What is Semantics? Example and Definition

Semantics is the study of meaning. It is a wide subject within the general study of language. An understanding of semantics is essential to the study of language acquisition (how language users acquire a sense of meaning, as speakers and writers, listeners and readers) and of language change (how meanings alter over time). It is important for understanding language in social contexts, as these are likely to affect meaning, and for understanding varieties of English and effects of style. It is thus one of the most fundamental concepts in linguistics. The study of semantics includes the study of how meaning is constructed, interpreted, clarified, obscured, illustrated, simplified, negotiated, contradicted and paraphrased.

Example and Definition of Semantics

There are different types of lexical relations. These are discussed below.

Synonym

Synonyms are two or more forms with very closely related meanings. English has a lot of synonyms because its vocabulary comes from different sources (Anglo-Saxon, Latin, Greek, French) Example of synonym pairs: Broad-wide, almost-nearly, cab-taxi, answer-reply. It is apparent that the words in each pair are quite similar to each other. Meaning of sameness in synonyms is not 'total sameness'. Not all synonym pairs can be replaced by each other. For example: the word 'watch' fits in this sentence: 'I watch T.V. When replaced with its near synonym 'see', the sentence sounds odd.

Antonym

Antonym is a word that means the opposite of another, e.g. fat- thin. Antonyms are made by adding the prefix un- likely/unlikely, fortunate/unfortunate, able/unable. Antonym is also made by adding the prefix non: entity/nonentity, smoker/non smoker.

Homonym

Homonym is a word that is written and pronounced the same way as another, but which has a different meaning.

E.g. liel - not true

lie2 - horizontal position

batl - the flying animal

bat2 - baseball bat

Homophone

Homophones are words that are spelled differently but sound the same. E.g. Rain and rein

Prototype

Prototype is an object which is very typical of the kind of object. A man of medium height and average build, between 30 and 50 years old, with brownish hair, could be a prototype of man in certain areas of the world. A dwarf or hugely muscular body-builder could not be a prototype of man.

Acronym

An acronym is a kind of abbreviation. It is a word formed by taking letters from a phrase that is too long to use comfortably. For example: Laser -Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation.

Abbreviation

Abbreviation is a word that has been shortened. E.g. Ad = Advertisement, Flu = Influenza

Semantics Example and Definition

Polysemy

It refers to a word that has two or more similar meanings:

Foot: The house is at the foot of the mountains. Foot: One of his shoes felt too tight for his foot.

Metonym

It is a word or phrase that is used to represent something it is closely associated with.

e.g. "A dish" for an entree

"The press" for the news media

"Hollywood" for the American film industry

Collocation

When words are used together regularly, we call it a collocation. E.g. Black and white.

Hyponym

When the meaning of one form is included in the meaning of another, the relationship is known as hyponymy. Example: typical pairs of hyponyms are- daffodil-flower, dog-animal, poodle-dog. carrot-vegetable, banyan-tree, hip-hop-music.

The meaning of the relationship between hyponymy pairs look somewhat like a type of hierarchal relationship from which we get a clear concept that if the object is a carrot, then it is necessarily a vegetable which in turn is 'plant'.