"Semantic"
Definition of Semantic
Semantics is one of the important
branches of linguistics that deals with interpretation and meaning of the
words, sentence structure and symbols, while determining the reading
comprehension of the readers how they understand others and their
interpretations. In addition, semantics construct a relation between adjoining
words and clarifies the sense of a sentence whether the meanings of words are
literal or figurative.
Definition from the
Experts
“The word semantics is derived from the Greek semaino,
meaning, to signify or mean. Semantics is part of the larger study of signs,
semiotics. It is the part that deals with words as signs (symbols) and language
as a system of signs (words as symbols)." (Hipkiss, 1995:ix)
“Semantics
is the study of meaning communicated through language.” Saeed (2003:3)
"Semantics
is the study of meaning in Language." Hurford
dan Heasley (1983:1)
"Semantics is the
technical term used to refer to the study of meaning, and since meaning is a
part of language, semantics is a part of linguistics." Palmer (1976:1)
Types of Semantic
There are two types of Semantics:
1. Connotative Semantic
When a word suggests a set of associations, or it is an imaginative or
emotional suggestion connected with the words, while readers can relate to such
associations. Simply, it represents figurative meaning. Usually poets use this
type of meaning in their poetry.
2. Denotative Semantic
It suggests the literal, explicit or dictionary meanings of the words
without using associated meanings. It also uses symbols in writing that suggest
expressions of writers such as an exclamation mark, quotation mark, apostrophe, colon, and quotation mark etc.
Examples of Semantic from Literature
Example 1
Juliet: O, be some other name!
What’s in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call’d…
The above-mentioned quote, “That which we call a rose…sweet” is, in fact,
conveying figurative meaning. However, its surrounding text clarifies the
meanings. Juliet is using metaphoric language and arguing with Romeo that his
family name is not important for her, because she only wants Romeo.
Example 2
The use of denotation or general meaning can be seen in the very first
chapter of James Joyce’s A Portrait of An Artist As a Young Man,
when Stephen expresses his feelings for his mother and father saying, “His
mother had a nicer smell than his father.” This sentence is conveying a
denotative or general meaning that he likes his mother than father. Thus the
meaning is understandable and acceptable for all types of readers around the
world. Hence, the general acceptability for all people is the major factor for
communicating with people successfully.
Example 3
In the famous soliloquy of Hamlet, “To be or not to be” William
Shakespeare has used a word that we use quite differently these days. Hamlet
says that, “When we have shuffled off this mortal coil.” Here
“mortal coil” carries a connotative meaning that suggests life. However, we are
using coils in different connection today, which means a series of spirals
tightly joined together.
Example 4
We can understand the use of semantic in the beginning of Hedda Gabler, in
which Bertha mentions Hedda as, “she’s real lady wants everything just so.”
This sentence lays emphasis on the implication that unlike Hedda, other women are
not real, neither they have any discipline, nor sequence in the schedules of
their life. In another dialogue, she says, “But, Lord! I never
dreamed I’d live to see a match between her and master George.” Here, an
exclamation mark highlights Bertha’s feelings of curiosity and astonishment.
Her word choice, “never dreamed” shows her intensity of surprising
emotions about class inequality.
Example 5
We can find use of semantic features in poetry more elaborately, as these
features describe the meanings of sentences, phrases and words and make
relation between them. These features include personification, simile, imagery, metaphor and allusion, etc. For example in William Blake’s poem Night,
he uses all semantic features. The poet employs a simile to compare beauty of
moon with flower, “The moon like a flower,” then uses a covert comparison between unlike things as, “And there the
lions ruddy eyes, Shall flow with tears of gold”; here tears of gold
illustrates the value of tears. Then, we see personification, “The feet of
angels bright” and imagery, “The sun descending in the west,/The
evening star does shine”, brings a picture in the minds of readers.
 |
| Meaning And Reference Branches of Semantics(1) |
 |
| Meaning and Reference Branches of Semantics(2) |
3. Function of Semantic
The purpose of semantic is to propose exact meanings of the words and
phrases and remove confusion, which might lead the readers to believe a word
has many possible meanings. It makes a relationship between a word and the
sentence through their meanings. Besides, semantic enables the readers to
explore a sense of the meaning, because if we remove or change the place of a
single word from the sentence, it will change the entire meanings, or else the
sentence will become anomalous. Hence, the sense relation inside a sentence is
very important, as a single word does not carry any sense or meaning.
