Tags in markup languages give text a predefined semantic meaning; whether it be a simple P tag to indicate a paragraph, or an H1 tag to indicate headers. These tags clearly delimit the text and provide meaning to certain areas.
There are people who say, with good reason, that a markup language should be purely about semantics; that there is no place for other elements.
A question: do hyperlinks really have any semantic value?
Consider that hyperlinks are used to create links from one page to another, thus providing a layer of functionality in the markup language. Where are the semantics in that?
Well, most people would argue that the link location gives the link text more meaning by being related; providing further details in another document. That makes sense. It also means that the semantic value of the the markup is intrinsically connected to the relationship between link location and link text. If the link location is unrelated to the link text, then there is no value added.
Generally, the semantic value of a hyperlink is disputable.