What is semantics?

Semantics (Source: Semantics Nanfeng Public Welfare College)

Semantics, also known as semantics, comes from the Greek semantikos, and for Chinese words, it is called semantics. The research object is words, which is a branch of lexicology. Mainly study the meaning of words.

The relationship between words is a major aspect of semantic research, such as synonyms, antonyms and homophones. Find out the subtle differences between words and let people use words more accurately.

More famous are Hayakawa and his works Language in Action and Language in Thought and Action.

semantics

semantics

A study of the meaning of words in natural language. You can also refer to the study of symbol interpretation in logical formal system. The development trend is that the two converge and complement each other. Semantics has the following five branches. (1) Philosophical semantics. This is a philosopher's study of natural language semantics, which revolves around the difficult problem of what is meaning. In ancient Greece, Plato proposed that the meaning of words was the object they referred to. This view is called reference theory. Some philosophers, such as Davidson, put forward that the meaning of a sentence is related to the truth value of a proposition. This view is called the theory of truth. Wittgenstein opposes the theory of truth and thinks that the meaning of a word is its usage in language. His theory is called usage theory. So far, the debate about what meaning is still going on. ② Historical semantics. Linguists have long been concerned about semantic issues, especially the evolution of word meaning. Chinese and western scholars have done a lot of detailed research on etymology and exegetics. ③ Structural semantics. Under the influence of structuralism theory, some semantic scholars have turned from diachronic research to temporal research, from studying the semantic change of a word to studying the semantic relationship between words. ④ Generative grammar school semantics. The goal is to describe and explain people's semantic knowledge, and at the same time describe the meaning of all phrases and sentences. ⑤ Montesquieu semantics. It is believed that understanding the semantics of a sentence is to understand whether the sentence meets the truth condition and truly reflects the situation in the world.