Semantics

Semantics:The study of meaning, signification. Semantics explains certain parts of meaning that are represented in a language or code ([1]). Semantics is broken into two parts, Syntax and Pragmatics. Syntax() is the construction of complex signs from simpler signs. Pragmatics is the practical use of signs by agents or communities of interpretation in particular circumstances and contexts. This means that people who have the power, education, or skill decide a correct interpretation, or meaning for every circumstance and context that we (as a people) experience through time. Before we have linguistics, or communication, we have semantics, or interpretation, which is generally founded before us by scholars who are appointed to do so.

The study of the way language signals meanings and their changes. A much broader use and application of semiotics, semantics includes the way words relate to what they signify  (Frye et al. 425). The study of linguistic development by classifying and examining changes in meaning and form. The meaning, or an interpretation of the meaning, of a word, sign, sentence, etc.: Let's not argue about semantics. The study of the relationships between various signs and symbols and what they represent.

Semantics has a strong basing on syntax being that semantics is the way language signals relate to general meanings, or symbolic logic (Frye et al. 425).

Citation

Frye, Northrop, Sheridan Baker, George Perkins, and Barbara Perkins.The Harper Handbook To Literature. 2nd ed. New York: Longman, 1997.