Which term refers to the system that governs the meanings of words and sentences?

• A. Morphology
• B. Syntax
• C. Semantics
• D. Pragmatics

Answer: (C)

Meaning in language is governed by semantics—the study of how word meanings come together and how sentence meanings are formed from those meanings. Semantics looks at sense and reference, how words relate to one another (synonymy, antonymy, polysemy), and how combinations of words convey truth-conditions and ideas. It explains why a word like “bank” can refer to a riverbank or a financial institution, depending on context, and how the overall meaning of a sentence is built from the meanings of its parts.

Morphology, by contrast, deals with the internal structure of words—roots, prefixes, and suffixes. Syntax concerns how words are arranged to create grammatical sentences, focusing on order and structure rather than meaning itself. Pragmatics focuses on meaning in context—the speaker’s intent, social situation, and inferred implications.

So when asked for the system that governs meanings of words and sentences, semantics is the best fit because it centers on how meanings are encoded, related, and interpreted across word and sentence levels.