Why are details related to etymology – such as the common origin of arms and army – and to encyclopedic knowledge – such as the difference between ...

Why are details related to etymology – such as the common origin of arms and army – and to encyclopedic knowledge – such as the difference between a tangerine and a clementine – excluded from the scope of Semantics? a. Because such subjects are delegated to other fields of linguistic inquiry, such as Phonology, Morphology and Syntax, which deal with matters that are external to the average person’s mental organization of the linguistic system. b. Because there isn’t always agreement among specialists when it comes to the historical origin of some linguistic items. c. Because, as a branch of Linguistics, Semantics is interested in how a regular person’s linguistic competence is organized. An average person does not have specialized knowledge regarding etymology or types of fruit; thus, this cannot be a component in the mental system which enables them to speak. d. Because the inclusion of such subjects would complicate semantic discussions to the point of impracticality, since any analysis of any linguistic expression would need to take into account a series subtleties related to the origin of each word involved, on top of an encyclopedic exploration several concepts. e. Because these matters are left to the domain of Pragmatics. While the etymology of specific words and the complex conceptual value of terminological units may not always be of semantic relevance, they are always of pragmatic relevance, since users in concrete speech situations are always sensitive to the historical roots of lexemes and to encyclopedic nuances (such as the ones that differentiate tangerine from clementines).