Bule Hora University
College of Social Sciences and Humanities
Department of English Language and Literature
Course: Semantics and Pragmatics
Course Code: EnLa 308
Credit Hours: 3
UNIT 1: Introduction: Definition of Semantics and Meaning
Semantics is the branch of linguistics and logic concerned with meaning. It deals with the
interpretation and meaning of words, phrases, sentences, and texts.
Meaning refers to the ideas or concepts that words, phrases, sentences, and texts convey.
It is what is communicated by language, depending on context, culture, and usage.
1.1 Approaches to the Explanation of Meaning
Referential Approach
Focuses on the relationship between language and real-world entities. E.g., 'tree' refers to
a physical object.
Structural Approach
Examines relationships within language; meaning comes from syntactic/grammatical
structures.
Cognitive Approach
Meaning is constructed in the mind through mental processes like conceptual metaphors.
Pragmatic Approach
Context, speaker intention, and conversational norms shape meaning.
Semiotic Approach
Examines signs and their meanings in communication, e.g., red light = stop.
Formal Semantic Approach
Uses formal systems/logical models to represent meaning.
Functional Approach
Focuses on language functions in context, e.g., speech acts like apologizing.
1.2 Theories of Meaning
Componential Theory
Breaks word meaning into features: e.g., 'woman' = [+human], [+female], [+adult].
Contextual Theory
Meaning depends on context. E.g., 'bank' = river side or financial institution.
Generative Theory
Syntactic rules generate sentence meaning. E.g., 'cat chased mouse'.
Truth-Conditional Theory
A sentence’s meaning lies in its truth conditions.
Denotation Theory
Meaning equals the set of real-world referents. E.g., 'cat' = all cats.
1.3 Lexical Sense Relations
Synonymy
Words with similar meanings: e.g., 'big' and 'large'.
Antonymy
Words with opposite meanings: gradable ('hot/cold'), complementary ('alive/dead'),
relational ('teacher/student').
Hyponymy
'Rose' is a hyponym of 'flower'.
Hypernymy
'Animal' is a hypernym of 'dog'.
Homonymy
'Bat' (animal/sports tool), 'bank' (river/finance).
Polysemy
'Head' (body/organization), 'mouth' (face/river).
Meronymy
'Wheel' is a part of 'car'.
Holonymy
'Tree' is a whole including 'leaf'.
1.3.2 Sentence Semantics
Compositional Semantics
Sentence meaning is built from word meanings and structure.
Truth Conditions
Conditions under which a sentence is true.
Entailment
Truth of one sentence guarantees another.
Presupposition
Assumptions required for a sentence to make sense.
Implicature
Implied meaning beyond explicit content.
Thematic Roles
Agent, Theme, Experiencer, Instrument roles in actions.
1.4 Semantic Fields and Collocation
Semantic Fields
Group of words by theme (e.g., colors, family). Useful in vocabulary development and
analysis.
Collocation
Habitual combinations of words (e.g., 'strong tea', 'take a break').
1.5 Ambiguity and Vagueness
Ambiguity
Multiple interpretations (lexical: 'bank'; syntactic: 'I saw the man with a telescope').
Vagueness
Imprecise terms without clear boundaries (e.g., 'tall', 'few', 'heap').
Unit Two: Pragmatics
Pragmatics studies how context affects meaning. It includes context types, speech acts,
deixis, implicature, and politeness theory.
Context
Linguistic, physical, social, and cultural background.
Speech Acts
Locutionary, illocutionary, and perlocutionary acts.
Implicature
Implied meaning based on Grice’s maxims.
Deixis
Context-dependent words: person ('I'), place ('here'), time ('now').
Politeness Theory
Positive/negative face strategies for respectful communication.
