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study of reference and related notions in languages”. Hornby 1974: 789 defines, “Semantics is branch of linguistics concerned with
studying the meaning of words and sentences”. Katz 1972:1 defines, “Semantics is the study of linguistic meaning. It is
concerned with what sentences and other linguistic objects express, not with the arrangement of their syntactic parts or with their pronunciation”. It means that
generally the basic principle of semantics is about the meaning. All these definitions given above are different in some respect but principally
semantics is a division of linguistics dealing with meaning of words, it is a study concerned with meaning of linguistics string. It means that we must focus our attention
to what sentences or other linguistic objects express not to arrangement of their syntactic part of their grammatical form.
2.2 Scope of Semantics
Semantics is the study of the linguistics meaning. It is not concerned with what sentences and other linguistics object expressed. It is not concerned with the
arrangements of syntactic parts, or with their pronounciation. Semantics could cover more extensive areas, from structure and function of language as well as the
interrelationship with other discipline. In this thesis, the scope of semantics is about the meaning itself in linguistics. Meaning of linguistic object can be various.
Every people may have different way to analyze the meaning of a linguistic because there is no very general agreement about the nature of meaning or the way in
which it should be described.
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There are two major approaches to the way in which meaning in language studied, the first is the linguistic approach. The students of language or linguists have
long been interested in the way in which meaning in a language is structured. There have been studies of the meaning of words and the semantic structure
of the sentences. Some of them also have distinguished between different types of meaning. The second is philosophical approach. Philosophers have investigated the
relation between linguistic expression, such as the words of language, and persons, things, and events in the world to which these words refer to. Although there are may
be different approach to semantics, three basic terms seem to be widely mentioned in of each these approach, there are meaning, sense and reference.
2.3 Meaning
The term meaning is simply derived from the verb mean. Meaning is regarded as the message that is intended or expressed or signified. In other word, it can be said
that meaning is the idea that is intended. There are some definitions, which are given by semanticists about what meaning is,
they are: a. Leech 1969: 5 states, “The aim of semantics is to explain and describe
meaning in the natural language”. b. Lyons 1979: 2 states, “The meaning can be distinguished by the technique
of substituting others word in the same context and enquiry whether the resulting sentence are equivalent.”
c. Richard 1985: 172 in Saleh 2008 states “Meaning is what a language
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expresses about the world we live in or any possible or imaginary word. d. Bloomfield 1933: 139 defines “Meaning of a linguistics form as a
situation in which the speakers utter it and response which it calls forth in the hearer.” e. Nikelas 1988: 23 in Pakpahan 2005: 14 states “Meaning is a complex
phenomenon involving relationship between a language and the mind of its speakers and practical use to which it is put.”
2.4 Varieties of Meaning
