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Semantics, as a linguistic discipline, focuses on the study of meaning. However, as this course will demonstrate, the notion of meaning is not always so straightforward as we might think. Semantics focuses on the meaning that is either read into or grasped relying only on the knowledge of the language rules. As such, we will contrast semantics against syntax, as the study of linguistic structures, and pragmatics, as the study of language in context. In this seminar, we will focus on different types of semantic meanings in words, phrases and sentences, the differences between sense and reference, as well as the sense relations that can be established between different words and sentences. Therefore, we will tackle lexical semantics – the branch of semantics that studies word meaning, their mutual relations, as well as sentence semantics - the branch of linguistics that studies how words combine to form meaningful propositions. We will also look at several theoretical approaches to semantics: formal semantics, which relies on logical frameworks to describe relations between language and meaning; structural semantics, which analyses meaning as a structured system of relationships between words; as well as cognitive semantics, which studies the relationship between language, conceptual systems, and the human mind. |
