In the broad sense of the word, semantics is a branch of linguistics, the subject of which is the relationship between the existing and imaginary reality and the linguistic expressions that are used in these realities. In other words, the semantics of a language serves to search for general patterns in the display and projection of realities in this language. Reflected can be both objects or phenomena, and abstract categories, processes that have no practical application or material shell.
The role of semantics in language
Translated from Greek, semantics is a designation of something (Greek root semanticos - “denoting”). Semantics in its linguistic understanding serves to study the connections between the phenomena of natural language and the area of its application, whether it be the real or imaginary world.
This science clearly demonstrates how a person who is familiar with the grammatical structure of a language and a set of basic syntactic, lexical, morphological units is able to put his thoughts into a verbal form and perceive information coming from various sources, even the one with which he facesfor the first time.
Semantics is an essential part of such a section of linguistics as grammar. In the process of development of any language, the semantics of a word undergoes numerous changes with the advent of new theories and provisions in linguistics. So, for example, the basic principles used in the construction of the semantic component were developed by American scientists J. Katz and J. Fodor.
Semantics in dictionaries: principles and features
In the process of semantic analysis, the dictionary meaning of a word is fixed with the help of a special definition, or a definition developed in a specialized language. Semantic language implies a more explicit (detailed), but at the same time more rigorous description of an object or phenomenon than from the point of view of everyday language. For example, on the pages of a semantic dictionary, you can find the following characteristic: "NOSINF=INF, SUB". It is used for a short designation of the information carrier, which, from the standpoint of semantics, is equated to an object containing information.
When interpreting words in natural language, scientists use single quotes to write expressions and components. However, this method is not used in dictionaries, since the dictionary source structure itself assumes a “word-interpretation” placement model, i.e. the definition, as a rule, is located to the right of the word being defined. When interpreting sentences, linguists use double quotes. It must be remembered that the techniques encountered in semantics do not coincide with the corresponding ones innatural language. For example, the construction "JOIN-MARRY" in semantics will be considered not as a combination of three words, but as a single element of study.
Semantics is a special science that uses the category of metalanguage in its practice. This term is necessary to designate a language with which another language is described. Natural, for example, can act as a metalanguage in relation to itself. Metalanguage elements can also include graphic schemes, tables, images or drawings, often found in illustrated dictionaries.
