Semantics:
* Focus: Literal meaning of words and sentences.
* Scope: Analyzes the relationship between words and the objects, properties, and concepts they represent.
* Examples:
* Defining the meaning of the word "cat" as a small, furry animal.
* Understanding the meaning of the sentence "The cat is on the mat" as referring to the cat's physical location.
Pragmatics:
* Focus: The intended meaning of language in context.
* Scope: Analyzes how context, including the speaker's intentions, social situation, and shared knowledge, affects the interpretation of language.
* Examples:
* Understanding sarcasm ("That was a great idea!" said with a sarcastic tone).
* Recognizing a request disguised as a question ("Can you pass me the salt?").
* Interpreting a speaker's meaning based on their tone of voice, facial expressions, and gestures.
Relationship:
* Pragmatics builds upon semantics: It takes the literal meaning provided by semantics as a starting point and adds contextual information to determine the intended meaning.
* They are interdependent: Semantics provides the foundation for pragmatics, while pragmatics enriches our understanding of the full meaning of language in real-world situations.
Analogy:
Think of semantics as the "dictionary definition" of a word, and pragmatics as the "street definition" that takes into account the nuances of context and the speaker's intentions.
In summary:
Semantics deals with the literal meaning of language, while pragmatics deals with the intended meaning in context. They are both essential for a full understanding of how language works.