A SEMANTIC STUDY OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S LETTER TO HIS SON'S TEACHER

The concept of semantics involves the way words are inter connected in a given communicative unit to pass across a message. This is because the meanings of words are not taken in isolation, since most times, meanings are derived from the way words are connected in a given text to enhance the message of a given speaker or writer. This study therefore, is an investigation into the conventional meanings conveyed by the choice of words and sentences Abraham Lincoln used in the letter he wrote to his son's teacher. The Carroll concept of semantic network model (2004) was used to carry out the investigation. Consequently, the study showed that there are additional semantic qualities of words that language speakers generally agree upon beyond conventional meanings.