Includes bibliographical references and index

Word meaning, sentence meaning, speaker meaning * Concepts * Sentence Meaning * Sentential connectives * Quantified expressions and predicate logic * Syntax and semantics of predicate logic: an overview * Referring expressions and propositional attitude reports * Topic, focus and presupposition * Deictic expressions * Implicature *What is said and the semantics/pragmatics interface * Temporality * Dynamic semantics and Discourse Representation Theory * Speech acts and intentionality * Linguistic politeness * Cross-cultural pragmatics * Metaphor

Semantics is a core topic on the majority of undergraduate linguistic degree courses: it is the study of meaning in language, both in terms of definition and the way meanings are conveyed and vary within everyday situations. This book provides a comprehensive introduction to approaches to meaning and presents the most popular and successful theories in a way that makes them accessible for undergraduates. It also explores how the boundry between semantics and pragmatics may be drawn and sums up a coherent picture of meaning in language system and in language use.