Sorting the World: On the Relevance of the Kind/Object-Distinction to Referential Semantics (Linguistics & Philosophy) - Hardcover

Mueller-reichau, Olav

 
9783868381139: Sorting the World: On the Relevance of the Kind/Object-Distinction to Referential Semantics (Linguistics & Philosophy)
Hardcover
ISBN 10: 3868381139 ISBN 13: 9783868381139
Publisher: Ontos Verlag, 2012

Synopsis

The basic hypothesis of this book is that linguistic reference to kinds should be seen as reference to sortal concepts, i.e. cognitive categories for identifying and classifying objects. Viewed that way, kinds serve as the interface between the conceptual system and the grammatical system. Kind-level predicates differ as to whether they presuppose (e.g. to be extinct) or entail (e.g. to invent) the existence of objects, with crucial consequences for the interpretation of indefinite argument noun phrases. Moreover, object reference always involves underlying kind reference, but kind reference does not always involve object reference. This asymmetry, once recognized, proves useful in solving otherwise puzzling problems in semantic composition.

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About the Author

Olav Mueller-Reichau studied Germanic linguistics and Slavonic studies in Berlin and Moscow. He obtained his Ph.D. as a member of the Leipzig Graduate Program in Linguistics in 2006. Currently, he is a research fellow at the Institute for Slavonic Studies at the University of Leipzig.

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Publisher
Ontos Verlag
Publication date
2012
Language
English
ISBN 10 
3868381139
ISBN 13 
9783868381139
Binding
Hardcover
Number of pages
165

Other Popular Editions of the Same Title

9783110323030: Sorting the World: On the Relevance of the Kind/Object-Distinction to Referential Semantics (Linguistics & Philosophy, 4)

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ISBN 10:  3110323036 ISBN 13:  9783110323030
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter, 2011
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