THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN SEMANTIC AND PRAGMATIC

SEMANTIC

Semantics is a sub discipline of linguistics which focuses on the study of meaning. Semantics tries to understand what meaning is as an element of language and how it is constructed by language as well as interpreted, obscured and negotiated by speakers and listeners of language.

Semantics refers to the meaning of words in a language and the meaning within the sentence. Semantics considers the meaning of the sentence without the context. The field of semantics focuses on three basic things: “the relations of words to the objects denoted by them, the relations of words to the interpreters of them, and, in symbolic logic, the formal relations of signs to one another (syntax)" [1]. Semantics is just the meaning that the grammar and vocabulary impart, it does not account for any implied meaning. In this sense, there's a focus on the general 'rules' of language usage.

Example:

a)        A water pill at first glance could be a pill with water in it; but, it is understood to be a diuretic that causes a person to lose water from his body.

b)         Crash can mean auto accident, a drop in the Stock Market, to attend a party without being invited, ocean waves hitting the shore or the sound of a cymbals being struck together.

c)        A barking dog can be good, especially if he is a guard dog, or can be bad because he is untrained and awakens people.

d)        The simple word "on" can have many meanings, such as: on call, on the roof, on cloud nine, on edge, on fire, on purpose, on demand, on top, or on the phone.

PRAGMATIC

Pragmatics is the study of the aspects of meaning and language use that are dependent on the speaker, the addressee and other features of the context of utterance, such as the following.

Pragmatic meaning looks at the same words and grammar used semantically, except within context. In each situation, the various listeners in the conversation define the ultimate meaning of the words, based on other clues that lend subtext to the meaning.

Example:

For example, if you were told to, “Crack the window,” and the room was a little stuffy, and the speaker had just said prior to this that they were feeling a little warm, then you would know, pragmatically, that the speaker would like you to open the window a 'crack' or just a little.

If you were with a friend who was locked out of his home, and you were standing at a back door trying to get inside, your friend might say 'crack that window' and literally mean to put a 'crack' in the window, or break the window.

Differences in Meaning

As the example above shows, considering both the pragmatic and semantic meaning of your sentence is important when communicating with other people. Although semantics is concerned only with the exact, literal meaning of the words and their interrelations, pragmatic usage focuses on the inferred meaning that the speakers and listeners perceive.

The following examples demonstrate the difference between the two:

>> She hasn’t taken a shower.

>> He was so tired he could sleep for days.

In both of these examples, the context and pragmatic meaning really define the sentence.

In the first, did the speaker really mean to say that the woman has not ever taken a shower, not even once? Although the sentence says just that, the listener in the conversation may understand, based on other factors, that the speaker means that the woman they are referring to has not taken a shower ... today.

In the second example, we have a guy who is so tired he can sleep for days. Is he really going to sleep for days? Semantically, we would need to take that sentence to mean exactly that. But, in casual conversation, the listeners and speaker might tell you that the guy was just saying he was really, really tired, and using those words to convey that meaning, instead of saying, 'he was really tired'.