Linguistic semantics has been defined as the study of how languages organize and express meanings.
"Oddly," says R.L. Trask, "some of the most important work in semantics was being done from the late 19th century onwards by philosophers [rather than by linguists]." Over the past 50 years, however, "approaches to semantics have proliferated, and the subject is now one of the liveliest areas in linguistics."
Example #3: Hamlet (By William Shakespeare)
In the famous soliloquy of Prince Hamlet, “To be or not to be,” William Shakespeare has used a word that we use quite differently these days. Hamlet says:
“When we have shuffled off this mortal coil …”
Here, “mortal coil” carries a connotative meaning that suggests life, as Hamlet compares death to sleep. However, we are using coils in different connection today, which means a series of spirals tightly joined together.
