One of the three branches into which semiotics is usually divided: the study of meaning of words, and the relation of signs to the objects to which the signs are applicable. In formal studies, a semantics is provided for a formal language when an interpretation or model is specified. However, a natural language comes ready interpreted, and the semantic problem is not that of specification but of understanding the relationship between terms of various categories (names, descriptions, predicates, adverbs…) and their meanings. An influential proposal is that this relationship is best understood by attempting to provide a truth definition for the language, which will involve giving a full description of the systematic effect terms and structure of different kinds have on the truth conditions of sentences containing them. See also inferential role semantics, possible world semantics, reference, truth.