1 Semantics vs Pragmatics vs Syntax Introduction to Semantics

hello hello hello in this lesson we are talking about semantics what is semantics about semantics is one branch of linguistics linguistics has three branches syntax semantics and pragmatics syntax is the study of grammar including phonology morphology and textual grammar semantics and pragmatics deal with meaning semantics is the study of meaning in language pragmatics considers the meaning in social contexts and the ways people produce and comprehend meanings through language or what people mean by the language they use note that semantics is context-free on the other hand pragmatics is context-dependent let's check the following two examples example one peter says coming down to the pub tonight bill says i've got to finish piece of work the semantic meaning is bill's reply just informs peter he has piece of work to finish the pragmatic meaning is bill's reply will normally be taken to indicate that he is not free to go to the pub even though he does not actually say that example two there's new korean restaurant on vodisau street the semantic meaning is the speaker simply informs the hearer of the new korean restaurant on vodisau street the pragmatic meaning is the speaker suggests trying that new restaurant in other words we can say semantic meaning is the sentence meaning or word meaning it is what sentence or word means or what it counts as the equivalent in the language concerned pragmatic meaning is the speaker meaning it is what speaker means or intends to convey when he uses piece of language in summary semantics is the study of meaning in language sentence meaning or word meaning and it is context-free pragmatics considers the meaning in social contexts or speaker meaning and it is context dependent