Editing Semantics (section)

== Definition and related fields ==
Semantics is the study of [[Meaning (philosophy)|meaning]] in [[language]]s.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|AHD Staff|2022}} | {{harvnb|Saeed|2009|p=4}} | {{harvnb|Crimmins|1998|loc=Lead Section}} }}</ref> It is a systematic inquiry that examines what linguistic meaning is and how it arises.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Saeed|2009|pp=4–5}} | {{harvnb|Crimmins|1998|loc=Lead Section}} | {{harvnb|King|2006|p=735}} | {{harvnb|Riemer|2010|pp=2–3}} }}</ref> It investigates how [[Expression (linguistics)|expressions]] are built up from different layers of constituents, like [[morpheme]]s, [[word]]s, [[clause]]s, [[Sentence (linguistics)|sentences]], and [[Text (literary theory)|texts]], and how the meanings of the constituents affect one another.<ref>{{harvnb|Allan|2009|p=xi}}</ref> Semantics can focus on a specific language, like English, but in its widest sense, it investigates meaning structures relevant to all languages.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Bezuidenhout|2009|p=875}} | {{harvnb|Jacobson|2014|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=XRRCBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA4 4]}} | {{harvnb|Zaefferer|2019|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=t9G1DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA1 1]}} }}</ref>{{efn|The study of meaning structures found in all languages is sometimes referred to as ''universal semantics''.<ref>{{harvnb|Zaefferer|2019|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=t9G1DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA1 1]}}</ref>}}{{efn|Semantics usually focuses on [[natural language]]s but it can also include the study of meaning in [[formal languages]], like the language of [[first-order logic]] and [[programming languages]].<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Lewis|2012|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=vsb-CAAAQBAJ&pg=PA169 169]}} | {{harvnb|Saeed|2009|pp=305–306, 315–317}} | {{harvnb|Fernández|2014|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=dzi5BQAAQBAJ&pg=PA14 14]}}}}</ref>}} As a descriptive discipline, it aims to determine how meaning works without [[Linguistic prescription|prescribing]] what meaning people should associate with particular expressions.<ref name="auto2">{{harvnb|Griffiths|Cummins|2023|p=12}}</ref> Some of its key questions are "How do the meanings of words combine to create the meanings of sentences?", "How do meanings relate to the minds of language users, and to the things words refer to?", and "What is the connection between what a word means, and the contexts in which it is used?".<ref>{{harvnb|Riemer|2010|p=2}}</ref> The main disciplines engaged in semantics are [[linguistics]], [[semiotics]], and [[philosophy]].<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Crimmins|1998|loc=Lead Section}} | {{harvnb|Saeed|2009|p=5}} | {{harvnb|Riemer|2010|pp=4–6}} }}</ref> Besides its meaning as a field of inquiry, semantics can also refer to theories within this field, like [[truth-conditional semantics]],<ref>{{harvnb|Carston|2011|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=v0tz8crnDqEC&pg=PA280 280]}}</ref> and to the meaning of particular expressions, like the semantics of the word ''fairy''.<ref>{{harvnb|Williams|1997|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=DLmoKKkxAX0C&pg=PA457 457]}}</ref>

As a field of inquiry, semantics has both an internal and an external side. The internal side is interested in the connection between words and the [[Mental state|mental phenomena]] they evoke, like ideas and conceptual representations. The external side examines how words refer to objects in the world and under what conditions a sentence is true.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Gross|2016|pp=12–13}} | {{harvnb|Riemer|2016|pp=30–31}} }}</ref>

Many related disciplines investigate language and meaning. Semantics contrasts with other subfields of linguistics focused on distinct aspects of language. [[Phonology]] studies the different types of [[Phone (phonetics)|sounds]] used in languages and how sounds are connected to form words while [[syntax]] examines [[grammar|the rules]] that dictate how to arrange words to create sentences. These divisions are reflected in the fact that it is possible to master some aspects of a language while lacking others, like when a person knows how to pronounce a word without knowing its meaning.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Saeed|2009|pp=4–5}} | {{harvnb|Jun|2009|p=463}} | {{harvnb|Jackendoff|2013|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=N_lQEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA72 72]}} }}</ref> As a subfield of semiotics, semantics has a more narrow focus on meaning in language while semiotics studies both linguistic and non-linguistic signs. Semiotics investigates additional topics like the meaning of [[non-verbal communication]], conventional [[symbol]]s, and natural signs independent of human interaction. Examples include [[nodding]] to signal agreement, stripes on a uniform signifying [[Military rank|rank]], and the presence of [[vulture]]s indicating a nearby animal carcass.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Saeed|2009|p=5}} | {{harvnb|Riemer|2010|pp=4–6}} }}</ref>

Semantics further contrasts with [[pragmatics]], which is interested in how people use language in communication.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Griffiths|Cummins|2023|p=1}} | {{harvnb|Bezuidenhout|2009|p=875}} }}</ref> An expression like "That's what I'm talking about" can mean many things depending on who says it and in what situation. Semantics is interested in the possible meanings of expressions: what they can and cannot mean in general. In this regard, it is sometimes defined as the study of context-independent meaning. Pragmatics examines which of these possible meanings is relevant in a particular case. In contrast to semantics, it is interested in actual performance rather than in the general [[linguistic competence]] underlying this performance.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Griffiths|Cummins|2023|pp=1–3, 14}} | {{harvnb|Bezuidenhout|2009|p=875}} }}</ref> This includes the topic of additional meaning that can be inferred even though it is not literally expressed, like what it means if a speaker remains silent on a certain topic.<ref>{{harvnb|Griffiths|Cummins|2023|pp=12–13}}</ref> A closely related distinction by the semiotician [[Charles W. Morris]] holds that semantics studies the relation between words and the world, pragmatics examines the relation between words and users, and syntax focuses on the relation between different words.<ref>{{harvnb|Bezuidenhout|2009|p=875}}</ref>

Semantics is related to [[etymology]], which studies how words and their meanings changed in the course of history.<ref name="auto2"/> Another connected field is [[hermeneutics]], which is the art or science of interpretation and is concerned with the right [[methodology]] of interpreting text in general and [[scripture]] in particular.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Malpas|2014|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?id=zUaLBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA1 Introduction: Hermeneutics and Philosophy]}} | {{harvnb|AHD Staff|2022a}} | {{harvnb|Vámos|2019|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=v3GlDwAAQBAJ&pg=SA3-PA2 3-2]}} }}</ref> [[Metasemantics]] examines the [[metaphysical]] foundations of meaning and aims to explain where it comes from or how it arises.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Anderson|2021|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=LCdBEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA4 4]}} | {{harvnb|Burgess|Sherman|2014|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=G0iPBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA1 1–2]}} }}</ref>

The word ''semantics'' originated from the Ancient Greek adjective ''{{transliteration|grc|semantikos}}'', meaning 'relating to signs', which is a derivative of ''{{transliteration|grc|sēmeion}}'', the noun for '[[sign]]'. It was initially used for [[medical symptom]]s and only later acquired its wider meaning regarding any type of sign, including linguistic signs. The word ''semantics'' entered the English language from the French term ''{{lang|fr|semantique}}'', which the linguist [[Michel Bréal]] first introduced at the end of the 19th century.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Riemer|2010|p=2}} | {{harvnb|Hoad|1993|p=428}} }}</ref>