Meaning and Grammar, second edition: An Introduction to Semantics / Edition 2

by Gennaro Chierchia, Sally Mcconnell-Ginet

Overview

This self-contained introduction to natural language semanticsaddresses the major theoretical questions in the field.

This self-contained introduction to natural language semantics addresses the major theoretical questions in the field. The authors introduce the systematic study of linguistic meaning through a sequence of formal tools and their linguistic applications. Starting with propositional connectives and truth conditions, the book moves to quantification and binding, intensionality and tense, and so on. To set their approach in a broader perspective, the authors also explore the interaction of meaning with context and use (the semantics-pragmatics interface) and address some of the foundational questions, especially in connection with cognition in general. They also introduce a few of the most accessible and interesting ideas from recent research to give the reader a bit of the flavor of current work in semantics. The organization of this new edition is modular; after the introductory chapters, the remaining material can be covered in flexible order. The book presupposes no background in formal logic (an appendix introduces the basic notions of set theory) and only a minimal acquaintance with linguistics. This edition includes a substantial amount of completely new material and has been not only updated but redesigned throughout to enhance its user-friendliness.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780262531641
Publisher:	MIT Press
Publication date:	03/13/2000
Series:	The MIT Press
Edition description:	second edition
Pages:	592
Product dimensions:	6.88(w) x 10.00(h) x 1.14(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Jean-Jacques Laffont was Professor of Economics at theUniversite des Sciences Sociales de Toulouse and the InstitutUniversitaire de France and Director of the Institut d'EconomieIndustrielle.

Table of Contents

Preface
Preface to the Second Edition
1 The Empirical Domain of
Semantics
1 Introduction
2 General Constraints on Semantic Theory
3 Implication Relations
4 More Semantic Relations and Properties
5 Summary
2 Denotation, Truth, and
Meaning
1 Introduction
2 Denotation
3 Truth
4 Problems
3 Quantification and Logical
Form
1 Introduction
2 Quantification in English
3 Logical Form (If)
4 Speaking, Meaning, and Doing
1 Introduction
2 Expression Meaning and Speaker's Meaning
3 Sentential Force and Discourse Dynamics
4 Speech Acts
5 Conversational Implicature
5 Intensionality
1 Introduction
2 IPC: An Elementary Intensional Logic
3 Some Intensional Constructions in English
4 Problems with Belief Sentences
6 Contexts: Indexicality, Discourse, and
Presupposition
1 Introduction
2 Indexicals
3 Presuppositions and Contexts
4 Projecting Presuppositions Recursively
7 Lambda Abstraction
1 An Elementary Introduction to Lambda Abstraction
2 Semantics via Translation
3 VP Disjunction and Conjunction
4 Relative Clauses
5 VP Anaphora
6 Conclusions
8 Word Meaning
1 Introduction
2 Semantic Analysis of Words
3 Modifiers
4 More on Verbal Semantics
5 Semantic Imprecision
9 Generalized Quantifiers
1 The Semantic Value of NPs
2 PCGQ and Fsize=2>4
3 Generalized Conjunction
4 Generalized Quantifiers and Empirical Properties of
Language
5 Concluding Remarks
Appendix: SetTheoretic Notation and Concepts
Notes
References
Index

Editorial Reviews

A self-contained introduction to the formal semantics of natural languages that addresses the major theoretical questions in the field while presupposing little background in linguistic theory or logic. An appendix introduces the required basics of set theory. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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