Jun 20, 2015 10:41
0
So far, the question about the difference between the terms from the title was asked several times here and on ELU but I'm not asking about the grammatical difference my question is about semantics.
Please let me make it clearer:
In my language, there's a clear distinction between the terms so ...
Though the OP conflates his language with English (because is an English word; I'd argue that no other language has because even though there is a word normally translated to or from because in that language), it raises an interesting point.
It's about the universal language.
I normally take the view that human beings in any languages should have more or less the same idea when thinking about approximately the same thing, internally. Let's call this deep meaning or deep semantic.
But because the language itself imposes a restrictive set of rules (or something that can be perceived as a set of rules), the way a person thinks would normally be tied up with these rules in his or her own language.
These rules don't have to be explicit.
Normally, people call these rules as a whole grammar.
However, I believe that it's not only grammar. It also includes vocabulary, and cultural constraints, among other things.
So, let's say that, universally, across languages, human beings share the same or at the very least very similar deep semantics.
But because all the constrains of rules, the limited set of available lexicon (words), and such, people in each language will share unique shallow semantics with people in the same language.
I say shallow because it's near the surface, which is the syntax or the grammar level.
What we say or write is composed our chosen items in our lexicon and our syntax. This is the "surface" of our communication, our utterances, our sentences, and such.
Right beneath it is the shallow semantic (or surface semantic, if you prefer), which is language specific.
Below the shallow semantic (or surface semantic) is the deep semantic.
Morphemes or lexicon, and syntax or grammar are tools.
Deep semantic and surface semantic are intents and purposes.
They all meet up at "language".
The very thing we use to communicate.
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