Section: AP Psychology

27) Taylor Swift was hit with a tomato while performing her latest hit song. The fact that you can recognize two different meaning for the word "hit" in the preceding sentence demonstrates the importance of:

1. syntax.
2. semantics.
3. morphemes.
4. prototypes.
5. linguistic determinism.

Semantics concerns the meanings of words, signs, symbols, and the phrases that represent them. More specifically, it is the study of meanings through the relationships of words, how they are used, and how they are said. If I tell you I'm going to eat a piece of cake, you would interpret it literally. Maybe you would even ask for a piece. If instead, I told you my homework was a piece of cake, you would interpret that I meant it was easy.