Semantics: References & Edit History
More Articles On This Topic
Additional Reading
Richard Larson and Gabriel Segal, Knowledge of Meaning (1995), is a good introduction to semantics. Paul Grice (H.P. Grice), Studies in the Way of Words (1989), has become a classic. Zeno Vendler, Linguistics in Philosophy (1967), discusses some earlier views. Terence Parsons, Events in the Semantics of English: A Study in Subatomic Semantics (1990, reissued 1994), offers a semantic theory for verbs of change and their modifiers. Stephen Neale, Descriptions (1990), is an excellent discussion of the semantics of singular and general terms. Willard Van Orman Quine (W.V. Quine), Word and Object (1960, reissued 1969); and Donald Davidson, Inquiries into Truth and Interpretation, 2nd ed. (2001), represent two different but influential semantic theories. Ernest LePore (ed.), Truth and Interpretation: Perspectives on the Philosophy of Donald Davidson (1986, reissued 1989), contains essays explicating Davidson’s semantic program.
Article Contributors
Primary Contributors
-
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.
Other Encyclopedia Britannica Contributors
Article History
| Type | Description | Contributor | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Article title updated for style. | Nov 04, 2026 | ||
| Modified link of Web site: Humanities LibreTexts - Formal semantics. | Oct 17, 2026 | ||
| Add new Web site: Humanities LibreTexts - Formal semantics. | May 02, 2026 | ||
| Add new Web site: The Royal Society Publishing - Philosophical Transactions B - Social semantics: the organization and grounding of abstract concepts. | Sep 13, 2025 | ||
| Add new Web site: University of Washington - Semantics (PDF). | May 24, 2025 | ||
| Add new Web site: Mustansiriyah University - Semantics (PDF). | Feb 24, 2025 | ||
| Add new Web site: International Journal of Language and Linguistics - Semantic coercion: Rethinking motion verbs in Thinking-For-Speaking. | Sep 28, 2024 | ||
| Add new Web site: The University of Sheffield - Linguistic Research - Semantics. | Jul 16, 2024 | ||
| Add new Web site: University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Pressbooks System - Principles of Natural Language Processing - Semantics and Semantic Interpretation. | Oct 20, 2023 | ||
| Links added. | Aug 25, 2023 | ||
| Add new Web site: Open Library Publishing Platform - Essentials of Linguistics, 2nd edition - Semantics. | May 04, 2023 | ||
| Article revised. | May 01, 2017 | ||
| Article revised. | Apr 13, 2017 | ||
| Add new Web site: Linguistic Society of America - Meaning (Semantics and Pragmatics). | Apr 10, 2016 | ||
| Add new Web site: Internet Archive - "Introducing English Semantics". | Apr 10, 2016 | ||
| Add new Web site: Academia - Semantics: Word and sentence meaning (PDF). | Apr 10, 2016 | ||
| Add new Web site: Electrical Engineering and Computer Science University of Michigan - What is Semantics? | Apr 10, 2016 | ||
| Add new Web site: Literary Devices - Semantic. | Mar 17, 2016 | ||
| Bibliography thoroughly revised and updated. | Aug 12, 2009 | ||
| Article thoroughly revised and updated. | Aug 12, 2009 | ||
| Article revised. | Oct 19, 2001 | ||
| Article added to new online database. | Jul 26, 1999 |