In the
philosophy of language
Philosophy of language refers to the philosophical study of the nature of language. It investigates the relationship between language, language users, and the world. Investigations may include inquiry into the nature of Meaning (philosophy), me ...
and
metaphysics
Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that examines the basic structure of reality. It is traditionally seen as the study of mind-independent features of the world, but some theorists view it as an inquiry into the conceptual framework of ...
, metasemantics is the study of the foundations of
natural language semantics
Semantics is the study of linguistic Meaning (philosophy), meaning. It examines what meaning is, how words get their meaning, and how the meaning of a complex expression depends on its parts. Part of this process involves the distinction betwee ...
(the
philosophical study of
meaning). Metasemantics searches for "the proper understanding of
compositionality, the object of
truth-conditional analysis,
metaphysics of reference, as well as, and most importantly, the scope of semantic theory itself" and asks "how it is that
expressions become endowed with their
semantic significance".
[Ori Simchen, ''Semantics, Metasemantics, Aboutness'', Oxford University Press, 2017, p. xiii.]
See also
*
Metasyntax
*
Metapragmatics In linguistics, metapragmatics is the study of how the effects and conditions of language use themselves become objects of discourse. The term is commonly associated with the Semiotics, semiotically-informed linguistic anthropology of Michael Silver ...
References
Semantics
Meaning (philosophy of language)
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