Linguistics: Theoretical Semantics

Revised as of
18 Mar 2023

Semantics, a category in theoretical linguistics, explores the meanings of words.

Most of us are better acquainted with antonyms, homonyms, and synonyms which play, primarily, with the meaning of individual words. However, semantics also explore different “languages” that have their more specific meanings.

Computational semantics is all about computer languages.

Conceptual semantics is all about words spoken in context.

Cross-cultural semantics explores and compares the subjective meanings that evolve through experience and culture.

Formal semantics is about logic.

Lexical semantics analyzes how the meanings of words, phrases, etc., connect with language structure.

Prototype semantics reflect commonalities within categories.

Statistical semantics “applies the methods of statistics to the problem of determining the meaning of words or phrases, ideally through unsupervised learning, to a degree of precision at least sufficient for the purpose of information retrieval”, i.e., machine translation” (Statistical).

Structural semantics explores a cultural/social understanding of words and what they mean in a sentence.

Other Posts on Theoretical Linguistics

Other posts on the primary theoretical categories can be explored:

• Intro to Theoretical Linguistics
• Generative – the theory that human language speakers have an idea of what the rules are and are able to learn in a short time with little effort
• Phonetics – the study of the physical production, acoustics, and hearing of speech sounds
• Phonology – the abstract study of the sound systems of languages in their cognitive aspects
• Pragmatics – the study of how language is used (in context)
• Syntax – the study of how words and phrases make sentences

Linguistics is . . .

. . . the systematic study of the nature, structure, and variation of language (of which grammar is a part), which describes how people use language. For the writer, how words are used (or spelled!) determines a character’s social and educational level and the time period for the story.

As I discover more examples, also-known-ases, and additions, I’ll update this post. If you have a suggestion, I would appreciate you contacting me. If you found this post on “Semantics” interesting, consider tweeting it to your friends. Subscribe to KD Did It, if you’d like to track this post for future updates.

