Introducing semantics (review)

As Arthur C. Clarke memorably said, 'Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic' (Clarke 1973 [1962]:21). One might equally well say, 'any sufficiently advanced vocalization is indistinguishable from magic'. It enables us humans to make things happen, to give the world meaning, and, most importantly, to gain access to each other's minds and to understand each other. Nick Riemer's introduction to semantics provides readers with a new and better understanding of how the magic of language may work, that is, how meaning is created and understood.

Unlike other introductions to semantics, this book attains such a goal by giving readers ample opportunities to reflect on what has been described in each chapter, to try to answer further questions, and to explore further readings. Each chapter also begins with a useful preview, setting out clearly what will be covered in the chapter ahead. Readers therefore learn not only about semantics—as the study of meaning in language—and all of its aspects and complexities, but also about 'the sheer variety of human language' (xiv), as examples are drawn both from major world languages (e.g. Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, Spanish, and English) and from minority ones (e.g. Warlpiri, Motu, Adzera, Nyungan). If languages make us see the world in different ways, this book makes readers see semantics in different ways. Over and above such a crosslinguistic approach, it also highlights the connections between semantics and the wider study of human language in psychology, philosophy, anthropology, and linguistics itself.

The book has eleven chapters. Ch. 1, 'Meaning in the empirical study of language', sets the tone for the whole book, as it provides an overview of how meaning in language can be empirically studied. It begins by describing the semiotic triangle, first introduced into linguistics in the 1930s, and goes on to discuss four different identifications of meaning: as objects in the world or referents, as objects in the mind or concepts, as brain states, and as use. What makes this chapter especially interesting to read, and draws the reader into the study of semantics, is a discussion of how ordinary talking about meaning and the concepts used to do so can vary substantially across languages, in this case English, Warlpiri, French, and Chinese. In the process, readers learn to reflect on what questions about meaning really mean and what the questions are that semantics has the authority to attempt to find answers to. Readers also begin to appreciate how difficult it is to define what meaning in language is and how it shades into meaning in context and back again. The chapter then deals with some initial concepts, such as lexemes, sense, reference, denotation, and connotation, and represents research on language and metalanguage as well as meaning and explanation. Most importantly, however, it discusses some conundrums in the study of meaning, namely the relation between meaning and context, on the one hand, and between meaning and concepts, on the other. In his discussion of meaning and context, Rseems to agree with what I have said elsewhere, namely that 'Language is used to top up the context, not the other way round' (Nerlich & Clarke 2001:20). Unlike other semanticists who may too readily claim that meanings correspond to concepts, R also alerts readers to the difficulties inherent in upholding this claim. He does not go quite as far as Murphy (2002:247), who states that 'concepts are a mess', but points out that 'while we might want to say that words express certain concepts, there does seem to be an important referential component to meaning which goes beyond concepts' (31).

Ch. 2, 'Meaning and definition', includes a discussion of semantics and lexicography—the units of meaning from morphemes to idioms to contextual modulation of meaning. It also deals with different ways of defining meanings, including a critical reflection on research into semantic primitives, but other types of definition are shown to be no less problematic. In Ch. 3, 'The scope of meaning I: External context', and...