Linguistics is not just about how language is structured or placed, but also how a language can mean literally and contextually. The study of meaning in linguistics is divided into two primary fields: Semantics and Pragmatics.  While both studies explore how meaning is constructed and interpreted, each focuses on distinct aspects of communication.

Semantics is the study that examines the literal relationships between linguistic forms, such as words and phrases, with their referents. It focuses on truth conditions, where a statement is described accurately as a state of affairs. For example, the sentence “The grass is green” is true since the grass is indeed green. 

Other than that, semantics focuses on the literal meaning of a word. This means that semantics focuses on the conventional, dictionary-defined sense of words and sentences, independent of context. For instance, the sentence “She reads a book” semantically means a physical action of reading and involving a book. 

Semantics also focuses on structural relationships, which are how words combine to form meaningful sentences, governed by syntactic rules. Semantics avoids considering the speaker’s intent or contextual factors, aiming for an objective and context-free interpretation. 

On the other hand, Pragmatics is known as the study of contextual meaning, where it explores how meaning is influenced by context, the speaker’s intent, and the listener’s inference. It focuses on the speaker's meaning, invisible meaning, relative distance, and contextual adaptation. Pragmatics analyzes what a speaker intends to communicate through their utterance, which may differ from the literal meaning. For example, the utterance “It’s cold here” might pragmatically imply a request to close a window or turn up the temperature of an air conditioner. 

In an invisible sense, pragmatics focuses on the unsaid information that listeners infer based on shared knowledge or context. For instance, the utterance “So.. did you?” implies an unspoken context that is only known by the speaker and the listener. Relative distance is one of the pragmatic focuses, which is analyzed by how physical, social, or conceptual proximity shapes communication. This means that closer relationships often do not require detailed information, whereas distant ones demand more. Pragmatics also focuses on contextual adaptation, which is how speakers adjust messages based on the listener’s identity, setting, or cultural norms. 

While they are different, semantics and pragmatics are complementary. Semantics provides the knowledge of language in literal definitions, whereas pragmatics reveals the dynamic and context-driven nature of communication. Together, these studies explained how meaning is both constructed and interpreted in human interaction.

Reference: 

Kreidler, Charles W. Introducing English Semantics. London; New York: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2014.

Yule, George. Pragmatics. Oxford University Press, 1996.

Writer: Paulina Angelica Putri

Editor: Arinda Risma Wardani