Abstract:

Semantics theories have great relevance in human and business communication. As such, semantics as a subfield of linguistics emphasizes meaning in all spheres of life (Stinger, 2019).  In this connection, semantics   has gone beyond the remit of the theoretical aspect of linguistics to the realm of providing practical solutions to human life. One of such areas of applicability of semantics is the domain of international trade where meaning in business interactions can make or mar a business deal (Ober, 2003). This paper seeks to identify the existence of lexical relations in the international trade vocabulary particularly in the Supply Chain Management section.  A total of twenty terms selected from Supply Chain and Logistics Glossary were analysed for their semantic information.   In line with the theory of lexical semantics which is concerned primarily with word meaning, definitions were provided for the selected concepts before linking them to their sense relations with other words in the supply chain vocabulary. Some of the tools include antonymy, hyponymy and synonymy. In the Nigerian context, for example, there are hardly any available resources that have explored the sense relations and meaning making mechanisms of these terms. It is this observation that motivates this study. Thus, this study has implications for the meaning and clarity of SCM terms in international trade.