Zimmermann / Sternefeld Introduction to Semantics

An Essential Guide to the Composition of Meaning
1. Auflage 2013
ISBN: 978-3-11-031437-3
Verlag: De Gruyter
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: 1 - PDF Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 301 Seiten

Reihe: Mouton Textbook

This textbook helps undergraduate students of language and linguistics taking their first steps in one of the core areas of grammar, introducing them to the basic ideas, insights, and techniques of contemporary semantic theory. Requiring no special background knowledge, the book starts with everyday observations about word meaning and use and then hightlights the role of structure in the analysis of the meanings of phrases and clauses, zooming in on the fascinating and vexing question of how speakers manage to meaningfully communicate with sentences and texts they have never come across before. At the same time, the reader becomes acquainted with the modern, functionalist characterization of linguistic meaning in terms of reference (extension) and information (intension), and learns to apply technical tools from formal logic to analyzing the meaning of complex linguistic expressions as being composed by the meanings of their parts. Each of the nine main chapters contains a variety of exercises for self-study and classroom use, with model solutions in the appendix. Extensive English examples provide ample illustration.

Zielgruppe

Undergraduate Students majoring in Linguistics or Foreign Languages world-wide

Autoren/Hrsg.

Zimmermann, Thomas Ede

Sternefeld, Wolfgang

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Sprachwissenschaft Semantik & Pragmatik

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1;Preface;5
2;1 Literal Meaning;11
2.1;1 Hidden Sense;11
2.2;2 Irony and Implicature;14
2.3;3 The Way You Say It;16
2.4;4 Difficult Sentences;18
3;2 Lexical Semantics;22
3.1;1 What’s in a Word?;22
3.2;2 Homonymy and Polysemy;25
3.3;3 Sense Relations;28
3.4;4 Semantic Networks;30
4;3 Structural Ambiguity;35
4.1;1 Some Elementary Examples;35
4.2;2 Scope and Syntactic Domains;44
4.3;3 Syntactic Domains and Reconstruction;48
4.4;4 Logical Form;56
4.4.1;4.1 The LF Scope Principle;56
4.4.2;4.2 Quantifier Raising;58
4.4.3;4.3 Opaque and Transparent Readings;61
4.4.4;4.4 More Hidden Structure*;63
4.4.5;Summary;65
5;4 Introducing Extensions;68
5.1;1 Frege’s Principle;68
5.2;2 A Farewell to Psychologism;69
5.3;3 Extensions for Words and Phrases;72
5.3.1;3.1 Referential Expressions;72
5.3.2;3.2 Common Nouns;74
5.3.3;3.3 Functional Nouns;76
5.3.4;3.4 Verbs and Verb Phrases;80
5.4;4 Truth Values as Extensions of Sentences;82
5.5;5 Thematic Roles;85
6;5 Composing Extensions;93
6.1;1 Truth Tables;94
6.2;2 Referential Subjects and Objects;98
6.3;3 Sets and Set-Theoretic Notation;103
6.4;4 Referential Arguments and Functional Nouns;108
6.5;5 Analyzing Structural Ambiguities;114
6.5.1;5.1 Logical Connectives: and and or;114
6.5.2;5.2 Nominal Modification;118
6.5.3;5.3 Calculating an Attachment Ambiguity;121
6.5.4;5.4 Plural NPs*;123
7;6 Quantifiers;125
7.1;1 Determiners and Quantifiers;125
7.2;2 Names as Quantifiers;132
7.3;3 Type-Driven Interpretation;135
7.4;4 Quantifying DPs in Object Position*;139
7.4.1;4.1 Solution 1: Quantifier Raising;140
7.4.2;4.2 Solution 2: In Situ Interpretation;143
7.4.3;4.3 Discussion;145
7.5;5 The Verb to be;146
8;7 Propositions;148
8.1;1 Intensional Contexts;148
8.2;2 Cases and Propositions;149
8.3;3 Logical Space;153
8.4;4 Propositional Logic as the Logic of Propositions;155
8.4.1;4.1 Venn Diagrams and Truth Tables;155
8.4.2;4.2 Logical Connectives Revisited;160
8.4.3;4.3 Material Implication and Valid Inferences;165
8.5;5 Limits and Limitations of Propositional Logic;171
8.5.1;5.1 Beyond Truth Functionality;171
8.5.2;5.2 Exclusive or;175
8.5.3;5.3 Non-Clausal Connectives;178
9;8 Intensions;180
9.1;1 From Propositions to Intensions;180
9.2;2 Composing Intensions;183
9.3;3 Intensions and Sense Relations;187
9.4;4 Compositional vs. Lexical Semantics;191
9.5;5 Hintikka’s Attitudes;198
9.6;6 From Intension to Extension and Back Again;203
9.7;7 Tense, Time, and Logic*;209
10;9 Presuppositions;215
10.1;1 The Definite Article;215
10.2;2 More on Entailments and Truth Value Gaps;221
10.3;3 Presupposition and Assertion;228
10.4;4 Presupposition and Discourse;230
10.5;5 Accommodation;235
10.6;6 Presupposition Projection*;238
11;10 Compositional Variable Binding*;242
11.1;1 The Problem;242
11.2;2 Assignments;243
11.3;3 Interpreting Variable Binding;249
11.4;4 Compositionality;250
11.5;5 Predicate Logic;254
11.5.1;5.1 Basic Definitions;254
11.5.2;5.2 Some Variants and Alternatives;257
11.5.3;5.3 Predicate Logic and Compositionality;258
11.5.4;5.4 Validity, Logical Equivalence, and Entailment;259
11.6;6 The Lambda Operator;263
11.6.1;6.1 Predicate Logic with Lambda Terms;263
11.6.2;6.2 Beyond Predicate Logic;268
12;Solutions to the Exercises;272
13;References;289
14;Index;297

Über Autor(innen)

Thomas Ede Zimmermann, Goethe University Frankfurt; Wolfgang Sternefeld, University of Tübingen.