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This book introduces the theory and practice of semantics in modern linguistics, focusing on the investigation of speakers' linguistic knowledge. A core assumption is that linguistic abilities stem from inherent knowledge. Modern linguistics recognizes different types of linguistic knowledge: phonology (sound system), syntax (sentence structure), and semantics (meaning of words and sentences). These levels are distinct; one can know a word's meaning without its pronunciation, or vice-versa. Similarly, knowing a word's meaning might not encompass knowledge of its plural or genitive forms. Therefore, knowing a word integrates various types of knowledge, mirroring the interconnectedness of knowledge in phrase and sentence construction. Since linguistic description aims to reflect a speaker's knowledge, semantic description focuses on this semantic knowledge. This is exemplified by the understanding that certain sentences, despite differing forms, describe identical situations.

Semantics is the study of meaning communicated through language. This
book is an introduction to the theory and practice of semantics in modern
linguistics. Although this is not an introduction to any single theory, we
begin with a basic assumption: that a person's linguistic abilities are based
on knowledge that they have. It is this knowledge that we are seeking to
investigate. One of the insights of modern linguistics is that speakers of a
language have different types of linguistic knowledge, including how to
pronounce words, how to construct sentences, and about the meaning of
individual words and sentences. To reflect this, linguistic description has
different levels of analysis. So phonology is the study of what sounds a
language has and how these sounds combine to form words; syntax is the
study of how words can be combined into sentences; and semantics is the
study of the meanings of words and sentences.
The division into levels of analysis seems to make sense intuitively: if you
are learning a foreign language you might learn a word from a book, know
what it means but not know how to pronounce it. Or you might hear a
word, pronounce it perfectly but not know what it means. Then again, you
might know the pronunciation and meaning of, say, a noun, but not know
4 Preliminaries
how its plural is formed or what its genitive case looks like. In this sense
knowing a word unites different kinds of knowledge, and this is just as true
of your knowledge of how to construct phrases and sentences.
Since linguistic description is an attempt to reflect a speaker's knowledge,
the semanticist is committed to describing semantic knowledge. This know-
ledge allows English speakers to know, for example, that both the following
s e n t e n c e s d e s c r i b e t h e s a m e s i t u a t i o n :