On General Semantics Impact On Subsequent Semantic Research

Only ten years after Semantics became an independent discipline, general semantics was born. General Semantics was established in the 1930s and got to its top in the 1960s. It can be referred to one of the pioneers of modern semantic study. To study this school is not only helpful for us to seek enlightenment to modern life with the history as a mirror, but plays an active role to perfect semantic study and trace origin and theoretical basis of modern semantics. This paper argues that General Semantics has certain influence on the following semantic study in three aspects: object, content and method.This paper attempts to talk about the past of General Semantics as a beginning, comb through the historical process and theoretical outline and root out its theoretical core to derive core and essence of the school. Besides, this paper chooses three representative semantic theories that are Structural Semantics, Generative Semantics and Cognitive Semantics to make a comparative study between General Semantics and these theories from three aspects to find their internal relation and prove the conclusion of this paper: General Semantics does has certain influence on the following semantic study in three aspects (object, content and method).