* Semantics is the study of meaning in language. It focuses on how words and phrases acquire meaning, how meaning is structured, and how meaning is interpreted.
* Personification is a figure of speech where human qualities are attributed to inanimate objects or abstract concepts. It's a literary device used to create vivid imagery and enhance understanding.
While personification plays with our understanding of words and their meanings, it does so through a figurative lens, not a strictly semantic one.
Here's the difference:
* Semantics: Concerned with the literal meaning of words and how they combine to create meaning in sentences.
* Personification: Uses metaphorical language to create a new, non-literal meaning by associating human traits with non-human entities.
Think of it this way:
* Semantics: "The table is made of wood." (Focuses on the literal meaning of "table" and "wood")
* Personification: "The wind whispered secrets through the trees." (Assigns human qualities like "whispering" to the wind, creating a figurative meaning).
Personification is a literary tool that can be analyzed through a semantic lens, but it's not a semantic concept itself.