Semantics
Chapter 9
What is Semantics?
Semantics is the study of the meaning of words,
phrases and sentences.
Semantic Roles
1. Agent
The entity who does the action.
Example
The boy kicked the ball.
2. Theme
The entity involved in or affected by the action.
Example
The boy kicked the ball.
The dog chased the boy.
3. Instrument
The entity that is used to do the action.
Example
The boy wrote the letter with a pen.
4. Experiencer
The one who has the feeling, perception or state (not
the action) described by the verb.
Example
The boy feels sad.
The student knows the answer.
5. Location
Where the entity is.
Example
the boy is sitting in the classroom.
6. Source
Where the entity moves from.
Example
The boy ran from the house.
7. Goal
Where the entity moves to.
Example
The boy walked to the window.
Exercises
Identify the semantic role of each underlined phrase.
1. A car ran over the ball.
2. The dog caught the ball.
3. We drove from Chicago to New Orleans.
4. Mary saw a fly on the wall.
5. She borrowed a magazine from George.
6. She squashed the bug with the magazine.
7. She handed the magazine back to George.
Lexical Relations
1. Synonymy: two or more words have very
closely related meanings.
Examples:
Big / large.
Broad / wide.
2. Antonymy: words with opposite meanings.
Examples:
Happy/ sad.
Hot / cold.
3. Homophones: two or more words with
different forms and have the same sound.
Examples:
to/ too/ two.
right/ write.
Pragmatics
Pragmatics: is the study of what speakers mean.
Exercises
Write the lexical relation of each pair listed
below.
1. Male / female.
2. Cab / taxi.
3. Fast / slow.
4. Poor / rich.
5. freedom / liberty.
6. Meat / meet.