Semantics - A Reader

Semantics: A Reader contains a broad selection of classic articles on semantics and the semantics/pragmatics interface. Comprehensive in the variety and breadth of theoretical frameworks and topics that it convers, it includes articles representative of the major theoretical frameworks within semantics, including: discourse representation theory, dynamic predicate logic, truth theoretic semantics, event semantics, situation semantics, and cognitive semantics. All the major topics in semantics are covered, including lexical semantics and the semantics of quantified noun phrases, adverbs, adjectives, performatives, and interrogatives. Included are classic papers in the field of semantics as well as papers written especially for the volume. The volume comes with an extensive introduction designed not only to provide an overview of the field, but also to explain the technical concepts the beginner will need to tackle before the more demanding articles. Semantics will have appeal as a textbook for upper level and graduate courses and as a reference for scholars of semantics who want to the classic articles in their field in one convenient place. Contents......Page 10 Contributors......Page 14 I. Introduction......Page 16 1. Preliminaries......Page 18 2. Linguistics and Psychology......Page 24 3. Linguistics and Logic......Page 37 4. Theories of Reference and Theories of Meaning......Page 84 5. Internalist and Externalist Semantic Theories......Page 107 6. Semantics and Context......Page 116 7. Conclusion......Page 122 8. Appendix......Page 126 II. Background......Page 146 9. The Principle of Semantic Compositionality......Page 148 10. Ambiguity, Indeterminacy, Deixis, and Vagueness: Evidence and Theory......Page 172 III. Approaches......Page 204 11. General Semantics......Page 206 12. Truth and Meaning......Page 237 13. A Theory of Truth and Semantic Representation......Page 249 14. Dynamic Predicate Logic......Page 278 15. Situations and Attitudes......Page 320 16. What Is a Concept, That a Person May Grasp It?......Page 337 17. Mental Spaces, Language Modalities, and Conceptual Integration......Page 361 IV. Topics......Page 382 18. The Generative Lexicon......Page 384 19. Towards a Common Semantics for English Count and Mass Nouns......Page 409 20. Reference and Proper Names......Page 439 21. Pronouns......Page 450 22. Pronouns and Bound Variables......Page 471 23. Generalized Quantifiers and Natural Language......Page 497 24. The Tenses of Verbs......Page 541 25. Some Structural Analogies between Tenses and Pronouns in English......Page 549 26. Two Theories about Adjectives......Page 556 27. Prepositions and Points of View......Page 578 28. On Semantic and Distributional Properties of Sentential Adverbs......Page 608 29. A Semantic Theory of Adverbs......Page 620 30. Adverbs of Quantification......Page 641 31. Semantics and Pragmatics of Sentence Connectives in Natural Language......Page 651 32. A Cross-Categorial Semantics for Coordination......Page 674 33. The Meaning of Connectives......Page 677 34. Interrogatives......Page 702 35. Success, Satisfaction, and Truth in the Logic of Speech Acts and Formal Semantics......Page 725 36. The Logical Form of Action Sentences......Page 750 V. Context Dependency......Page 762 37. Demonstratives......Page 764 38. Truth and Demonstratives......Page 814 39. Scorekeeping in a Language Game......Page 818 40. Explicature and Semantics......Page 832 41. Quantifier Phrases, Meaningfulness “in Isolation,” and Ellipsis......Page 861 Bibliography......Page 882 A......Page 914 B......Page 915 C......Page 916 D......Page 919 E......Page 921 G......Page 922 H......Page 923 I......Page 924 L......Page 925 M......Page 927 N......Page 928 P......Page 929 R......Page 931 S......Page 932 T......Page 934 U......Page 935 Z......Page 936 Contains A Broad Selection Of Classic Articles On Semantics And The Semantics/pragmatics Interface. Comprehensive In The Variety And Breadth Of Theoretical Frameworks And Topics That It Covers, It Includes Articles Representative Of The Major Theoretical Frameworks Within Semantics, Including: Discourse Representation Theory, Dynamic Predicate Logic, Truth Theoretic Semantics, Event Semantics, Situation Semantics, And Cognitive Semantics. All The Major Topics In Semantics Are Covered, Including Lexical Semantics And The Semantics Of Quantified Noun Phrases, Adverbs, Adjectives, Performatives, And Interrogatives. Included Are Classic Papers In The Field Of Semantics As Well As Papers Written Especially For The Volume. The Volume Comes With An Extensive Introduction Designed Not Only To Provide An Overview Of The Field, But Also To Explain The Technical Concepts The Beginner Will Need To Tackle Before The More Demanding Articles. -- Publisher Description. Introduction / Steven Davis And Brendan S. Gillon -- The Principle Of Semantic Compositionality / Francis Jeffry Pelletier -- Ambiguity, Indeterminacy, Deixis, And Vagueness : Evidence And Theory / Brendan S. Gillon -- General Semantics / David Lewis -- Truth And Meaning / Donald Davidson -- A Theory Of Truth And Semantic Representation / Hans Kamp -- Dynamic Predicate Logic / Jeroen Groenendijk And Martin Stokhof -- Situations And Attitudes / Jon Barwise And John Perry -- What Is A Concept, That A Person May Grasp It? / Ray Jackendoff -- Mental Spaces, Language Modalities, And Conceptual Integration / Gilles Fauconnier -- The Generative Lexicon / James Pustejovsky Edited By Steven Davis And Brendan S. Gillon. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 867-898) And Index.

Semantics: A Reader contains a broad selection of classic articles on semantics and the semantics/pragmatics interface. Comprehensive in the variety and breadth of theoretical frameworks and topics that it covers, it includes articles representative of the major theoretical frameworks within semantics, including: discourse representation theory, dynamic predicate logic, truth theoretic semantics, event semantics, situation semantics, and cognitive semantics.

All the major topics in semantics are covered, including lexical semantics and the semantics of quantified noun phrases, adverbs, adjectives, performatives, and interrogatives. Included are classic papers in the field of semantics as well as papers written especially for the volume. The volume comes with an extensive introduction designed not only to provide an overview of the field, but also to explain the technical concepts the beginner will need to tackle before the more demanding articles. Semantics will have appeal as a textbook for upper level and graduate courses and as a reference for scholars of semantics who want the classic articles in their field in one convenient place.

This is one of those collections of classics that easily gets lost among the multitude of books on the topic, but it is still one of the best I've come across. Most of the classics are here, Davidson's 'Truth and Meaning', Lewis' 'General Semantics', Kamp's original presentation of DRT, Groenendijk & Stokhof's 'Dynamic Predicate Logic', Barwise & Perry's 'Situations and Attitudes', Barwise & Cooper's 'Generalized Quantifiers and Natural Language' and the hard to come by (except in the ridiculously expensive 'Themes from Kaplan') 'Demonstratives' by Kaplan, to mention a few. One might question the rationale behind some of the selections, but as a whole this is probably the most comprehensive collection available. With, in addition, a long and illuminating introduction by the editors, this is a must for all students of semantics and philosophy of language, and for researchers that would like to have all of these often cited classics in one place. In this selection of published articles in the area of semantics, Steven Davis and Brendan Gillon try to obtain a representative coverage of topics, approaches, and recognized authors; while choosing articles which have made an important contribution to the field and are accessible to students as well as scholars. The volume will have appeal as a textbook for upper level courses and as a reference for scholars of linguistics, phonology, and philosophy of language. Semantics : A Reader may serve as a companion to Davis's : Pragmatics : A Reader. (Midwest) Some have taken semantics to apply to an internalized component of a speaker's linguistic competence in a particular language, as well as to the linguistic theory about this internal semantic competence.