Semantics, Syntax, and Sentences
A. SEMANTICS & SYNTAX
1. Semantics
se⋅man⋅tics
–noun (used with a singular
1.
Linguistics.
a. the study of meaning.
verb )
b. the study of linguistic development by classifying and examining changes
in meaning and form.
2.
Also called significs. the branch of semiotics dealing with the relations
between signs and what they denote.
3.
the meaning, or an interpretation of the meaning, of a word, sign, sentence,
etc.: Let's not argue about semantics.
English words are divided into eight different parts of speech according to their function
in a sentence. The parts of speech are adjectives, adverbs, conjunctions, interjections,
nouns, pronouns, prepositions, and verbs. Different languages have different variations of
these and that include the order in which they are used. In the English language, the SVO
pattern is employed: Subject – Verb – Object. In English, other typical patterns are:
adjective-noun, verb-adverb, and preposition-noun. There is nothing magical or “correct
about this pattern. It is simply how things have shaken out over the centuries. Other
languages employ other patterns. None is right and none is wrong. They just “are”. The
rules or patterning/ordering of the parts of speech is known as the syntax of the language.
Syntax Δ= the study of the rules for the formation of grammatical sentences in a
language. Knowledge of syntax is vital to understanding a sentence. Let me illustrate.
Consider the following four words:
Bear
The
Bob
Ate
We can get a pretty clear idea of what each of these terms might mean…the range of
possible meanings, but as they sit…without any context, that is all that that have –
Semantic Range. The ranges are as follows:
Bear:
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source
bear1
bɛər - Show Spelled Pronunciation[bair] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA
Pronunciation verb, bore or (Archaic ) bare; borne or born; bear·ing.
–verb (used with object)
1.
to hold up; support: to bear the weight of the roof.
2.
to hold or remain firm under (a load): The roof will not bear the strain of his weight.
3.
to bring forth (young); give birth to: to bear a child.
4.
to produce by natural growth: a tree that bears fruit.
5.
to hold up under; be capable of: His claim doesn't bear close examination.
6.
to press or push against: The crowd was borne back by the police.
7.
to hold or carry (oneself, one's body, one's head, etc.): to bear oneself erectly.
8.
to conduct (oneself): to bear oneself bravely.
9.
to suffer; endure; undergo: to bear the blame.
10. to sustain without yielding or suffering injury; tolerate (usually used in negative
constructions, unless qualified): I can't bear your nagging. I can hardly bear to see
her suffering so.
11. to be fit for or worthy of: It doesn't bear repeating.
12. to carry; bring: to bear gifts.
13. to carry in the mind or heart: to bear love; to bear malice.
14. to transmit or spread (gossip, tales, etc.).
15. to render; afford; give: to bear witness; to bear testimony.
16. to lead; guide; take: They bore him home.
17. to have and be entitled to: to bear title.
18. to exhibit; show: to bear a resemblance.
19. to accept or have, as an obligation: to bear responsibility; to bear the cost.
20. to stand in (a relation or ratio); have or show correlatively: the relation that price
bears to profit.
21. to possess, as a quality or characteristic; have in or on: to bear traces; to bear an
inscription.
22. to have and use; exercise: to bear authority; to bear sway.
–verb (used without object)
23. to tend in a course or direction; move; go: to bear west; to bear left at the fork in
the road.
24. to be located or situated: The lighthouse bears due north.
25. to bring forth young or fruit: Next year the tree will bear.
The:
–definite article
1.
(used, esp. before a noun, with a specifying or particularizing effect, as opposed to
the indefinite or generalizing force of the indefinite article a or an): the book you
gave me; Come into the house.
2.
(used to mark a proper noun, natural phenomenon, ship, building, time, point of the
compass, branch of endeavor, or field of study as something well-known or unique):
the sun; the Alps; the Queen Elizabeth; the past; the West.
3.
(used with or as part of a title): the Duke of Wellington; the Reverend John Smith.
4.
(used to mark a noun as indicating the best-known, most approved, most
important, most satisfying, etc.): the skiing center of the U.S.; If you're going to
work hard, now is the time.
5.
(used to mark a noun as being used generically): The dog is a quadruped.
6.
(used in place of a possessive pronoun, to note a part of the body or a personal
belonging): He won't be able to play football until the leg mends.
7.
(used before adjectives that are used substantively, to note an individual, a class or
number of individuals, or an abstract idea): to visit the sick; from the sublime to the
ridiculous.
8.
(used before a modifying adjective to specify or limit its modifying effect): He took
the wrong road and drove miles out of his way.
9.
(used to indicate one particular decade of a lifetime or of a century): the sixties; the
gay nineties.
10. (one of many of a class or type, as of a manufactured item, as opposed to an
individual one): Did you listen to the radio last night?
11. enough: He saved until he had the money for a new car. She didn't have the
courage to leave.
12. (used distributively, to note any one separately) for, to, or in each; a or an: at one
dollar the pound.
Bob:
- proper noun : a man’s name (nickname for Robert)
–noun
1.
a style of short haircut for women and children.
2.
a docked horse's tail.
3.
a dangling or terminal object, as the weight on a pendulum or a plumb line.
4.
a short, simple line in a verse or song, esp. a short refrain or coda.
5.
Angling.
a.
a knot of worms, rags, etc., on a string.
b.
a float for a fishing line.
6.
a bobsled or bob skate.
7.
Scot. a bunch, cluster, or wad, esp. a small bouquet of flowers.
8.
Obsolete.
WALKING BEAM.
–verb (used with object)
9.
to cut short; dock: They bobbed their hair to be in style.
–verb (used without object)
10. to try to snatch floating or dangling objects with the teeth: to bob for apples.