Return to top

Semantics
Part of Speech: Linguistics, Theoretical
Definition: The study of meanings of which there are several kinds: POST CONTENTS Primary Structure: Computational Semantics Conceptual Semantics Argument Cross-cultural Semantics Formal Semantics Lexical Semantics Prototype Semantics Statistical Semantics Structural Semantics Building Blocks: Antonymy Auto-antonymy Complementary Antonymy Gradable Antonymy Relational Antonymy Homonym Homograph Heteronym Homophone Heterograph Synonymy Poecilonym Polyonym
Computational Semantics	Definition: Automates the process of understanding meaning and syntax of language for such applications as information retrieval, information extraction, dialogue systems, question answering, interpreting controlled languages, etc.
Return to top or post contents	Dragon Naturally Speaking, Windows 10 Speech Recognition, Apple Dictation, etc. Different computer processors require different machine codes Programming languages such as Python, Java, Pascal, C++, Visual Basic, etc.
Conceptual Semantics	Definition: Describes how humans express their understanding of the world by means of linguistic utterance, i.e., complete communicative units, which may consist of single words, phrases, clauses, and clause combinations spoken in context.
Return to top or post contents	A cougar is a large wild cat or may indicate an older woman who’s dating a younger man. A crash may be an auto accident, a drop in the stock market, to attend a party without being invited, ocean waves hitting the shore, or the sound of cymbals being struck together. A flowering plant may be a weed or a flower. A human may be a male, a female, a child, an adult, a baby, a bachelor, a father, or a mother. A lady may simply be female or a lady who possesses elegance and grace. Credit to: Kittelstad
Argument	Definition: It is not a controversial term, but simply an expansion on what’s being expressed by the verb, any expression, or the syntactic element in a sentence.
Return to top or post contents	Argument doesn’t care if the sentence is active or passive. Every part of a sentence relates to another part and are all cast in terms of predicate-argument relations. NOTE: The term argument structure in American linguistics arose from valence, a term long used in European linguistics. A.k.a. actant, argument structure Credit to: Nordquist
	“The dog bit the cat” and “the cat was bitten by the dog” use the same argument structure but have a different surface-syntactic grammatical relationship.
Cross-cultural Semantics	Definition: A subjective meaning, learned from experience and culture, which means it’s different for different cultures and even for each person in the same culture. Even more fun, it compares the meanings, concepts, and nuances of similar words from different languages.
Return to top or post contents	Inuit words for snow family means different things in different cultures “Grab a torch” versus “grab a flashlight”.
Formal Semantics	Definition: The logical aspects of meaning, such as sense, reference, implication, and logical form. It is also a subfield of philosophy.
Return to top or post contents	So, what happened this morning? Everything went well. Fred didn’t steal the cookies; he was playing with his toys. Some boys smoke.
Lexical Semantics	Definition: Analyzes words, affixes, compound words, and phrases to determine how their meanings show a connection with the syntax or language structure.
Return to top or post contents	A word may refer to a general thing, event, or state; additional words may break this down into something more specific. These words, affixes, compounds, and phrases are considered lexical units, a.k.a. lexical items or syntactic atoms (also see the post on morphemes). Lexical semantics also explores the differences and similarities in the lexical semantic structure in other languages. A.k.a. lexicosemantics
	Reference Different/More Specific Meanings chair beanbag bench pew seat sofa stool, etc. William Shakespeare Bill Shakespeare Ann’s husband the author of Hamlet the Bard of Avon Venus morning star evening star
Prototype Semantics	Definition: A cognitive reference point of the meaning of a word or of a category. A good proto-image typifies the typical features of a category. Credit to: Prototypes
Return to top or post contents	Category Positive Proto-image Negative Proto-image birds are creatures that are covered with feathers, have two wings and two legs, and the majority of which can fly eagle owl robin sparrow penguin ostrich fish that are pets guppy betta fish tetra shark salmon trout chair that one sits in wing dining slipper club floor pillow stool bench Credit to: Ross
Statistical Semantics	Definition: Uses statistics to create a data collaboration that allows the transformation of data into information and information into knowledge, determining the meaning and/or frequency of occurrence of words or phrases.
Return to top or post contents	Unlike text mining which scans whole texts, statistics focuses on the meanings of common words and the relations between common words, which makes it useful for machine translation, artificial intelligence, learning another language among other uses. Statistical semantics is a subfield of computational semantics, which is a subfield of computational linguistics and natural language processing. A.k.a. computational linguistics Credit to: Statistical; Statistical Analysis
	Rule: Statistical semantics can determine which words are more important for a second language learner to learn due to frequency of occurrence.
	Word Ways to Use the Word Frequency of Occurrence (%) room (as space) takes less room not enough room to turn round (in) make room for (figurative) room for improvement 12% room (in a house) come to my room bedroom living room dining room bathroom 83% suite lodgings my room in college to let rooms 2%
Structural Semantics	Definition: Studies the relationships between the meanings of words within a sentence and the composition of those meanings from smaller elements. Some critical theorists suggest that meaning depends too much on real social interactions, which differing cultures and languages can render meaningless. Credit to: Structural; Structural Semantics
