Semantics and

Pragmatics
 Semantics
Definition:
The study of meaning
in language.
Pragmatics
The study of how
context contributes to
meaning in language
 Kinds of Semantic Meaning
Referential Meaning = The labeling
of objects, persons, events
Cultural Meaning = reflection of
attitudes, values, shared symbols
Situational Relevance = differing
forms for different social situations
Interactional Meaning = defines the
social status or relationship
between speakers
Affective Meaning = emotional tone
of meaning
 Semantic Properties
Example: Nouns
Semantic Features
1. Count/mass
2 cats but not 2 waters

2. Specific vs. generic

Ann vs. girl

4. animate vs. inanimate

cow vs. rock

5. Masculine vs. feminine

cow vs. bull

6. Human vs. non-human man vs. dog

7. Definite vs. indefinite

the cat vs. a cat
 Semantic Roles
1. Agent 6. Experiencer
2. Patient 7. Instrument
3. Source 8. Cause
4. Goal 9. Temporal
5. Location 10. Possessor
Amy sent a letter from Paris to her friend in Iowa.
1 2 3 4
John’s refrigerator is leaking on the floor.
10 1 5
 Semantic Features
Verbs
1. Actions Jane ran.
2. Processes The wood
dried.
3. Action/process Jane dried
the wood.
4. State The wood is dry.
Semantic Concordance
1. Action verbs take agent subjects
2. Process verbs take patient subjects
3. Action/process verbs take agent
subject and a patient object .
4. States take patient nouns.
 Reference vs. Sense
Reference is the direct labeling of an
object, person, event, etc.
Intension
Denotative meaning

Sense is the meaning that is assumed

around the reference.
Extension
Connotative meaning
 The “Nyms”
Some examples:
Homonyms – flower, flour
Homographs – bank, bank
Synonym
Antonym
relational opposite – buy, sell
gradable – big, small
marked vs. unmarked – man, woman
complementary – dead, alive
Metonyms – Rome, Catholic church
Polysemous – sound investment, sound of music
Truth Conditions in Sentences
Paraphrase = two different sentences with the
same truth conditions

Thematic Roles
Anomalous – deviates from the rules of sense
Metaphorical – must use imagination to
interpret an anomalous sentence.
Idiom – sentence/phrase that has a semantic
meaning other than the referential/sense
meaning

Ambiguous – Ex.
The mother of the boy and the girl will arrive
soon. (structural)
She is good at catching flies.
(Semantic)
 Pragmatics
Studying Speech in Cultural Context (Ethnographic
Study of Speech)
1. Speech Situation (Context)
The social setting in which speech takes place (a
party, a religious ceremony, etc.)
2. Speech Act
Minimal unit of speech has a specified function.
3. Speech Event
A series of interrelated speech acts that
comprise a unit (Conversation, lecture, joke)
Presuppositions
An implied truth that is taken for granted by all
parties to a speech act.