Meaning in Language: An Introduction to Semantics

Semantics is a sub-discipline of linguistics which focuses on deconstructing words, signals and sentence structure for the management and resolution of ambiguities. It studies the relationship between words using the principles of synonymy, antonymy, polysemy and homophony. The semantic relationship between sentences is analyzed by making use of various techniques like paraphrasing, mutual entailment, asymmetrical entailment and contradiction. When a sentence has more than one possible meaning, it is termed as ambiguous. Ambiguities can be categorized into lexical ambiguity and structural ambiguity. Lexical ambiguity arises due to the presence of polysemous words. Structural ambiguity results from the different combinations of words which are contained in a sentence. The subject of semantics can be broadly classified into formal semantics, conceptual semantics, cognitive semantics, cross-cultural semantics, lexical semantics and computational semantics. This book attempts to understand the multiple branches that fall under the discipline of semantics and how such concepts have practical applications. Most of the topics introduced herein cover new techniques and the applications of semantics. The book is appropriate for those seeking detailed information in this area.