Semantic TheorySemantics is a bridge discipline between linguistics and philosophy; but linguistics student are rarely able to reach that bridge, let alone cross it to inspect and assess the activity on the other side. Professor Kempson's textbook seeks particularly to encourage such exchanges. She deals with the standard linguistic topics like componential analysis, semantic universals and the syntax-semantics controversy. But she also provides for students with no training in philosophy or logic an introduction to such central topics in the philosophy of language as logical form, truth, speech acts, analyticity, entailment and presupposition. The exposition throughout is deliberately argumentative rather than descriptive, introducing the student step by step to the major problems in theoretical semantics. Special emphasis is placed on the need to consider individual arguments within the overall perspective of semantics as an integral part of general linguistic theory. Written primarily as a textbook for undergraduates and graduates in linguistics departments, this book will also be useful to undergraduates in philosophy and in psychology where linguistics is a part of their course. |
Contents
II | 1 |
III | 11 |
IV | 12 |
V | 15 |
VI | 16 |
VII | 18 |
VIII | 20 |
IX | 23 |
XXXIII | 101 |
XXXIV | 106 |
XXXV | 109 |
XXXVI | 112 |
XXXVII | 117 |
XXXVIII | 123 |
XXXIX | 124 |
XL | 128 |
X | 28 |
XI | 30 |
XII | 34 |
XIII | 36 |
XIV | 37 |
XV | 38 |
XVI | 41 |
XVII | 47 |
XVIII | 50 |
XIX | 58 |
XX | 61 |
XXI | 63 |
XXII | 64 |
XXIII | 68 |
XXIV | 73 |
XXV | 76 |
XXVI | 79 |
XXVII | 83 |
XXVIII | 86 |
XXIX | 87 |
XXX | 88 |
XXXI | 92 |
XXXII | 94 |
Common terms and phrases
action ambiguity analytic truth appropriacy conditions argued argument assumed bachelor Bierwisch Bill capture chapter characterisation Chomsky claim componential analysis concept conjunction conjunction reduction consider construction corresponding deep structure detailed discussion disjunction distinction entailment example explain Fodor formal hearer hyponym illocutionary act illocutionary force implies Katz King of France Lakoff level of deep lexical items lexical meaning linguistic theory logical form logical truth logicians Mayor of Liverpool meaning and sentence meaning in terms meaning postulates natural language negative sentences noun phrase pairs performative utterances Philosophy of Language phrase structure rules positive sentence pragmatics predict presupposition pro-form problem recommended reading reference relation semantic components semantic interpretation semantic representation semantic rules semantic theory sentence meaning speaker specification speech act semantics statement Strawson suggested synonymy syntactic structure tense theory of meaning tion transformational grammar true nor false truth conditions truth value truth-conditional semantics verb phrase woman word meaning