Meaning in Language: An Introduction to Semantics and Pragmatics [Paperback]

This book provides a comprehensive introduction to the ways in which meaning is conveyed in language, covering not only semantic matters but also topics normally considered to fall under pragmatics. Above all, the book displays and explains the richness and subtlety of meaning, with the aid of numerous examples and exercises throughout the text. Highly readable, written with style and wit,Meaning in Languageis not bound to any particular theory, but provides explanations of theoretical approaches and perspectives as the context requires, with a stress throughout on the need for conceptual clarity.

The text and exercises in this third edition have been fully updated to take into account the most recent developments in the field and new chapters have been added, one on the semantics of prepositions and another on the semantics of derivational affixes.

Part 1 Fundamental Notions
1. Introduction
2. Logic and Meaning
3. Concepts and Meaning
Part 2 Words and Their Meanings
4. Lexical Units
5. Contextual Variability of Word Meaning
6. Paradigmatic Relations of Inclusion and Identity
7. Paradigmatic Relations of Exclusion and Opposition
8. Lexical Hierarchies
9. Syntagmatic Semantic Relations
10. Describing Lexical Senses 1: Dimensions and Structures
11. Describing lexical Senses 2: Approaches to the Specification of Word Meanings
12. Extensions of Meaning
Part 3 Grammatical Meaning
13. Grammatical Meaning: Nouns and Noun Phrases
14. Argument Structure and Transitivity
15. Grammatical Meaning: Verbs and Adjectives
16. The Semantics of Prepositions
17. The Semantics of Derivational Affixes
part 4 Pragmatics
18. Speech Acts
19. Reference and Deixis
20. Conversational Implicatures
Epilogue
Answers to Questions
References
Author Index
Subject Index

Praise for the Second Edition