History of Semantics

By wellman900
  • Period: to

    History of Semantics

  • 1960's - Semantics

    The 1960s saw a big step up in the study of Semantics. Richard Montague proposed a system for defining semantic entries. He showed that the meaning of a sentence can be split up into individual parts instead of studying it as one which became known as the Montague Grammar.

  • 1960's - Elsewhere in Linguistics

    The 1960s also saw the rise of Noam Chomsky and his theory of Generative Linguistics. This has had a huge impact on the whole of linguistics with his take on studying language. His theory of a Universal Grammar was a huge influence on the whole of the linguistic field.

  • 1970's - Semantics

    Eleanor Rosch was one of the biggest players in Semantic research in the 70s. She came up with a theory known as Prototype Theory which is based upon the idea that meaning is not Objective it is learned through experience.

  • 1970's - Elsewhere in Linguistics

    Sociolinguistics really emerged as a field in the 1970s with William Labov reacting to Noam Chomsky's theory within linguistics. He argued that you should study Language in Use (E Language) rather than Language in the mind (I Language). This again was a very important time within Linguistics with Semantic research being a part of this.

  • 1980 - Present Day - Semantics

    Since the 1970s, Semantic research has still been going on. The last 30 years haven't been as important in Linguistic research but that doesn't mean that their hasn't been any going on. For example, in the late 1990's, Lexical Semantics emerged which is a sub field of Semantics looking at the denotation and connotation so how words mean exactly what they mean or can be used to describe concepts.

  • 1980 - Present day - Elsewhere in Linguistics

    Elsewhere in Linguistics, Cognitive Linguistics emerged through linguists George Lakoff and Ronald Langacker as a reaction to Generative Linguistics. It argues that language has spawned from a basic form of Cognitive Processes that has come into criticism from the Generative Linguists who are at the opposite end of the scale to the Cognitive Linguists.