Editing Semantics (section)

=== Phrasal semantics ===
Phrasal semantics studies the meaning of sentences. It relies on the principle of compositionality to explore how the meaning of complex expressions arises from the combination of their parts.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Fasold|Connor-Linton|2006|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=E85VAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA141 141, 156]}} | {{harvnb|Jackendoff|2002|p=378}} | {{harvnb|Park-Johnson|Shin|2020|pp=103–104}} | {{harvnb|Riemer|2010|p=21}} | {{harvnb|Bieswanger|Becker|2017|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Tzg8DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA128 128]}} | {{harvnb|Jacobson|2014|p=5}} }}</ref>{{efn|Some authors use the term ''compositional semantics'' for this type of inquiry.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Fasold|Connor-Linton|2006|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=E85VAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA156 156]}} | {{harvnb|Bagha|2011|pp=1414–1415}} }}</ref>}} The different parts can be analyzed as [[Subject (grammar)|subject]], [[Predicate (grammar)|predicate]], or [[Argument (linguistics)|argument]]. The subject of a sentence usually refers to a specific entity while the predicate describes a feature of the subject or an event in which the subject participates. Arguments provide additional information to complete the predicate.<ref name="auto1">{{harvnb|Fasold|Connor-Linton|2006|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=E85VAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA141 141–143]}}</ref> For example, in the sentence "Mary hit the ball", ''Mary'' is the subject, ''hit'' is the predicate, and ''the ball'' is an argument.<ref name="auto1"/> A more fine-grained categorization distinguishes between different semantic roles of words, such as agent, patient, theme, location, source, and goal.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Fasold|Connor-Linton|2006|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=E85VAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA143 143]}} | {{harvnb|Park-Johnson|Shin|2020|pp=103–104}} }}</ref>

[[File:ParseTree.svg|thumb|alt=Diagram of a parse tree|[[Parse tree]]s, like the constituency-based parse tree, show how expressions are combined to form sentences.]]

[[Verb]]s usually function as predicates and often help to establish connections between different expressions to form a more complex meaning structure. In the expression "Beethoven likes Schubert", the verb ''like'' connects a liker to the object of their liking.<ref>{{harvnb|Jackendoff|2002|pp=378–380}}</ref> Other sentence parts modify meaning rather than form new connections. For instance, the [[adjective]] ''red'' modifies the color of another entity in the expression ''red car''.<ref>{{harvnb|Jackendoff|2002|pp=382–383}}</ref> A further compositional device is variable binding, which is used to determine the reference of a term. For example, the last part of the expression "the woman who likes Beethoven" specifies which woman is meant.<ref>{{harvnb|Jackendoff|2002|pp=384–385}}</ref> [[Parse tree]]s can be used to show the underlying hierarchy employed to combine the different parts.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Valin|2008|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=a4X2oVrrz-EC&pg=PT466 466]}} | {{harvnb|Berwick|Stabler|2019|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=bPerDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA110 110]}} }}</ref> Various grammatical devices, like the [[gerund]] form, also contribute to meaning and are studied by grammatical semantics.<ref>{{harvnb|Wierzbicka|1988|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=f2G3RFoxk84C&pg=PA3 3]}}</ref>