Leech Geoffrey. Semantics: The Study of Meaning

Pelican Books. 1985. — 383 p. — ISBN: 0140216944In recent decades a revolution in linguistic thought has restored semantics to a central position in the study of language. Geoffrey Leech's book is a study of the issues thus brought to the fore.Semantics, as the study of meaning, is centrally concerned with man's understanding of himself as a species that lives by communication. Philosophy, psychology and anthropology have all had a stake in it; but Geoffrey Leech sees semantics as belonging primarily to the newer discipline of linguistics, since meaning is inextricably a part of the language through which it is expressed. Taking a broad, linguist's-eye view of the subject, he stresses in the opening chapters the contribution of semantics to the understanding of practical problems of communication and concept-manipulation in modern society. In later chapters he deals with the theoretical core of the subject and considers in detail such questions as In what sense is semantics "scientific"?' and 'How much can the study of language in use contribute to the study of meaning?' Over the past two decades a revolution in linguistic thought has restored semantics to a central position in the study of language. Geoffrey Leech's book is a timely study of the issues thus brought to the fore. Although the study of meaning is as old as scholarship itself, the last fifteen years have seen an explosive growth of mental activity in the field of semantics. New theories and new models have developed in profusion; new ideas have superseded old ones at a rapid rate. So, less than five years after its original publication, there was already a quite strong feeling that this book was out of date. This second edition is an attempt to rethink and revise it, taking account of the most significant developments of the last few years.Meanings of Meaning
Seven Types of Meaning
‘Bony-Structured Concepts’
Semantics and Society
Is Semantics Scientific?
Components and Contrasts of Meaning
Componential Analysis: Extensions and Problems
The Semantic Structure of Sentences
Logic in Everyday Language
Semantics and Syntax
Semantics and the Dictionary
Colour and Kinship: Two Case Studies in ‘Universal Semantics’
Semantic Equivalence and ‘Deep Semantics’
Presuppositions
Factuality
Semantics and Pragmatics
Alternative Theories