Meaning in Language: An Introduction to Semantics and Pragmatics (review)

Alan Cruse’s Meaning in language is a valuable contribution to the study of meaning. In his new book, C attempts ‘to survey the full range of semantic phenomena’ (x) without being bound to any one particular theory of meaning, and he succeeds admirably. Though primarily intended for undergraduate and beginning graduate students with some background in linguistics, the book will also serve well as a reference work for researchers in lexical semantics.

In writing an introductory textbook, a writer has to be selective in the treatment of topics. C is no exception. Although the book encompasses lexical semantics, grammatical semantics, and pragmatics, C clearly focuses on lexical semantics.

The book is divided into four parts. Part 1 (Chs. 1–4) introduces some fundamental notions. Ch. 1 provides an orientation to the study of meaning. Some notions from the field of logic are treated in Ch. 2. Ch. 3 surveys varieties of meaning (descriptive vs. nondescriptive) and dimensions of meaning. Modes of meaning combination and the validity of the principle of compositionality are discussed in Ch. 4.

Part 2, which comprises nine chapters (Chs. 5–13) and is the longest (83–261), is devoted to word meanings. There is a detailed and insightful analysis of lexical relations. Topics examined in this part include: contextual variation of word meaning, the conceptual approach to word meaning, paradigmatic sense relations, word fields, two main strategies of meaning extension—metaphor and metonymy, syntagmatic sense relations, and the componential approach to semantics.

Ch. 14, which constitutes Part 3, surveys meanings created by different grammatical elements. Part 4, consisting of Chs. 15–17, analyzes meanings related to situational contexts. The basic topics in pragmatics addressed in this part are reference and deixis, speech act theory, and conversational implicature, which are essential to understanding communication.

C’s book has many strengths as a textbook. A wealth of telling examples throughout the book illustrate and clarify. All chapters (except Ch. 1 and Ch. 5—the two introductory chapters) have challenging and stimulating discussion questions and exercises with answers suggested, which offer the students an opportunity to check their understanding of the principles and concepts presented in the book. Each chapter concludes with suggestions for further reading, which is particularly useful for those interested students who intend to delve further into the topics discussed.

Several careless printing errors are the only flaws this reader finds about the book. For example, on p. 281, the two sample sentences: John repaired his bicycle in the garage and John put his bicycle in the garage, are mistakenly reversed.

Written in clear and concise language, this book offers comprehensive coverage of the topics in the study of meaning in language. Students will profit considerably by reading this excellent text.