Final answer:
Semantics is more than just the collective definitions of words in a language; it's a complex system that involves grammar, culture, and symbolic representations that shape our perception of reality.
Step-by-step explanation:
The semantics of a language involve much more than just the individual definitions of words; they encompass how meaning is derived from words, phrases, and sentences within the broader context of the language's grammar and usage. Semantics includes understanding words and morphemes—the smallest meaningful units in a language—within different contexts and how societies and cultures can shape language interpretation. Words are symbols that correspond to elements and concepts in our world, but those symbols can vary greatly from one language to another.
Moreover, the relationship between language and reality, as unpacked by theorists like Saussure, Sapir, and Whorf, shows that language helps to shape our perception of reality and is not merely a set of definitional correspondences. Semantics also plays a role in philosophy, as noted by thinkers such as Wittgenstein and Frege, who looked at how language could be structured to reduce ambiguity and convey meaning more precisely, much like in formal logic or mathematics.