Semantics

Description

The branch of linguistics that studies meaning; it analyses of words, phrases, signs, and symbols and the relation between them.

Alternative labels

linguistic meaning studies
the study of linguistic meaning

Skill type

knowledge

Skill reusability level

cross-sector

Relationships with occupations

Essential knowledge

Semantics is an essential knowledge of the following occupations:

Sign language interpreter: Sign language interpreters understand and convert sign language into spoken language and vice versa. They maintain the nuances and the stress of the message in the recipient language.
Linguist: Linguists study languages scientifically. They master languages and can interpret them in terms of their grammatical, semantic, and phonetic characteristics. They research the evolution of language and the way it is used by societies.
Linguistics lecturer: Linguistics lecturers are subject professors, teachers, or lecturers who instruct students who have obtained an upper secondary education diploma in their own specialised field of study, linguistics, which is predominantly academic in nature. They work with their university research assistants and university teaching assistants
for the preparation of lectures and of exams, for grading papers and exams and for leading review and feedback sessions for the students. They also conduct academic research in their respective field of linguistics, publish their findings and liaise with other university colleagues.

Optional knowledge

Semantics is optional for these occupations. This means knowing this knowledge may be an asset for career advancement if you are in one of these occupations.

Translator: Translators transcribe written documents from one or more languages to another ensuring that the message and nuances therein remain in the translated material. They translate material backed up by an understanding of it, which can include commercial and industrial documentation, personal documents, journalism, novels, creative writing, and scientific texts delivering the translations in any format.
Interpreter: Interpreters understand and convert spoken communication from one language to another. They retain considerable amounts of information, often with the aid of note-taking, and communicate it immediately after whilst keeping the nuances and stress of the message in the recipient language.
Language engineer: Language engineers work within the field of computing science, and more specifically in the field of natural language processing. They aim to close the gap in translation between accurate human translations to machine-operated translators. They parse texts, compare and map translations, and improve the linguistics of translations through programming and code.
Translation agency manager: Translation agency managers oversee operations in the delivery of translation services. They coordinate the efforts of a team of translators who translate written material from one language to another. They ensure the quality of the service and the administration of the translation agency.
Localiser: Localisers translate and adapt texts to the language and culture of a specific target audience. They convert standard translation into locally understandable texts with flairs of the culture, sayings, and other nuances that make the translation richer and more meaningful for a cultural target group than it was before.
Application engineer: Application engineers deal with the technical requirements, management, and design for the development of various engineering applications, such as systems, new product designs, or the improvements of processes. They are responsible for the implementation of a design or process improvement, they offer technical support for products, answer questions about the technical functionality and assist the sales team.

 


 

References

  1. Semantics – ESCO

 

Last updated on September 20, 2022