Editing Denotation (section)

== In linguistic semantics ==

In [[formal semantics (natural language)|natural language semantics]], denotations are conceived of as the outputs of the semantic component of the grammar. For example, the denotation of the word "blue" is the property of being blue and the denotation of the word "Barack Obama" is the person who goes by that name. Phrases also have denotations which are computed according to the [[principle of compositionality]]. For instance, the [[verb phrase]] "passed the class" denotes the property of having passed the class. Depending on one's particular theory of semantics, denotations may be identified either with terms' [[Extension (semantics)|extensions]], [[intension]]s, or other structures such as [[context change potential]]s.<ref name=":0">{{cite book |last=Kroeger |first=Paul |date=2019 |title= Analyzing Meaning |url=https://langsci-press.org/catalog/book/231 |publisher= Language Science Press |pages=21–22,172–173|isbn=978-3-96110-136-8}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Coppock |first1=Elizabeth |last2=Champollion |first2=Lucas |date=2019 |title= Invitation to Formal Semantics |url=https://eecoppock.info/bootcamp/semantics-boot-camp.pdf |publisher=Manuscript |page=43}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Heim |first1=Irene | last2=Kratzer | first2=Angelika |author-link1=Irene Heim |author-link2=Angelika Kratzer |date=1998 |title=Semantics in Generative Grammar |publisher=Wiley Blackwell | location = Oxford |pages=14}}</ref><ref name = "dynsemsep" >{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Nowen |first1=Rick |last2=Brasoveanu | first2=Adrian | last3=van Eijck | first3=Jan | last4=Visser |first4=Albert |editor-last=Zalta |editor-first= Edward |encyclopedia= The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy |title=Dynamic Semantics |url=https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2016/entries/dynamic-semantics/ |access-date=2020-08-11 |year=2016}}</ref>

When uttered in [[discourse]], expressions may convey other associations which are not computed by the grammar and thus are not part of its denotation. For instance, depending on the context, saying "I ran five miles" may convey that you ran exactly five miles and not more. This content is not part of the sentence's denotation but rather [[pragmatics|pragmatic]] inferences arrived at by applying [[social cognition]] to its denotation.<ref name=":0" />