Return to top or post contents	Dan threw a stone at the window, and it broke. stone Humans know that stones are hard window Made of thin sheets of glass which are fragile threw Propelling a hard object at a fragile object usually causes the latter to break This allows a human reader to quickly understand that it was the window which broke, and not the stone, so it refers to the window.
	Basic Structure
	Concept Semantic Features man male adult human boy male young human bachelor male unmarried human woman female adult human girl female young human spinster female unmarried human stallion male adult equine mare female adult equine filly young equine Credit to: Croft, 8, 76
	Caution: The problem with structural semantics is that different cultures have different interpretations of a word. Understanding words and other linguistic signs — the shape of sounds, images, objects, acts, or flavors — involve social and cultural and general information about the world (based on our experiences in it and interactions with it — consider historical changes, generational slang, influences from television, music, politics, etc.) — information which the semantic features do not account for, which leads to misunderstandings. Credit to: Fillmore, 111–37; Kistner
	Rule: Additional connotative meaning influences the understanding and use of certain words.
	Concept Semantic Issue boy, girl The English stop referring to males as boys at a much earlier age than girls. fun, as sarcasm Americans may say “have fun” when you’re going to the dentist; this concept confuses the French human To express the height of a human, adjectives such as tall and short can apply building To express the height of a building, adjectives such as tall and low can apply scales with bottom baselines To express the baseline of a scale, adjectives such as high and low can apply
	Caution: Each of the semantic features below don’t conform to basic structure.
	Concept Semantic Features Experience restaurant customer menu waiter ordering eating bill All are related to the experience of going to a restaurant air travel ticket check-in luggage boarding pass pilot stewardess All are related to the experience of traveling by airplane commercial transaction sell buy pay cost seller money goods All are related to the experience of buying/selling something
Antonymy	Definition: A word that is the opposite in meaning. Auto-antonymy Complementary Antonymy Gradable Antonymy Relational Antonymy Credit to: Opposite
Return to top or post contents	buy, sell open, close feast, famine sunny, cloudy black, white
Auto-antonymy	Definition: A word that can have opposite meanings in different contexts or under separate definitions. Credit to: Opposite
Return to top or post contents	enjoin to prohibit issue an injunction to order, command fast move quickly fix firmly in place flirt outrageously cleave to split to adhere sanction punishment prohibition permission stay remain in a specific place postpone guide direction, movement brace spend some time
Complementary Antonymy	Definition: One of a pair of words with opposite meanings, where the two meanings do not lie on a continuous spectrum. A.k.a. binary antonym, contradictory antonym Credit to: Opposite
Return to top or post contents	odd, even mortal, immortal exit, entrance exhale, inhale occupied, vacant
Gradable Antonymy	Definition: One of a pair of words with opposite meanings where the two meanings lie on a continuous spectrum, such as temperature, weight, size, etc. Credit to: Opposite
Return to top or post contents	hot, cold heavy, light fat, skinny dark, light young, old early, late empty, full dull, interesting
Relational Antonymy	Definition: One of a pair of words that refer to a relationship that is opposite only within the context of their relationship. Credit to: Opposite
Return to top or post contents	teacher, pupil husband, wife doctor, patient predator, prey teach, learn servant, master come, go parent, child
Homonym	Definition: Two or more words that are spelled the same, sound the same, but have completely different definitions. Homonyms are divided into these primary classes: Homograph Heteronym Homophone Heterograph For greater detail, see the posts on “Homonym” with even more sub-categories, including heteronym, paronym, capitonym, monosemy, and polysemy.
Return to top or post contents	address, address bat, bat match, match mean, mean right, right rock, rock
Homograph	Definition: Two or more words that are spelled the same, but don’t necessarily sound the same, and have completely different definitions.
Return to top or post contents	agape with mouth open love bass type of fish low deep voice entrance the way in to delight fine of good quality a levy
Heteronym	Definition: Two or more words that are spelled the same but don’t sound the same and have different meanings. A.k.a. heterophone
Return to top or post contents	ad, add ball, bawl caret, carrot dual, duel eye, I overdo, overdue
Homophone	Definition: Two or more words that may have the same or different spellings or meanings BUT are pronounced the same.
Return to top or post contents	brake, break fair, fare hear, here new, knew rose, rose sole, soul
Heterograph	Definition: Two or more words that have different spellings and meanings yet sound the same.
Return to top or post contents	hear, here toad, towed sun, son dear, deer hair, hare weak, week copy right, copyright, copywrite
Synonymy	Definition: A word or phrase with a meaning that is the same as, or very similar to, another word or phrase. The standard test for synonymy is substitution: one form can be replaced by another in a sentence without changing its meaning.
Return to top or post contents	happy, glad angry, mad destination, last stop walk, perambulate girl, lass
Poecilonym	Definition: A near-synonym that means almost the same thing as another used for the taxonomic meaning of synonym as an incorrect or obsolete systematic name for a genus or species.
Return to top or post contents	house, home palace, castle
Polyonym	Definition: A rare, archaic type of synonym with the same meaning as another word.
	See synonymy.

