It is the study of the meaning of words, phrases, and sentences
in a language system. What is semantics? Slide 2 A semantic
analysis mainly focuses on the conventional meaning of words (the
meaning conveyed by the literal use of words and sentences;
dictionary meaning), rather than on what a speaker might want the
words to mean on a particular occasion. What does a semantic
analysis focus on? Slide 3 This means that this linguistic approach
to meaning emphasizes the objective and the general. It keeps away
from, on the other hand, the subjective and the local. Continue
Slide 4 Sentence meaning or word meaning is what a sentence (or
word) literally means; the equivalent as manifested in standard
dictionaries of the language concerned. Definition: SENTENCE
MEANING Slide 5 Speaker meaning is what a speaker intends to
convey, transmit, or deliver when he uses a piece of language. The
same sentence can be used by different speakers on different
occasions to mean different things. Definition: SPEAKER MEANING
Slide 6 The first step in dealing with the theory of meaning is to
clearly recognize the distinction between what speakers mean and
what words (or sentences) mean. Continue Slide 7 Once a person has
had a good command over the meanings of words and sentences of a
language system, he can quickly understand the different
conversational and social functions of utterances. However, prior
consideration is given to sentence meaning. Continue Slide 8
Competent speakers of a language can safely know and describe the
meanings of words and sentences of it. However, they can not by
anyway exceed native speakers of a language in the matter of access
to the basic data of meaning. A native speaker (informant) is the
primary source of information about meaning. Who has access to the
basic data of meaning? Slide 9 English, as most languages, has a
number of different dialects whose pronunciation differs from a
dialect to another. As a result, there are also differences in the
basic semantic facts from one dialect to another. That's why native
speakers of a particular dialect are the main source of access to
the meanings of this dialect in general. Continue
