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Semantics in Action
A Hands-On Guide
Series: Linguistics in the World
Brief Description
Equips students to analyse meaning across languages using clear tools and rich examples Semantics in Action provides an accessible yet rigorous introduction to natural language semantics. Organised around core semantic phenomena such as quantification, relative clauses, modality, events, tense, and aspect, this concise textbook builds skills...
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Format: Paperback / softback
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Description
Equips students to analyse meaning across languages using clear tools and rich examples
Semantics in Action provides an accessible yet rigorous introduction to natural language semantics. Organised around core semantic phenomena such as quantification, relative clauses, modality, events, tense, and aspect, this concise textbook builds skills through detailed, compositional analyses and carefully chosen illustrative examples. Author Toshiyuki Ogihara, a leading voice in cross-linguistic semantic theory and research, anchors the discussion in English and supplements it with Japanese examples.
Balancing clarity with linguistic diversity, each chapter offers lucid explanations, guided analyses, and exercises that help students develop a precise understanding of semantic theory and its application. Ogihara emphasises the compositional nature of meaning, the syntax-semantics interface, and the utility of semantic reasoning in linguistic research. Providing the foundation to engage deeply with natural language semantics, either as part of formal coursework or as preparation for more advanced research, Semantics in Action:
- Offers a step-by-step approach to compositional semantic analysis with simple, well-chosen examples
- Integrates English as the primary object language with targeted Japanese data to highlight theoretical contrasts
- Supports cross-linguistic analysis, especially for students whose native language differs structurally from English
- Includes exercises as well as charts and figures throughout
Equipping students with both theoretical insight and practical tools for independent research, Semantics in Action is ideal for advanced undergraduates or beginning graduate students enrolled in courses such as Formal Semantics and Natural Language Semantics.
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Semantics in Action
Equips students to analyse meaning across languages using clear tools and rich examples Semantics in Action provides an accessible yet rigorous introduction to natural language semantics. Organised around core semantic phenomena such as quantification, relative clauses, modality, events, tense, and aspect, this concise textbook builds skills through detailed, compositional analyses and carefully chosen illustrative examples. Author Toshiyuki Ogihara, a leading...PaperbackSold Out
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781394244850
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Inc
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 07 July 2026
Country: United States
Imprint: John Wiley & Sons Inc
Audience: Tertiary education, Professional and scholarly
DIMENSIONS
Weight: 250g
Pages: 304
About the Author
Toshiyuki Ogihara is Professor of Linguistics at the University of Washington. His research focuses on formal semantics, with particular expertise in tense, aspect, and modality in both English and Japanese. He has published extensively on temporal semantics and the syntax-semantics interface and has co-authored comparative work on Hebrew, Korean, and historical Japanese.
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