WHAT IS SEMANTIC ANALYSIS IN MODERN LINGUISTICS?

Аннотация

Semantic analysis is a fundamental aspect of contemporary linguistics that is concerned with the study of meaning in language. It examines how meaning is expressed through words, phrases, sentences, and larger units of discourse and how the context of use influences interpretation. The article covers the theoretical foundations of semantic analysis, its methodology, and its applications to natural language processing (NLP), computational linguistics, and cognitive science. Semantic analysis enables linguists and researchers to better comprehend the subtleties of human communication and create advanced language technologies. 1.Introduction Semantic analysis is an area of linguistics concerned with the study of meaning in language. It investigates how meaning is constructed, interpreted, and communicated by linguistic expressions. Semantic analysis takes center stage in modern linguistics in studying the interdependence between cognition and language, and in designing technologies to process andgenerate human language. The role of semantic analysis has grown with the development of computational linguistics and artificial intelligence (AI). It is now a cornerstone of natural language processing (NLP), enabling machines to understand, interpret, and generate human language more and more precisely. 2.Theoretical Foundations of SemanticAnalysis Semanticanalysis has itsorigins in manylinguistictheories and frameworks, including: 2.1.Structural Semantics Structural semantics is concerned with relations between words and how their meaning is defined in relation to each other. Key concepts are: -Lexical relations: Synonymy, antonymy, hyponymy, and meronymy. -Semanticfields: Groups of words havingashared themeordomain. 2.2.Formal Semantics page72 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ISSN:2692-5206,ImpactFactor:12,23 AmericanAcademicpublishers,volume05,issue05,2025 Journal: https://www.academicpublishers.org/journals/index.php/ijai Formal semantics uses mathematical and logical systems to represent meaning. It is interested in: -Truth-conditional semantics: The truth conditionsof asentence constituteitsmeaning. - Compositionality: A compound expression's meaning is decided on the basis of its constituents'meaning andtheirsyntactic structure. 2.3.CognitiveSemantics Cognitive semantics examines the interaction between thought and language. It is concerned with: -Conceptual metaphors: Abstract concepts are described inrelation toconcrete experience. - Prototype theory: Categories are organized around prototype examples rather than boundaries. 2.4.Pragmatics While not strictly a semantics subfield, pragmatics fills out semantic analysis by examining howcontextmakes meaning. Key concepts are: -Speech acts: Actions performed through the useoflanguage (requests, promises, etc.). -Implicature: Implicated but not explicitlystated meanings. 3.Methodologies in SemanticAnalysis Modern semantic analysis employs a variety of methodologies, both theoretical and computational: 3.1.CorpusLinguistics Corpus linguistics involves examining large sets of texts to identify patterns of meaning. Techniques include: -Collocation analysis: Determining which words co-occur. -Concordance analysis:Examining thecontext inwhich particular words appear. 3.2.Computational Semantics Computational semantics uses algorithms and models to process and generate meaning. Key strategies include: - Word embeddings: Representing words as vectors in a high-dimensional space (e.g., Word2Vec, GloVe). page73 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ISSN:2692-5206,ImpactFactor:12,23 AmericanAcademicpublishers,volume05,issue05,2025 Journal: https://www.academicpublishers.org/journals/index.php/ijai - Semantic role labeling: Identifying the function of words within a sentence (e.g., agent, patient). 3.3.Experimental Semantics Experimental semantics uses psycholinguistic experiments to study how meaning is handled withinthemind. Techniques involve: -Eye-tracking: Tracing eye movements to makeinferences about semantic processing. -Priming experiments:Studying howseeing oneword influences theprocessing ofanother. 4.Applications ofSemanticAnalysis Semantic analysis has widespread application in modern linguistics and fields beyond linguistics: 4.1.Natural Language Processing (NLP) Semanticanalysis is acore part of thefollowing functionalities: -Machine translation: Texttranslation intoanother language and preserving sense. -Sentimentanalysis: Detecting emotionality ina text. -Question answering: Return ofcorrect answers to userqueries. 4.2.Lexicography Semantic analysis directs the practice of dictionary compilation and thesaurus construction through thedetermination ofword senses and associations. 4.3.CognitiveScience Semanticanalysis assistsin understanding howthebrain processes language andmeaning. 4.4.Artificial Intelligence (AI) Semantic analysis enables AI systems to understand and generate human-like language, powering applications likechatbots