What is semantics?

• A. The study of sound patterns in language
• B. The meaning of words and sentences
• C. The arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences
• D. The appropriate use of language in different contexts

Answer: (B)

Semantics is about meaning in language—the meanings of individual words and how those meanings combine to form the sense of a whole sentence. It asks how words connect to ideas, how meanings shift with context, and how we resolve ambiguities (like “bank” meaning a financial institution or the side of a river). This area focuses on what is being conveyed, not how it sounds or how the sentence is constructed.

It’s different from phonology, which studies sound patterns; from syntax, which looks at how words are arranged to form well-formed sentences; and from pragmatics, which considers how language is used in real situations and what speakers intend beyond literal meaning. For example, semantics would analyze why the sentence feels different when you think about the word “bank” in a financial sense versus a riverbank, based on the surrounding words.

So, semantics is the meaning of words and sentences.