Semantics. A Coursebook.pdf

Introducing English Semantics is a comprehensive and accessible introduction to semantics, the study of meaning.

Fartas, 2023

This booklet provides an introduction to the field of semantics and aims to give university students a brief summary of the main concepts and theories. Semantics is the study of meaning in language and encompasses a wide range of topics, from word meanings and sentence structures to the interpretation of texts and discourse. The purpose of this book is to help students understand the fundamental ideas of semantics and prepare them for exams and other assessments. The book is structured in a way that allows students to work through the material systematically. The booklet starts with an overview of semantics followed by an important theory in semantics namely compositionality theory , it covers also some related topics of the field including types of meaning, figures of speech and finally lexical relations. While this book is not meant to be a comprehensive guide to semantics, it is designed to give students a solid foundation in the subject and help them develop critical thinking skills. Whether you are new to the field or looking to refresh your knowledge, this book is a valuable resource for anyone studying semantics. However, it is primarily made for students of Ibn Zoh university ,AitMelloul , who could not attend to the sessions of the module, hoping this booklet would put them in the picture and making things clear for them.

This practical coursebook introduces all the basics of semantics in a simple, step-bystep fashion. Each unit includes short sections of explanation with examples, followed by stimulating practice exercises to complete the book. Feedback and comment sections follow each exercise to enable students to monitor their progress. No previous background in semantics is assumed, as students begin by discovering the value and fascination of the subject and then move through all key topics in the field, including sense and reference, simple logic, word meaning, and interpersonal meaning. New study guides and exercises have been added to the end of each unit (with online answer key) to help reinforce and test learning. A completely new unit on non-literal language and metaphor, plus updates throughout the text, significantly expand the scope of the original edition to bring it up-to-date with the modern teaching of semantics for introductory courses in linguistics as well as intermediate students.

Semantics is the study of meaning in language. This clear and comprehensive textbook is the most up-to-date introduction to the subject available for undergraduate students. It not only equips students with the concepts they need in order to understand the main aspects of semantics, it also introduces the styles of reasoning and argument which characterize the field. It contains more than 200 exercises and discussion questions designed to test and deepen readers' understanding. More inclusive than other textbooks, it clearly explains and contrasts different theoretical approaches, summarizes current debates, and provides helpful suggestions for further reading. Examples are drawn both from major world languages, such as Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, Spanish and English, and from minority ones. The book also highlights the connections between semantics and the wider study of human language in psychology, anthropology and linguistics itself.

This practical coursebook introduces all the basics of semantics in a simple, step-bystep fashion. Each unit includes short sections of explanation with examples, followed by stimulating practice exercises to complete the book. Feedback and comment sections follow each exercise to enable students to monitor their progress. No previous background in semantics is assumed, as students begin by discovering the value and fascination of the subject and then move through all key topics in the field, including sense and reference, simple logic, word meaning, and interpersonal meaning. New study guides and exercises have been added to the end of each unit (with online answer key) to help reinforce and test learning. A completely new unit on non-literal language and metaphor, plus updates throughout the text, significantly expand the scope of the original edition to bring it up-to-date with the modern teaching of semantics for introductory courses in linguistics as well as intermediate students. vii CONTENTS Prefaces ix Acknowledgements xi How to use this book xii 1 Basic ideas in semantics UNIT 1 About semantics UNIT 2 Sentences, utterances, and propositions UNIT 3 Reference and sense 2 From reference. .. UNIT 4 Referring expressions UNIT 5 Predicates UNIT 6 Predicates, referring expressions, and universe of discourse UNIT 7 Deixis and definiteness UNIT 8 Words and things: extensions and prototypes 3. .. to sense UNIT 9 Sense properties and stereotypes UNIT 10 Sense relations (1) UNIT 11 Sense relations (2) 4 Logic UNIT 12 About logic UNIT 13 A notation for simple propositions UNIT 14 Connectives: and and or UNIT 15 More connectives 5 Word meaning UNIT 16 About dictionaries UNIT 17 Meaning postulates UNIT 18 Properties of predicates UNIT 19 Derivation UNIT 20 Participant roles Contents viii 6 Interpersonal and non-literal meaning UNIT 21 Speech acts UNIT 22 Perlocutions and illocutions UNIT 23 Felicity conditions UNIT 24 Direct and indirect illocutions UNIT 25 Propositions and illocutions UNIT 26 Conversational implicature UNIT 27 Non-literal meaning: idioms, metaphor, and metonymy Selected references and recommendations for further study Index Prefaces x into appropriate existing units of the text to maintain, as far as possible, the organization of the original edition of the book, which I think is quite clear and well-designed. Finally, I have also updated and expanded the recommendations for further study at the end of the book. Clarifying text, examples, and exercises have been added to the end of each unit.

