Introduction to Semantics and Pragmatics
Key concepts, definitions, and relationships – a quick‑reference guide
1. What Are Semantics and Pragmatics?
| Aspect |
Semantics |
Pragmatics |
| Focus |
Meaning encoded in language itself (words, phrases, sentences). |
Meaning that arises in actual use, considering context, speaker intentions, and shared knowledge. |
| Question answered |
What does this sentence mean? |
What does this sentence mean in this situation? |
| Level of analysis |
Lexical, compositional, truth‑conditional, model‑theoretic. |
Speech‑act theory, relevance theory, deixis, implicature, presupposition. |
| Typical data |
Dictionaries, corpora, formal semantics models. |
Conversational transcripts, discourse analysis, experimental pragmatics. |
2. Core Topics in Semantics
2.1 Lexical Semantics
- Word meaning: sense (intensional) vs. reference (extensional).
- Semantic relations: synonymy, antonymy, hyponymy, hypernymy, meronymy, troponymy.
- Polysemy & Homonymy: multiple related senses vs. unrelated meanings.
2.2 Compositional Semantics
- Principle of Compositionality: meaning of a complex expression = function of meanings of its parts and their syntactic combination.
- Formal tools: lambda calculus, type theory, model‑theoretic semantics.
- Quantifiers & Scope: universal (∀), existential (∃), scope ambiguity (e.g., “Every student read a book”).
2.3 Truth‑Conditional Semantics
- Sentences as propositions: evaluated as true or false relative to a possible world.
- Possible‑world semantics: models a world as a set of individuals, properties, and relations.
- Entailment & Presupposition: logical consequence vs. background assumptions.
2.4 Semantic Roles & Thematic Relations
- Agent, Patient, Experiencer, Instrument, Goal, Source, etc.
- Theta‑criterion: each argument receives exactly one theta‑role; each theta‑role is assigned once.
2.5 Formal Semantics Frameworks
| Framework |
Main Idea |
Typical Formalism |
| Montague Grammar |
Natural language as a formal language; uses intensional logic. |
Typed lambda calculus, possible worlds. |
| Dynamic Semantics |
Meaning updates a discourse context (information state). |
Discourse Representation Theory (DRT), Dynamic Predicate Logic. |
| Distributional Semantics |
Meaning derived from statistical patterns of co‑occurrence. |
Vector space models, word embeddings. |
3. Core Topics in Pragmatics
3.1 Speech‑Act Theory (Austin & Searle)
- Locutionary act – utterance and its literal meaning.
- Illocutionary act – intended force (e.g., assert, question, request).
- Perlocutionary act – effect on the listener (e.g., persuade, frighten).
| Illocutionary Force |
Example |
| Assert |
“It is raining.” |
| Question |
“Is it raining?” |
| Command |
“Close the window.” |
| Promise |
“I will call you tomorrow.” |
3.2 Conversational Implicature (Grice)