11. Angling. to fish with a bob.
Ate: past tense form of to eat
–verb (used with object)
1.
to take into the mouth and swallow for nourishment; chew and swallow (food).
2.
to consume by or as if by devouring gradually; wear away; corrode: The patient was
eaten by disease and pain.
3.
to make (a hole, passage, etc.), as by gnawing or corrosion.
4.
to ravage or devastate: a forest eaten by fire.
5.
to use up, esp. wastefully; consume (often fol. by up): Unexpected expenses have
been eating up their savings.
6.
to absorb or pay for: The builder had to eat the cost of the repairs.
7.
Slang: Vulgar. to perform cunnilingus or fellatio on.
–verb (used without object)
8.
to consume food; take a meal: We'll eat at six o'clock.
9.
to make a way, as by gnawing or corrosion: Acid ate through the linoleum.
–noun
10. eats, Informal. FOOD.
2. Syntax, Context, and Meaning
syn⋅tax
1.
–noun
Linguistics.
a. the study of the rules for the formation of grammatical sentences in a
language.
b. the study of the patterns of formation of sentences and phrases from
words.
c.
the rules or patterns so studied: English syntax.
d. a presentation of these: a syntax of English.
e.
2.
an instance of these: the syntax of a sentence.
Logic.
a. that branch of modern logic that studies the various kinds of signs that
occur in a system and the possible arrangements of those signs, complete
abstraction being made of the meaning of the signs.
b. the outcome of such a study when directed upon a specified language.
3.
a system or orderly arrangement.
4.
Computers. the grammatical rules and structural patterns governing the
ordered use of appropriate words and symbols for issuing commands, writing
code, etc., in a particular software application or programming language.
One may know the meaning of each of the terms – “Bear”, “The”, “Bob”, and “Ate” - or
at least be aware of the semantic range of the terms, but without a certain arrangement,
the words cannot communicate a complete thought. The arrangements, “bear the ate
Bob,” “Bob bear the ate,” “the ate Bob bear,” and etc. have no meaning as they do not
follow proper English syntax, despite the fact that you might have a clear understanding
what each word means. Make sense?
In addition, even when arranged correctly, the way in which the words are lined up
greatly affect the meaning. The sentence “Bob ate the bear,” communicates quite a
different meaning than “The bear ate Bob.” Just ask Bob. The first communicates a
picture of Bob sitting down to juicy black bear steak with wild rice on the side. The
second sentence communicates a picture of a bear gnawing on Bob’s lifeless body in the
woods. Makes a difference to Bob. Makes a difference to you, if you want to have the
hearer/reader have the same picture in her head as is in yours, you need to use the syntax
that she follows. You must submit to the rules of the hearer if you want to communicate
clear meaning.
As mentioned above, every language has its own specific rules of sentence formation.
There are no right or wrong rules…just rules that are.
(A note on the difference between syntax and grammar: Grammar is a broader term,
covering all the rules governing the use of language. Thus, grammar can include the
subtopics of phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics.
Syntax is the subtopic dealing with the ordering/arranging of the words to form
sentences.)
In addition, it is in the weaving together of these words in a certain pattern that words
move from having merely Semantic Range to having specific meaning. Apart from a
sentence context, words have only semantic range. Once placed within a sentence, the
range is severely limited to one or just a few possible meanings. The word context, is
made of two Latin terms that taken together, literally mean: woven together (we get our
English word textile from the root word). When words are woven together with other
words…and done so using the rules of sentence formation, then the word moves from
having semantic range and possible meaning, to taking on actual communicative
meaning.
B. SENTENCES
1. Sentence Structure
Sentences are complete thoughts, whether formed in your head and remaining invisible
and silent or communicated to the outside world through speech or writing. A complete
thought is a thought that involves not just bringing to mind something, but saying
something about that thing. “Bob” is not a complete thought. It is simply a proper noun.
The verb “ran” is not a complete thought; it is simply a word describing an action, but
without reference to any particular actor doing the running. When the two are combined
into “Bob ran,” then the thought is completed. The two parts of a sentence are the
Subject and the Predicate. The subject phrase (word or group of words that comprise the
subject) is what the sentence is about. The predicate phrase (word of group of words that
comprise the predicate) gives information about the activity or state of being of the
subject.
2. Types of Sentences
Remember - Sentence Δ – a complete thought, typically requiring a subject and a
predicate (verb)
1. Descriptive Δ– describes reality (or the speaker’s perception of it); often equated with
a “statement” or declarative sentence, tells how things are; the only type of
sentence that can be true (e.g. “Fido is a dog.”)
2. Prescriptive Δ – tells how things should be or ought to be (e.g. “Men should put down
the toilet seat after use.”
3. Predictive Δ– tells how things will be (e.g. It will rain tomorrow.”)
4. Categorical Δ – asserts a common quality of every individual in an
entire set (e.g. Pigs are intelligent mammals.”)
5. Hypothetical Δ – give an if / then condition (e.g. If it snows much, we will cancel the
recital.) (the ‘If” portion is known as the antecedent, the “then” portion is known
and the consequent
6. Disjunctive Δ – gives an either / or situation (e.g. “Either Mr. Anderson chooses to
make it to work on time or he chooses to find himself another job.”)
7. Analytic Δ – gives a definition (e.g. A triangle is geometric figure with three angles.)
8. Self Defeating Δ – logically collapses on itself (e.g. Language cannot convey
meaning.)
9. Subjunctive Δ – gives a possibility (e.g. John might come over for dinner.)
10. Imperative Δ – give a command (e.g. Go get me beer.)
11. Interrogative Δ – asks a question (e.g. Would you please shut up?)