Semantics: Lexical

At its simplest, lexical semantics is the study of what mean and how they relate to one another within a language. While "sentential semantics" looks at how whole sentences gain meaning through structure, lexical semantics focuses on the "mental dictionary" (lexicon) we all carry in our heads.

Why Words Matter: A Deep Dive into Lexical Semantics Have you ever stopped to wonder why the word "bank" can refer to a place where you keep your money and the edge of a river? Or why we say a person "runs," a refrigerator "runs," and even paint "runs," despite these actions being completely different? Lexical Semantics

: Words with similar meanings (e.g., happy and joyful ). At its simplest, lexical semantics is the study

: A "type of" relationship (e.g., a robin is a hyponym of bird ). Polysemy vs. Homonymy : Or why we say a person "runs," a

: Words with opposite meanings (e.g., hot and cold ).

: This explores how word meanings overlap or contrast. Common examples include: