Semantics (disambiguation)

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Semantics is the study of the way in which the use of and interrelationships between words, phrases and sentences create meaning, usually in language.

There are a number of approaches to semantics, but one approach, pioneered by Richard Montague and known as model-theoretic semantcs (or simply Montague semantics) is based on the idea of interpretation. An interpretation is a mapping from the domain of sentences to a formal structure known as a model. Models include relationships and attributes that may be defined in set-theoretic terms (e.g., older than, inanimate, owner of, etc.) for a property to be semantically interesting, it must hold in all interpretations (or all interpretations satisfying a suitable sent of restrictions). This ensures that they do not reflect accidental or contingent information.

Rule to Rule Hypothesis

An important idea in the semantics of natural languages is the rule to rule hypothesis. The idea is that any phrase structure rule or, more generally, syntactic construct, will have a corresponding semantic relationship. Thus, in the sentence

John sees Sally.

the relationship between John and Sally established by the verb see must correspond to a relationship on the level of models to which the verb see is mapped.