semanticityn.
/ˌsɛmanˈtɪsᵻti/, /sᵻˌmanˈtɪsᵻti/, U.S. /ˌsɛmænˈtɪsᵻdi/, /sᵻˌmænˈtɪsᵻdi/ The ability of a linguistic or semiotic system to convey meaning, esp. by reference to the world of physical reality. Sometimes listed as one of the criteria for distinguishing language from other forms of communication (cf. quot. 1998), and frequently used in the context of arguments that non-verbal systems (such as gesture, animal communication, etc.) are languages.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > meaning > [noun] > derived from signs
semanticity1960
the mind > language > linguistics > semantics > unit of meaning > [noun] > sign > quality of having meaning derived from signs
semanticity1960
1960 Sci. Amer. Sept. 90/2 The dog's panting [does not] exhibit the design-feature of ‘semanticity’... The calls of gibbons..possess semanticity.
1975 I. Robinson New Grammarians' Funeral viii. 165 He says that music hasn't semanticity because ‘Vivaldi's Four Seasons is stylized away from the reality it pretends to imitate’.
1998 A. D. Pellegrini & D. F. Bjorklund Appl. Child Study (ed. 3) ix. 147 There are a number of features of language [which differentiate it from other types of communication]..and these include arbitrariness, productivity, semanticity, displacement, and duality.
2011 G. Calbris Elements Meaning in Gesture 352 The semanticity of the co-speech gestural sign is due to its origin in everyday activity.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2014; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1960