Semantics is the study of meaning in language. It examines what meaning is, how words acquire their meanings, and how the meanings of complex expressions depend on their parts. Semantics looks at how words, phrases, and sentences convey meaning and how those meanings relate to the concepts and objects they refer to
. Key aspects of semantics include:
- Lexical semantics : the study of word meanings and their relationships.
- Phrasal semantics : how meanings combine in sentences.
- Formal semantics : uses logic and mathematics to understand meaning precisely.
- Cognitive semantics : explores meaning from a psychological perspective, linking language to conceptual understanding
Semantics differs from syntax, which studies sentence structure, and pragmatics, which studies how context influences meaning
. In summary, semantics is a branch of linguistics and philosophy that investigates how language expresses meaning, how meaning is constructed, and how it is interpreted by speakers and listeners
