Semantics Pragmatics

STUDYING MEANING
 Syntax - Semantics - Pragmatics
The study of the relationship between linguistic forms, how they
are arranged in sequence, and which sequences are well-formed.
syntax

The study of the relationship between linguistic forms and entities

in the world, between verbal description and state of affairs in the
semantics world as accurate (true) or not.

The study of the relationship between linguistic forms and the

users of those forms
pragmatics Intended meanings, assumptions, purpose/goals, kinds of actions
 Sender  Addressee
There are 3 consequences:
• There are different ways of communicating the same
message; it depends on the context in time and the
speaker intention.
• The active participation of the addressee sometimes
possible to be communicated with just a little have been
said or written.
• Mistakes are possible.
 Utterance - Sentence
• Utterance
 Raw data in linguistics
 Each is unique
 Produced in specific situation
 Interpreted in context
 Continued…
• Sentence
 The abstract linguistic object on which an utterance
is based.
e.g. I study at a university.  sentence
study, university  utterance
Pragmatics studies the utterance meaning.
Semantics studies sentence and word meaning.
 Semantics  Meaning
• Semantics  the study of meaning
 Literal meaning
 Character given in the dictionary
 In scientific and academic scope
 Exercise
1. Do the following two English sentences mean
(approximately) the same thing?
a) I’ll be back later.
b) I will return after some time.
2. Is the answer to the previous question obvious to a
normal speaker of English?
 Continued…
3. In the light of your reply to (2), if I ask ‘What did John
mean when he said he’d be back later?’, would you be
giving the helpful kind of answer that I probably want
if you said ‘He meant that he would return after some
time’?
 Theory of Meaning
• “mean” can be applied to people who use language
(speakers/authors) related to the ‘intention’.
• It can be applied to words and sentences in a
different sense.
• The first step it to recognize the distinction clearly
and remember whether the focus is on what speakers
mean or what words (sentences) mean.
 Continued…
• SPEAKER MEANING  what a speaker means (i.e.
intends to convey) when he uses a piece of language.
• SENTENCE/WORD MEANING  what a sentence (or
word) means, i.e. what it counts as the equivalent of
in the language concerned.