Lecture Two: Definition and Brief History of Semantics

Lecture Two

DEFINITION AND BRIEF HISTORY OF

SEMANTICS
1.0 INTRODUCTION
 Semantics simply implies the study of how meaning in
language is produced or created.
 Semantics encompasses how words, phrases and sentences
come together to make meaning in language.
 The term semantics simply means the study of meanings.
 We have philosophical semantics, linguistic semantics
among other varieties of semantics.
 We shall be focusing on the development and nature of
semantics.
 Hence, we will learn the definition and beginnings of
linguistic semantics.
2.0 OBJECTIVES
 At the end of this Lecture, you should be able to:
 Define and explain the meaning of semantics

 Trace the beginnings of linguistic semantics.
3.1 THE CONCEPT OF SEMANTICS
 Semantics is the area of linguistics dealing with the meaning
of words or the meaning attached to words or symbols.
 This view places semantics at the core of communication in
language.
 Indeed, there is no communication without the sharing of
meaning.
3.2 THE DEFINITION OF SEMANTICS
 Semantics as a term was first formally used by Breal in 1897.
 Hence, we can deduce that Breal was the first to bring to the fore in a
formally acceptable way, the nature of meaning in language.
 Semantics was not mentioned as a term and did not come up in
literature until 1897 when it was first used by Breal.
 This first attempt to study meanings by philosophers brought about
the area of semantics called philosophical semantics.
 Philosophical semantics examines the relationship between linguistic
expressions and the phenomena they refer to in the external world.
 Itfocuses on examining the conditions under which such linguistic
expressions and the phenomena they refer to are true or false.
 This can be traced to as far back as Plato and Aristotle’s works.
 However, contemporary philosophical semantics can be traced
to the works of the following authors:
 Rudolf Carnap (1891 - 1970),
 Alfred Tarski (Born 1902) and
 Charles Peirce (1839 - 1914).
 According to Peirce, philosophical semantics developed as
Semiotics in America while with the influence of Saussure in
France, the term “semiology” was used.
 However, the idea of truth-based semantics was Tarski’s major
contribution.
 Linguistic semantics emphasizes the properties of natural
languages.
 Pure or logical semantics is the study of the meaning of
expressions using logical systems or calculi.
 Examining semantics in this dimension makes it more
mathematically related than linguistic in nature.
 The discussion of semantics as a branch of linguistics began
recently and this shall be our next focus.
SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE
What do you understand by the word

“semantics?”
3.3 BRIEF HISTORY OF SEMANTICS
 Alfred Korzybski was the first person to attempt studying
semantics as a distinct discipline, separate from the discipline
of philosophy.
 Incidentally,
Korzybski was a non-linguist who was passionate
about introducing a generally acceptable science of
communication.
 Priorto the work of Korzybski, semantics has been looked at
from a non-scientific perspective.
 Korzybski’s work was the first formal attempt at bringing in a
scientific model to the study of semantics.
Korzybski
 started by describing all entities and realities by assigning
labels to them.
He went further to group the names into three:

 Common objects such as chair, stone, cow and so on.
 Groups and collections like nations, animals, people and so on.
 Un-identifiable referents in the outside world.
These
 labels are highly abstract and do not readily lend themselves to
the assignment of concrete reality.
They are only assignable to concrete realities by imagination.

Such labels include but are not limited to freedom, love, and

democracy among others.
However, this is not the same with common objects since there seems

to be a direct correspondence between items and linguistic
expressions.
Meaning does not have an objective reference in reality because
different people will react to different words differently.
For instance, the word “love” would be viewed differently by
different people as a result of their circumstance or present
reality.
One person who probably is in a loving relationship will view it
positively while another in an unfulfilled relationship will view it
negatively.
Hence, their reactions will be different and will therefore evoke
different emotions from them.
Ogden and Richards wrote abook entitled The Meaning of
Meaning.
Inthis book, they came very close to the analysis of meaning by
combining philosophical processes and linguistic methodologies.
They introduced the concept “referent” to describe the physical
object or situation which the word identifies in the real world.
They pointed out that the representation or situation should be
seen as a referent while the actual pronunciation or orthographic
representation will constitute the symbol.
 For example, the figure or shape of an adult female human being
will be the referent while the word used to describe the referent
will constitute the symbol.
The concept of change in meaning has remained dynamic.
Semantics has been at the fore in the study of change in
meaning.
As early as 1933, Bloomfield observed a system of change in
the meaning of words.
Instances of change in meaning of words overtime:
 1. Meat used to represent all types of food
 2. Bitter derives from the metaphor of biting
 3. The meaning of astound derives from the weakened meaning of
thunder
 4. The meaning of knight has been an elevation of the concept of
boy.
Instances of change in meaning of words overtime:
 5. The word “money” relates to the Latin word moneo (warn) or
admonish because money was made in Rome at the temple of the
goddess, Junto Moneta
 6. Tanks in modern warfare derived their names from the 1914 –
1918 war in which the Germans were deceived into believing that
the structures being moved around were just water tanks
 7. The modern word “car” originated from the word “chariot”
Etymology also played an important role in earlier studies in
semantics.
However, no one can state with certainty the origin of the
meaning of any word.
SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE
Mention five scholars who have

been associated with the
development of semantics.
4.0 CONCLUSION
In this lecture, we have tried to explain the concept of
semantics as the study of how words, phrases and sentences
come together to create meaning in language.
We have also tried to examine the history of semantics from
its first appearance in literature and the contributions of
scholars like Breal, Bloomfield and Korzybski among others.
5.0 SUMMARY
In this lecture, you have learnt:
 The definition and explanation of the word semantics
 The history of semantics
 How scholars contributed and what they contributed to the history
of linguistic semantics?
6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT
1.Trace the development of linguistic semantics.
2.Briefly describe with appropriate examples how change in
meaning overtime has occurred in linguistic semantics.
3.What are the contributions of Alfred Korzybski to the
development of semantics?

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Lecture Two

DEFINITION AND BRIEF HISTORY OF

 Define and explain the meaning of semantics

What do you understand by the word

Mention five scholars who have

2.Briefly describe with appropriate examples how change in

meaning overtime has occurred in linguistic semantics.

3.What are the contributions of Alfred Korzybski to the

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