What is semantics? Semantics is the study of meaning. It is a wide subject within the general study of language. An understanding of semantics is essential to the study of language acquisition (how language users acquire a sense of meaning, as speakers and writers, listeners and readers) and of language change (how meanings alter over time). It is important for understanding language in social contexts , as these are likely to affect meaning, and for understanding varieties of English and effects of style. It is thus one of the most fundamental concepts in linguistics. The study of semantics includes the study of how meaning is constructed, interpreted, clarified, obscured, illustrated, simplified negotiated, contradicted and paraphrased . Some important areas of semantic theory or related subjects include these:  Symbol and referent  Conceptions of meaning  Words and lexemes  Denotation, connotation, implication  Pragmatics  Ambiguity  Metaphor, simile and symbol  Semantic fields  Synonym, antonym and hyponym  Collocation, fixed expression and idiom  Semantic change and etymology  Polysemy  Homonymy, homophones and homographs  Lexicology and lexicography  Thesauruses, libraries and Web portals  Epistemology  Colour You will find explanations below of how each of these relates to the theoretical study of semantics. Symbol and referent These terms may clarify the subject. A symbol is something which we use to represent another thing - it might be a picture, a letter, a spoken or written word - anything we use conventionally for the purpose. The thing that the symbol identifies is the referent . This may sometimes be an object in the physical world (the word Rover is the symbol; a real dog is the referent). But it may be something which is not at all, or not obviously, present - like freedom, unicorns or Hamlet . Conceptions of meaning 1