Popular Semantics Books
Language in Thought and Action
(Paperback)
by S.I. Hayakawa (shelved 8 times as semantics)
avg rating 4.22 —
2,465 ratings — published 1939
Semantics in Generative Grammar
(Paperback)
by Irene Heim (shelved 3 times as semantics)
avg rating 3.74 — 175
ratings — published 1997
Semantics (Paperback)
by John I. Saeed (shelved 3 times as semantics)
avg rating 3.72 — 439
ratings — published 1996
Drive Yourself Sane : Using the Uncommon
Sense of General Semantics (Paperback)
by Susan Presby Kodish (shelved 3 times as semantics)
avg rating 4.15 — 188
ratings — published 2000
Metaphors We Live By (Paperback)
by George Lakoff (shelved 3 times as semantics)
avg rating 4.09 —
10,236 ratings — published 1980
The Language Instinct: How the Mind
Creates Language (Paperback)
by Steven Pinker (shelved 3 times as semantics)
avg rating 4.04 — 41,968
ratings — published 1994
The Tyranny of Words (Paperback)
by Stuart Chase (shelved 2 times as semantics)
avg rating 4.34 — 705
ratings — published 1938
Applied
Semantics
Applied semantics is the study and application of semantics which have many uses, for example, advertising, text analysis, web traffic of search engines, web page rankings, and
the indexation of words. The term 'applied semantics' is widely considered to
be first coined by Plantinga, where he distinguished the differences between
"pure" and "applied" semantics.
Pure
semantics is defined as semantics in the purely theoretical (sometimes referred
to as mathematical) sense, whereas applied semantics is defined as the
practical use of semantics, such as assigning meanings to words or deducing
entailments. Dummet summarizes the distinction by terming pure semantics as
"the merely algebraic notion of logical consequence" and applied
semantics as "the semantic notion of logical consequence properly so
called".
Example:
·
Semantic on Advertising
While earlier techniques relied on correlating specific words to ad
placement, semantic advertising also takes the meaning of those words into
account. Semantic search technology improves the accuracy and relevance of
search results by interpreting the viewer's intent and the precise meaning of
phrases. One example is that a viewer searching for information on a Dodge
Charger will be presented with ads for parts or mechanics for that car, and not
with ads for the San Diego Chargers football team.
·
Using Semantics on
Search Engine
We all know there are variety of devices, there are
different input methods, from typing a word on the keyboard of our
computer or making a request directly to voice applications like Google Now.
These advances have moved us from former queries like
“restaurants in manhattan,’ to more specific queries such as ‘where to eat
Indian food in Manhattan’ or ‘what is the best place to eat Indian food in
Manhattan’ .
We can see two trends in this evolution: an increase in long
tail queries and users requiring more precision, so search engines have had to
adapt and provide more relevant results.
Search engines understood identifying keywords
alone was not enough, instead, they needed to understand how the data was
related, both with within the same site and through out the web.
 |
| It's how we get the meaning |
 |
| e.g. semantics in real life(1) |
 |
| e.g. semantics in real life(2) |
 |
| e.g. semantics in real life (3) |
Trends topic Semantics on Technology
Thanks
to the expansion of the internet and the explosion of social media, the
importance of semantic technology continues to grow. The semantic
interpretation of content takes search beyond the border of keyword logic and
into the network of relationships and connections between information and
documents.
Inside the enterprise, unstructured information is made even more
accessible by semantic technology, where the content of text documents, emails,
social media posts and more is increasingly being recognized as a strategic
asset.
References
