Semantics
Semantics is the study of word and phrase meaning (but also see pragmatics). Writers often ‘play’ with semantics to create interesting stylistic effects, patterns or a style suited to a particular context or audience. For example, a simplified semantic level would be chosen to suit a younger audience, and so on. When examining a text at the level of its lexis and semantics, it’s important to look out for uses of, for example, irony, simile, lexical or semantic fields, metaphor or hyperbole (called figurative language).
- An important area of semantics is in the use of idioms or idiomatic language.
