Location via proxy:   [ UP ]  
[Report a bug]   [Manage cookies]                
Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • 132 views

    Semantics, Pragmatics, and Meaning

    Uploaded by

    smhmd
    This document provides introductory definitions and discussions around the concepts of meaning, semantics, and pragmatics. It begins by asking the reader to consider the meanings of various words and discusses how meaning is complex, depending on context, individuals, and societies. Semantics is defined as the study of meaning and word relations, though meanings are not stable and depend on speakers, hearers, and context. Pragmatics is concerned with understanding language in both linguistic and situational contexts. The document provides several references for further reading.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Semantics, Pragmatics, and Meaning

    Uploaded by

    smhmd
    132 views1 page
    This document provides introductory definitions and discussions around the concepts of meaning, semantics, and pragmatics. It begins by asking the reader to consider the meanings of various words and discusses how meaning is complex, depending on context, individuals, and societies. Semantics is defined as the study of meaning and word relations, though meanings are not stable and depend on speakers, hearers, and context. Pragmatics is concerned with understanding language in both linguistic and situational contexts. The document provides several references for further reading.

    Original Description:

    Semantics, pragmatics, and meaning definitions from Prof. Berjaoui of the University of Ibn Tofail.

    Original Title

    Semantics, pragmatics, and meaning

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    This document provides introductory definitions and discussions around the concepts of meaning, semantics, and pragmatics. It begins by asking the reader to consider the meanings of various words and discusses how meaning is complex, depending on context, individuals, and societies. Semantics is defined as the study of meaning and word relations, though meanings are not stable and depend on speakers, hearers, and context. Pragmatics is concerned with understanding language in both linguistic and situational contexts. The document provides several references for further reading.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    132 views1 page

    Semantics, Pragmatics, and Meaning

    Uploaded by

    smhmd
    This document provides introductory definitions and discussions around the concepts of meaning, semantics, and pragmatics. It begins by asking the reader to consider the meanings of various words and discusses how meaning is complex, depending on context, individuals, and societies. Semantics is defined as the study of meaning and word relations, though meanings are not stable and depend on speakers, hearers, and context. Pragmatics is concerned with understanding language in both linguistic and situational contexts. The document provides several references for further reading.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 1

    Ibn Tofail University-Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences-Department of English-The English Studies Unit-Kénitra-

    Semester 6 (S 6) Semantics and Pragmatics- Introductory backgrounds -H 2-Professor Berjaoui-2020


    1) Contents
    Introductory backgrounds (the notion of “meaning(s)”, semantics, and pragmatics)
    2) Meaning(s)
    a) Read “Man’s Search for Meaning”. Watch “Waiting for Godot”.
    b) Discuss the meaning(s) of the following words: God, life, death, family, studies, job, love, war, tree, and
    freedom.
    3) Meaning: tentative definitions
    a) “The term ‘meaning’ is, of course, much more familiar to us all. But the dictionary will suggest a number of
    different meanings of ‘meaning’.” (Palmer, 1981: 3).
    b) The “meaning of a word, phrase, or text (…).” (http://oxforddictionaries.com).
    c) “No one has yet produced a satisfactory answer to it.” (Lyons, 1981: 136).
    4) Meaning: selected remarks
    Meaning is too general to discuss and treat in one word or work. Meaning is conventional. Meaning is
    individual. Meaning goes beyond the word level. Meaning transcends the sentence level. Meaning may require a
    whole dialogue/text. Meaning depends on society. Meaning depends on the individual. Meaning depends on shared
    background. Meaning changes. Meaning is the essence of communication. Meaning depends on the nature of the
    word(s). Meaning depends on the words positions in the sentence. Meaning depends on the relation between words in
    the sentence. Meaning depends on the “real world”. Meaning is diverse.
    5) Semantics: definitions
    a) It is “the branch of linguistics (…) concerned with matters such as sense and reference (…) and implication
    (…).”(http://oxforddictionaries.com).
    b) It is “concerned with the analysis of word meanings and relations between them.”
    (http://oxforddictionaries.com).
    c) We “can assume that semantics is a component or level of linguistics of the same kind as phonetics (…).”
    (Palmer, 1981: 5).
    d) “Semantics is the study of meaning.” (Lyons, 1981: 136).
    e) “Semantics traditionally deals with meaning as a dyadic relation, as (…) ‘What does X mean?’” (Palmer,
    1981: 6).
    f) “A further difficulty with semantics is that meanings do not seem to be stable but to depend upon speakers,
    hearers and context.” (Palmer, 1981: 7).
    g) “It is not at all clear what constitutes evidence for a statement about meaning, and some of the theories that
    have laid most claims to being scientific have proved to be the most unsatisfactory. Precisely what is meant by
    ‘scientific’ or ‘empirical’ in the context of linguistic study is a matter of some debate.” (Palmer, 1981: 6-7).
    6) Pragmatics: definitions
    “Pragmatics is concerned with our understanding of language in context. Two kinds of contexts are relevant.
    The first is linguistic context —the discourse that precedes the phrase or sentence to be interpreted; the second is
    situational context —virtually everything nonlinguistic in the environment of the speaker.” (Fromkin et al., 2011:
    207).
    7) References
    a) Fromkin, Victoria et al. (2011). An Introduction to Language. Ninth edition. Boston: Wadsworth Cengage
    Learning.
    b) Leech, Geoffrey (1974). Semantics. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
    c) Leech, Geoffrey (1983). Principles of Pragmatics. New York: Longman.
    d) Levinson C. Stephen (1983). Pragmatics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
    e) Lyons, John (1977). Semantics, Volume I. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
    f) Lyons, John (1977). Semantics, Volume II. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
    g) Lyons, John (1981). Language and Linguistics: An Introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
    h) Palmer, Frank Robert (1981). Semantics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
    i) http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/run?q=run.

    You might also like