Zain Legal Publications,Beirut,Lebanon, 2017

This book is an introductory course to semantics and pragmatics for foreign university students of English. It is a textbook that has been specially designed to meet the needs of students who encounter the study of meaning for the first time. The main objective is to acquaint students of English, as a foreign language, with background information, basic ideas and concepts about the study of the two areas of meaning (semantics and pragmatics) with an edutaining flavour. In writing this book, we have tried to adopt the same approach and strategies used in writing the first textbook (Linguistics) for foreign university students of English. The approach is communicatively and interactively oriented. It is based on edutainment in that it educates and entertains as the same time. It employs a variety of strategies and techniques that depend on brainstorming, group work, discussion groups, video and image watching, report writing, all of which are presented in the Hintsections and Exercises sections. The book has also been designed to make the students’ learning task easier, and more beneficial and interesting. This is done by splitting the main topics into smaller manageable subtopics, in addition to simplicity of expression, straightforward style, clarity of presentation and comprehensive coverage of fundamental semantic and pragmatic issues and concepts. To put all these considerations into practical application, the strategies previously mentioned have been employed throughout the book. These aim at making the book easy to follow and handle, and make the study of meaning an interesting thing rather than boring, especially for students, and other readers who want to use it on their own as part of self-study. Vertically, each chapter begins with the Starter Section, followed by the Hint Section, the basic material to be delivered in the chapter, then the Reminder Section and ends with the Study Section. The Starter introduces the basic topics and terms to be presented in the chapter as headlines. The purpose behind this section is to direct the students' attention to what is to be dealt with in the chapter. The Hint is a two-fold activity. It is either a picture or a short video. But the two have one purpose in common; they function as a brainstorming stimulus for students to be actively and indirectly involved in the material to be presented later. Here students are required to watch the picture (in the figure) or the video and answer the relevant questions. The pictures and videos intend to prepare students for active involvement in the subject, but in an entertaining and easy manner by means of the information displayed on the picture or the video. These two means challenge the students’ ability to recall, observe, analyse, synthesize and infer to get at the correct answer. The Reminder, which comes at the end, is a summary of the main points and basic terms introduced in the chapter. It has been devised to help students have a brief account of the subject through skimming. The Study Section, which comes after the Reminder, is divided into two main parts; questions and exercises. The questions aim at checking the students' knowledge and understanding of the main ideas and important terms presented in the chapter. The exercises aim at developing the students' knowledge and giving them more practice to arouse their awareness of semantics and pragmatics. Horizontally, the book is divided into two parts. Part One: Semantics, which is supposed to be covered in the first semester, includes five chapters; Introduction (Chapter 1), Basic Terms (Chapter 2), Lexical Relations (Chapter 3), Semantic Concepts (Chapter 4), Multi-Word Chunks and Meaning (Chapter 5). Part Two: Pragmatics, which is to be covered in the second semester, also includes five chapters; Introduction (Chapter 6), Basic Terms (Chapter 7), Cooperation and Communication (Chapter 8), Speech Acts and Communication (Chapter 9) and Politeness and Interaction (Chapter 10). Last but not least, the book has been supplemented with PowerPoint Presentations covering its ten chapters. The purpose behind this is to provide both the teacher and students with a useful and entertaining tool to the study of meaning, which has always been looked upon (by most students) as a difficult and boring subject.

hashem alkhateeb, 2021

Semantics: A Coursebook, SECOND EDITION

Semantics and Pragmatics, 2020

Meaning-making is at the center of all human communicative events. Communication is an exchange of meanings encoded in written or spoken words, non-verbal cues, signs, symbols, and so on. Creating, exchanging, and interpreting meaning is ingrained in human nature since prehistoric times. Language is the most sophisticated medium of communication. It is through language that we set meanings or in other words — refer, define, and signify the things in nature and the ideas in our mind. (Griffiths, 2017) The term ‘meaning of meaning’ was first coined by anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski in 1923. According to him meaning is related to multiple phenomena. It has various facets and these features are related to the external world (extra-linguistic factors) and the linguistic properties (phonetics, morphology, syntax, and semantics) The concept of meaning is vast and has many moving parts. Questing for the answer — ‘what is the meaning of meaning’ makes us take a multi-disciplinary approach; from linguistics, philosophy, neurology, to semiotics. In this essay, I will reflect on the meaning of ‘meaning’ from a multidisciplinary approach, discuss the challenges of doing meaning, and the role of context in understanding the meaning of words and sentences.

The inextricable bound of semantics and grammar is discussed in this work. The present researcher delves into exploring several literatures on the interface, before discussing their interplay as an inextricable bound.