Explain and distinguish between semantic and pragmatic meanings of language.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Semantic meaning is derived from the words themselves and how they are arranged into sentences. Although we learn new words every day, our ability to express our thoughts and feelings and to understand others is limited by the size and accuracy of our vocabulary.
Identifying the meaning of a word is tricky because words have two types of meanings. Denotation is the meaning found in the dictionary of a language community. However, different dictionaries may define words in slightly different ways and many words have multiple denotative definitions. Connotation is the implicit additional meaning we associate with a word. For example, we might associate different meanings with the word family based on our experiences growing up.
Semantic meaning is based on both the words themselves and how they are combined into meaningful phrases, sentences, and larger units of expression. For example, a person might communicate the same message saying:
"When he went to the pound, he adopted a three-pound puppy."
"He went to the pound and adopted a three-pound puppy."
"Upon arriving at the pound, he adopted a three-pound puppy."
These three sentences use slightly different syntax and grammar to convey the same semantic meaning. Semantic meaning can change through subtle modification:
"He, the 3 pound adopted puppy, went to the pound."
Now the semantic meaning is that an adopted three-pound premature canine went to the place where unclaimed animals are kept. Semantic meaning can also change based on its position in a sentence.
Pragmatic meaning comes from understanding a message related to its conversational context. Whereas semantic meaning focuses on what the words mean, pragmatic meaning focuses on what people mean. So, pragmatic meaning changes across speakers and situations. A speech act is the utterance of a verbal message and what it implies about how the listener should respond. In other words, when we speak,we do.Although speech acts are usually explicit, what we are doing is often implied.