SEMANTICS — MEANING, SYNONYMS & PRAGMATICS

SEMANTICS

The study of the meaning of words, phrases, and sentences is called semantics. In semantic analysis, our focus is always on what the words conventionally mean not what an individual speaker wants them to mean on a particular occasion. This approach involves the objective meaning of the words rather than the subjective or local meaning of the words.

MEANING

While semantics is concerned with the meaning of words in a language, there is more interest in certain aspects rather than in others.

Conceptual Meaning

The meaning which is conveyed by the Objective use of the words.

e.g. In English language, we have Pin (the word literally means a thin metal with one side sharp and the other round).

Associated Meaning

The meaning which is associated with words by the common people of the society is called associated meaning.

e.g. sometimes meanings like “pain” or “illness” or “blood” or “Hard to find” are associated with the word Needle or Pin in the English language. These associations may differ from person to person. These meanings are not considered as a part of conceptual meanings.

SYNONYMS

When two or more words have the same meaning or closely the same meaning is called Synonymy. They may sometimes be substituted for each other in a sentence but not always.

For example: I always get his reply on time.
I always get his answer on time.

Some other common examples are: Big/ large, wide/broad, look/see, long/lengthy, etc.

One thing that needs to be kept in mind is that the “sameness” of meaning used in discussing synonymy is not necessarily the “total sameness”. There are many occasions in which we cannot replace one word with the other because that will look odd in that particular sentence.

For example, she has got all the answers wrong.

In this sentence, we cannot replace the word answers with the word reply because this will sound odd in this sentence.

Synonymous forms may also differ in formal and informal uses. The sentence My brother bought a new big car and My brother bought a new large automobile has two Synonymous differences, but the second sentence sounds much more informal and casual than the first one.

ANTONYMS

Two forms of words having opposite meanings are called Antonyms. Common examples of Antonyms are: Large/Small, Petty/ Ugly, Right/Wrong, Wise/Unwise, Lazy/quick, run/stop, etc.

Antonyms are commonly divided into two main types, “Gradable” (opposite along a scale) and “non-Gradable” (direct opposites). Gradable Antonyms, such as the pair Big and small can be used in comparative construction. Like Aslam is bigger than Ahmad. The negative of one member of Gradable does not necessarily imply to the other.

For Example His house is not very old, but this does not mean that his house is new. Non-gradable (Also called complementary pairs) comparative construction is not normally used. We do not typically say that Aslam is handsomer than Ahmad. Also, the negative member on non-gradable does imply to the other member. That is, my car is not a new brand does not necessarily mean that my Car is new. Further non-gradable antonyms in the earlier list are the pairs: male/female, married/single, and true/false.

HYPONYMY

When the meaning of one form is included in the other form, the relationship is known as Hyponymy. For example, dog/ animal, insect/mosquito, Car/Audi, etc. the concept of “inclusion’ is involved in this relationship is the idea that if one form is a rose, then it necessarily is a flower, so the meaning of the flower is included in the meaning of rose or we can say that flower is a Hyponym of rose.

HOMOPHONES

When two or more forms(written) have different spellings but have same pronunciation is called homophones.
For example: Right/write, bear/bare, light/lite, whether/weather, pail/pale, etc. these are words that have different meanings and history but have come to have exactly the same form.

HOMONYMS

When two or more forms have the same spelling but have different meanings is called Homonyms.
For example Bat/bat, bank/bank, race/race, etc.

Bat (flying creature) Bat (Used in sports)
Mole (measuring scale of elements) Mole (small animal)
Race (contest of speed) Race (ethnic group).

POLYSEMY

When two or more same form of words have related meanings is known as polysemy. Examples are the word head, used to describe an object on top of our body, froth on top of a glass of beer, the person at the top of a company or department, and many other things.
Other examples of polysemy are right can be a side and an action (right or wrong) foot (of person, of bed, of mountain), or run (person does, water does, colors do).

PRAGMATICS

The study of the invisible meaning of words, phrases, or sentences or it deals with the study of the meaning that the speaker does not want to convey or the meaning which is hidden is called Pragmatics.
In pragmatics, we tend to study the meaning that the speaker wants to convey whether it is in written or spoken. To make the reader understand the meaning that the speaker wants to convey must have a lot of shared assumptions and expectations when they try to communicate that meaning to the readers.

For example: I heart you!

Semantically the word “Heart” means an organ in the human body that pumps blood and which is boneless. But pragmatically the word “Heart” in the sentence means “love” and it is commonly used as a symbol of love.