Understanding Semantics - Hardcover

Loebner, Sebastian

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0340731974 ISBN 13: 9780340731970

Publisher: Routledge, 2002

Synopsis

This series provides approachable, yet authoritative, introductions to all the major topics in linguistics. Ideal for students with little or no prior knowledge of linguistics, each book carefully explains the basics, emphasising understanding of the essential notions rather than arguing for a particular theoretical position.
Understanding Semantics offers a complete introduction to linguistic semantics. The book takes a step-by-step approach, starting with the basic concepts and moving through the central questions to examine the methods and results of the science of linguistic meaning.
Understanding Semantics unites the treatment of a broad scale of phenomena using data from different languages with a thorough investigation of major theoretical perspectives. It leads the reader from their intuitive knowledge of meaning to a deeper understanding of the use of scientific reasoning in the study of language as a communicative tool, of the nature of linguistic meaning, and of the scope and limitations of linguistic semantics.
Ideal as a first textbook in semantics for undergraduate students of linguistics, this book is also recommended for students of literature, philosophy, psychology and cognitive science.

About this title

Review:

"Understanding Semantics is an original and innovative resource for introductory courses on linguistic semantics, excelling in particular in consciousness and accessilbily of presentation." - Linguistics 43-2

"Loebner's book is strongly recommended and is best seen as a starting point in one's inquiry into what semantics comprises." - Luna Filipovic Kleiner, Journal of Pragmatics

Synopsis:

This volume provides an introduction to semantics for readers new to the subject. The aim of the book is to offer an introduction which is concise and accessible whilst at the same time thorough and up-to-date. The first chapters introduce central topics in the description of word and sentence meaning, and the second part comprises chapters which look at the relation of semantics to neighbouring disciplines such as cognition, social interaction, language comparison and history, and literature. These sections make clear the ways in which semantics is connected with other disciplines. Each chapter includes a summary, a checklist of key terms, exercises with answers in the back, further exercises without answers, and suggestions for further reading.

About this edition

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0340731974
• ISBN 13: 9780340731970
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 272