semantics
Study of meaning
Semantics is the study of meaning in language—how words, phrases, and sentences convey sense.
More loosely, semantics refers to the meaning or interpretation of words themselves: What are the semantics of "freedom" in this context?
The dismissive phrase just semantics suggests a dispute is merely about word choice rather than substance, though meaning often is the substance.
Word's explicit dictionary meaning
- connotationImplied sense, not dictionary
- significationExpressed or intended meaning
- referenceDirecting attention elsewhere
- sensePerception or judgment
definition · significance · interpretation · nuance · implication · symbolism · abstraction · concept
Fundamental dictionary unit
- morphemeSmallest meaningful language unit
- synonymWord meaning the same
- antonymWord with contrary meaning
- homonymWord with twin sound
hypernym · collocation · idiom · neologism · loanword · cognate · lexicon · thesaurus
Implicit prior assumption
- contextCircumstances shaping meaning
- utteranceSpoken expression aloud
- inferenceConclusion reached through reasoning
- relevanceState of mattering here
politeness · indirectness · turn-taking · discourse · nonliteral
Meaning-bearing form
- signifiedExpressed meaning symbolically
- referentWhat a term designates
- symbolRepresentational mark or sign
- signMark conveying information
designation · representation · naming · denotation · notation · arbitrariness · conventionality · encoding
Theory of sign systems
- hermeneuticsStudy of interpretation methods
- structuralismAnalysis through underlying systems
- poststructuralismPhilosophy questioning stable meaning
- deconstructionAnalysis exposing self-contradiction
Statement expressing a judgment
- predicateSentence's non-subject portion
- truth valueProposition's logical standing
- entailmentLogical necessity from premises
- validityQuality of being sound
tautology · contradiction · paradox · quantification · modality · consistency
Rules for arranging words
- morphologyStudy of structural forms
- phonologyScience of language sounds
- lexicographyCompiling word reference books
- grammarLanguage's structural rules
semiotics · etymology · philology · sociolinguistics · psycholinguistics · neurolinguistics · structuralism · generative
denotation
Word's explicit dictionary meaning
- connotationImplied sense, not dictionary
- significationExpressed or intended meaning
- referenceDirecting attention elsewhere
sense · definition · significance · interpretation · nuance · implication · symbolism · abstraction · concept · content
lexeme
Fundamental dictionary unit
- morphemeSmallest meaningful language unit
- synonymWord meaning the same
- antonymWord with contrary meaning
homonym · hypernym · collocation · idiom · neologism · loanword · cognate · lexicon · thesaurus · word meaning
presupposition
Implicit prior assumption
- contextCircumstances shaping meaning
- utteranceSpoken expression aloud
- inferenceConclusion reached through reasoning
relevance · politeness · indirectness · turn-taking · discourse · nonliteral
signifier
Meaning-bearing form
- signifiedExpressed meaning symbolically
- referentWhat a term designates
- symbolRepresentational mark or sign
sign · designation · representation · naming · denotation · notation · arbitrariness · conventionality · encoding · decoding
semiology
Theory of sign systems
- hermeneuticsStudy of interpretation methods
- structuralismAnalysis through underlying systems
- poststructuralismPhilosophy questioning stable meaning
proposition
Statement expressing a judgment
- predicateSentence's non-subject portion
- truth valueProposition's logical standing
- entailmentLogical necessity from premises
validity · tautology · contradiction · paradox · quantification · modality · consistency
syntax
Rules for arranging words
- morphologyStudy of structural forms
- phonologyScience of language sounds
- lexicographyCompiling word reference books
grammar · semiotics · etymology · philology · sociolinguistics · psycholinguistics · neurolinguistics · structuralism · generative · transformational
- Arabic linguisticsverb conjugation, root system, verb forms, Arabic alphabet, diglossia
- psycholinguisticslanguage processing, language comprehension, word recognition, tip of the tongue, tip-of-the-tongue
- Sanskrit grammarPanini, nominative, accusative, sutra, dative
- language philosophylinguistic analysis, Wittgenstein, Austin, illocutionary force, family resemblance
- Semitic studiesHebrew, Arabic, Aramaic, Akkadian, Phoenician
- text analysistext analysis, bigram, trigram, tokenization, writing style
semanticssyntax
Rules for arranging words
grammar · phonology · phonetics · morphology · form
semanticsstyle
Distinctive way of expression
rhetoric · presentation · surface · appearance · technicalities
- arguing semantics
- semantic analysisStudy of linguistic meaning
- semantic equivalenceIdentical meaning between expressions
- semantic fieldsConceptually related word groupings
- semantic webNetwork of related meanings
- lexical semanticsStudy of word meaning