whose meanings are open to a number of interpretations. It is a type of sentence meaning whose multiplicity of interpretations often makes it challenging to pinpoint what exactly it is trying to communicate. For instance: She cannot bear children. This sentence does not clarify whether the subject is barren or she just cannot stand children.
Anomaly
Anomaly has to do with sentences whose meaning tend to violate logic. It refers to statements whose propositions run contrary to human logic or expectation. For instance; The doors laughed at him.
Contradiction
Contradiction has to do with sentences whose first part contradicts the second. That is, a situation where the first part of a sentence presents a proposition that is contrary to what the second part states. For instance; The barren woman has two kids.
So semantics is concerned with the meaning of words and sentences without recourse to context. It studies how words and sentences create meaning in a language without context. Some basic concepts in semantics include; naming and concept which constitute the assigning of names to objects and the association of objects with certain features by which they can be identified, sense and reference which have to do with the relationship between words and the objects that certain words identify, word meaning which deals with the meaning of words, and, lastly, sentence meaning which deals with the meaning of sentences. Understanding the concept of semantics will make it much easier for you to express yourself without being misinterpreted or misunderstood.
Read More: