Semantics

semantics

the study of meaning and the structures and patterns of meaning in human languages

lexical relations

meaning of words

sentential relations

meanings of sentences

extension

locating the meaning in the world

intension

locating the meaning in the mind

synonyms

similar (but not identical) meanings

antonyms

opposite meaning

graded antonyms

degrees of difference (hot and cold - or in between)

absolute antonyms

two opposites cover all the possibilities in a particular situation

relational antonyms

two things can be in opposition only in the context of a particular relationship

homophones

words that are pronounced the same but have unrelated meanings, and can be spelled differently

homographs

words that are spelled the same, but have unrelated meanings and can be pronounced differently

homonyms

words that are both spelled and pronounced the same, but have unrelated meanings (both homophones and homographs)

polysemy’s

words that have multiple related meanings

hypernym

superset of the referent (larger group made up of subtypes)

hyponym

subset of the referent (subtype in a larger group)

partonym

a part of the referent (what an arm is to a body), also known as metonymy

holonym

a whole thing that the referent is part of (what the body is to an arm)

paraphrase

when two sentences are equal in truth and can be swapped but still make sense

entailment

when one sentence implies the truth of another sentence, but is a one-way relationship and cannot be swapped

contradiction

two sentences cannot be true at the same time (or just at all)

intension

internal bundle of ideas and asssociations for a concept

denotation

part of the intension; the basic or “literal” meaning of the word

connotation

part of the intension; the emotions, judgments, and cultural associations attached to the concept

extension

everything in the world that is referred to by a word or phrase

natural classes

groups of concepts that share a feature

componential analysis

breaking the meaning of a term down into invisible bits of meaning

semantic features

basic on-or-off (binary) units of meaning used in componential analysis

graded membership

where a concept has a range of examples, from most typical (prototype) through less typical, to peripheral, and on out

fuzzy category

the boundary between what is and what isn’t an example of a thing varies between people, contexts, and cultures

prototype

the example that one thinks of most readily when considering a concept with graded membership

metaphor

the use of one concept (usually concrete) to indicate or describe another concept (usually more abstract)