Talk:semantic

"semantic" is given as an adjective. Can it ever be a noun or is it always plural?


 * semantics isn't really a plural, it is uncountable, it is spelled that way because it derives from a Greek plural. So there is no singular noun form "semantic". Takes singular or plural noun concordance: "Semantics is the study of ...", "The semantics of ... are ..." Robert Ullmann 12:05, 6 February 2007 (UTC)

RFV discussion: December 2018
Rfv-sense: In such writing systems as the Chinese writing system, the portion of a phono-semantic character that provides an indication of its meaning; contrasted with phonetic. — justin(r)leung { (t...) 08:55, 12 December 2018 (UTC)
 * The term was used in this sense in the Wikipedia article as late as November 9, 2017, but that cannot be used as a source. It means that we have to be careful, though, that uses found are not just mirroring this strange former use in Wikipedia.
 * There seems to be a use here (see the last line of the bootom of the page); one can seriously question, though, if this is truly a noun rather than the adjectival use of “the semantic one” in which the word “one” has been omitted – which I think it is.
 * A more clearcut use is perhaps here (on p. 21), but in snippet view I can’t see whether this is in the context of characters being phono-semantic – search inside the book reports no matches for that term.
 * Finally, one undoubtedly genuine attestation is here, on p. 25. That is all I have found. --Lambiam 12:11, 12 December 2018 (UTC)

cited Kiwima (talk) 22:07, 13 December 2018 (UTC)

RFV-passed Kiwima (talk) 20:19, 23 December 2018 (UTC)

other contexts
The term semantic is also used in terms of data — related to its underpinning meaning as per w:semantic data model — and also in relation to the w:semantic web. Perhaps these usages can be worked in? RobbieIanMorrison (talk) 16:55, 8 September 2022 (UTC)