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Differences Between Semantics and pragmatics
Introduction
Semantics is the branch of logic and linguistics that is concerned with meaning. The main areas of semantics are logical and lexical semantics. Lexical semantics deals with the analysis of the meaning of words and relations between them while logical semantics deas with matters of reference and sense and implication. Examples of semantics include interpretation of terms like run that could have different meanings, such as departing or physically running (Clark). Semantics, therefore, establishes the relationship between a word and a sentence and then gives it meaning. Pragmatics is a branch of semiotics and linguistics that explains how the meaning of a word depends on the context. Thre are mainly four aspects of pragmatics, which are the rhetorical structure, conversational implicature, speech acts, and also the management of the flow of reference (Ward). An example of pragmatics is the study of how people respond to different symbols. Semantics and pragmatics are very different, and those differences will be clearly explained in the paper.
Differences between semantics and pragmatics.
One of the differences includes the fact that semantics is the study of the relationship between linguistic words and their meaning. In contrast, pragmatics is the study of how context influences the understanding of linguistic terms. This means that anytime there is a verbal disagreement, the disagreement is mainly based on the interpretation of words according to one’s view in semantics, whereas in a contextual clash, the words are related to the context for pragmatics. In this case, when it comes to settling of disagreements based on the meaning of the expression is easier compared to that of interpretation of words based on context.
Another difference is that semantics studies the meaning of words in their sentences, whereas pragmatics studies the meaning of the same terms and definitions, but they are based on the context. Semantics focuses on the literal meanings and not the deeper meaning, whereas pragmatics studies the literal meaning of the words and also goes ahead and studies the inferred meaning as well. Semantics, therefore, focuses on the significance of the terms in a literal sense, and n the other hand, pragmatics shows the importance of the words form both a literal and contextual approach(Kroeger). Semantics can, therefore, be a subset of pragmatics as the pragmatics covers what is studied in semantics and other additional elements.
The meaning of words in semantics is independent of other factors, whereas the meaning of the words in pragmatics is dependant on the specific situation under consideration. The terms as studied in semantics mainly depend on a person’s general opinion of the word as it is explained on the first understanding of the word with no deeper meanings (Kroeger). In pragmatics, the meaning is independent of the situation whereby a word can have different meanings depending on the condition it is being used. Semantics is therefore different from pragmatics in that semantics is independent as the meaning of the words is not interpreted form a particular situation, whereas pragmatics studies show that a name is dependent on a specific case.
Conclusion
Semantics is the study of the meaning of words and the relationship between the words. Pragmatics is the study of words and giving sense to the words based on the context. They both deal with the establishment of the meaning of words but in different ways. Some of the differences between the two include the fact that in semantics, the meaning of the words is independent, while in pragmatics, the meaning of the words is dependent on the situation or context. Another difference is that in semantics, the meaning of the words is based on the way the terms are used in a sentence, whereas in pragmatics, the meaning of the words is based on the context the words were used. It is, therefore, more comfortable to solve disagreements under semantics than pragmatics as semantics focuses on the literal meaning, whereas pragmatics focuses on a much deeper meaning.
Works cited
Clark, Herbert H. Semantics and comprehension. Vol. 187. Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG, 2019.
Kroeger, Paul. Analyzing meaning: An introduction to semantics and pragmatics. 2018.
Ward, Gregory L. The semantics and pragmatics of preposing. Routledge, 2016.