Semantics

Last quarter I was given my first taste of Linguistics in my Introduction to Linguistics class. Unsurprisingly, the unit I the most intriguing was Semantics, the study of meaning. I had trouble remembering that I wasn't in a Philosophy course during this unit, which led to some annoyance from my TA and fellow classmates (apologies). I hope that I'll have the opportunity to take a Philosophy of Language class eventually; maybe one day I'll finally then understand Kripke and Wittgenstein instead of being awed by their works.

Chomsky's famous sentence that highlights the distinction between syntax and semantics, and a few thoughts about it:

    Colorless green ideas sleep furiously. 

The words of this sentence are in the right order. Adj Adj N V Adv. Uncontroversial. It is easy to see that the sentence is syntactical correct by replacing some of the words with others of the same type: Fat green snakes sleep peacefully. Tada!

So what about Chomsky's sentence is so nonsensical, or "semantically incorrect," to us? We understand the meaning of each word on its own. An easy observation leads us to suspect that internal contradictions between words renders that renders it semantically incorrect. It is impossible to be colorless and green simultaneously, and the action of sleeping cannot be undertaken by an idea because it is not alive. But oxymoron and paradox are hallmarks of literary writing, and it seems like similarily "incorrect" phrases are at home there and still evoke meaning. If they didn't evoke meaning, why would authors make such use of them! Another thought: maybe the sentence is incorrect because it is an impossible thing to visualize. Then again, so are many semantically correct sentences such as "Justice has been served."

To be honest, this sentence almost makes sense to me, and I'm wondering if anyone else feels similarly. At least, it has SOME meaning. It makes me feel a certain way, although I can't pinpoint exactly what. And I almost can't help imagining something when I read it.

If anything, my opinion might just show that I do not know very much about Semantics at all.