Semantics and pragmatics – the study of meaning, and meaning in context, respectively – are two fundamental areas of linguistics, and as such are crucial to our understanding of how meaning is created. However, their theoretical ideas are often introduced without making clear connections between views, theories, and problems. This pioneering volume is both a textbook and a research guide, taking the reader on a journey through language and ultimately enabling them to think about meaning as linguists and philosophers would. Assuming no prior knowledge of linguistics, it introduces semantics, pragmatics, and the philosophy of language, showing how all three fields can address the 'big questions' that run through the study of meaning. It covers key theories and approaches, while also enabling increasingly more sophisticated questions about the interconnected aspects of meaning, with the end goal of preparing the reader to make their own, original contributions to ideas about meaning.

'… the book is incredibly lucid and clear, and it is a fantastic resource for researchers and Ph.D. students.' Fabrizio Macagno, Journal of Pragmatics

Kasia M. Jaszczolt (pronounced Yashchout) is Professor of Linguistics and Philosophy of Language at the University of Cambridge and Professorial Fellow of Newnham College, Cambridge. Notable publications include Meaning in Linguistic Interaction (2016, Oxford University Press), Representing Time (2009, Oxford University Press), Default Semantics (2005, Oxford University Press) and The Cambridge Handbook of Pragmatics (co-edited with Keith Allan, 2012, Cambridge University Press).