Return to top or post contents

C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!

Satisfy your curiosity about other Linguistics posts by exploring its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, the Properly Punctuated, Word Confusions, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.

Return to top or post contents

Resources for Theoretical Linguistics on Semantics

Some of these links may be affiliate links, and I will earn a small percentage, if you should buy it. It does not affect the price you pay.

Bache, Carl and Niels Davidsen-Nielsen. Mastering English. Walter De Gruyter, 1998.

Cassin, Barbara. Dictionary of Untranslatables: A Philosophical Lexicon. Princeton, 2014.

Chung, Sandy and Geoff Pullum. “Grammar.” Linguistic Society. n.d. Web. 23 March 2019. <https://www.linguisticsociety.org/resource/grammar>

Croft, William and D Alan Cruse. Cognitive Linguistics. Cambridge University Press: 2004. <https://amzn.to/42yigoT>.

Fillmore, Charles J. In The Linguistic Society of Korea, eds. “Frame semantics”. Linguistics in the Morning Calm. Hanshin, Seoul: 1982. <https://amzn.to/3TnhdUx>.

Jackendoff, Ray. “Conceptual Semantics.” Walter de Gruyter, 2006. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/IP.2006.020.

Kistner, Manuela. “Linguistic Sign Theories.” Grin.com. 2005. Web. 18 Mar 2023. <https://www.grin.com/document/71829>. Term paper.

Kittelstad, Kit. “Examples of Semantics: Meaning & Types.” YourDictionary.com. n.d. Web. 22 Feb 2021. <https://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-semantics.html>.

Klammer, Thomas P., Muriel R. Schulz, and Angela Della Volpe. Analyzing English Grammar. 4th Ed. Pearson, 2004.

Nordquist, Richard. “What Are Utterances in English (Speech)?” ThoughtCo. 28 July 2019. Web. 22 Feb 2021. <https://www.thoughtco.com/utterance-speech-1692576>.

“Opposite (semantics).” Wikipedia.com. 5 Mar 2021. Web. 5 Mar 2021. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opposite_(semantics)#Complementary_antonyms>.

“Prototypes.” Semantics. Ello.uos.de. n.d. Web. 18 Mar 2023. <http://www.ello.uos.de/field.php/>.

Ross, William. “Greek and Septuagint Lexicography.” Part 2 of Lexical Semantics. The Biblical Languages Podcast. Biblingo. 15 Sept 2021. Web. 18 Mar 2023. <https://biblingo.org/blog/greek-and-septuagint-lexicography-with-william-ross/>. Podcast.

“§ 2. Statistical Analysis.” StudFiles. 3 Jan 2016. Web. 16 Mar 2023. <https://studfile.net/preview/5640545/page:119/>.

“Semantic Protocols.” 14.0 Language, Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg. n.d. Web. 18 Mar 2023. <https://www.i40.ovgu.de/i40/en/I4_0+language/Semantic+Protocols.html>.

“Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.” Stanford University. n.d. Web. 20 Feb 2021. <https://plato.stanford.edu>.

“Statistical Semantics.” Wikipedia. 18 Feb 2023. Web. 16 Mar 2023. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statistical_semantics>.

“Statistical Semantics Etymology.” ETYMOLOGEEK. n.d. Web. 16 Mar 2023. <https://etymologeek.com/eng/statistical%20semantics>.

“Structural Semantics.” Cognitive Linguistics. n.d. Web. 18 Mar 2023. <https://cogling.fandom.com/wiki/Structural_semantics>.

“Structural Semantics.” Wikipedia. 24 May 2022. Web. 17 Mar 2023. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Structural_semantics>.

Szynalski, Tomasz P. “The Sounds of English and the

“What is Linguistics?” UC Santa Cruz. 4 Aug 2017. Web. 6 Dec 2020. <https://linguistics.ucsc.edu/about/what-is-linguistics.html>.

“What is Linguistics and Why Study It?” College of Social & Behavioral Sciences. University of Arizona. n.d. Web. 6 Dec 2020. <https://linguistics.arizona.edu/content/what-linguistics-and-why-study-it-0>.

Return to top or post contents

Pinterest Photo Credits

Buffalo buffalo WikiWorld, part of the WikiWorld WikiProject, by Greg Williams is under the CC BY-SA 2.5 license, via Wikimedia Commons.