Semantics

Ardita Dylgjeri, University of Elbasan "Aleksandër Xhuvani", Albania
ardita.dylgjeri@uniel.edu.al

For Saeed as well as Riemer, Semantics is a core subfield of linguistics concerned with the study of meaning in language. It focuses on how linguistic elements such as words, phrases, and sentences convey meaning, both individually and in combination. Central to semantic analysis is the relationship between linguistic expressions and the entities or concepts to which they refer. This includes investigating how meaning is encoded in linguistic forms and how it is interpreted by speakers and listeners in various contexts.

Both Pulman and Leech find that Semantics is traditionally distinguished from pragmatics. While semantics addresses the literal, context-independent meaning of expressions—often as part of an abstract language system—pragmatics deals with how language is used in context, including aspects such as speaker intention, irony, metaphor, and conversational implicature. In other words, semantics concerns what utterances mean in isolation, whereas pragmatics explores what speakers mean when they use those utterances in real communicative settings.

Historically, Ferdinand de Saussure defined semantics as the study of the relationship between the signifier (form) and the signified (concept). Charles Morris offered a semiotic perspective, defining semantics as the study of the relation between signs and the things they designate. These foundational views highlight the interdisciplinary nature of semantics, bridging linguistic form, logic, and meaning.

Although semantics covers a wide range of phenomena, it typically excludes context-sensitive or non-literal uses of language, such as irony or metaphor, which are the domain of pragmatics.

Keywords: semantics, meaning, linguistic signs, literal meaning, pragmatics

Related Entries: Context, Critical Discourse Analysis, Discourse (1), Discourse (2)

References:
Leech, G. (1974). Semantics: The study of meaning (2nd ed.). Penguin.
Morris, C. (1964). Signification and significance: A study of the relations of signs and values. MIT Press.
Pulman, S. G. (1997). Basic notions of semantics. In R. Cole et al. (Eds.), Survey of the state of the art in human language technology. Cambridge University Press.
Riemer, N. (2010). Introducing semantics. Cambridge University Press and Giardini.
Saeed, J. I. (2003). Semantics (2nd ed.). Blackwell.