CHAPTER ONE
1.1 INTRODUCTION
Babatunde (1995, p2) submits that “semantics” is coined from a Greek verb which means to “signify”. He further explained semantics to be the study of meaning that seeks to covey and classify human experience through language. This implies that expressions are used to refer and efforts are made to enable the hearer to perceive the reference and the overall mode of referring. “Getting the overall meaning is certainly the concern of semantics” (Babatunde 1995, p2).
is the study of meaning in language. Semantics, according to Goddard (1998, p1), is the study of meaning which stands at the very centre of the linguistic quest to understand the nature of language and human language abilities. To understand how any language works, we need to understand how its individual design works to fulfill its function as an intricate device for communicating meanings (Goddard 1998, p1).