Knowledge of Meaning: An Introduction to Semantic Theory

Larson, Richard K.; Segal, Gabriel M. A.

ISBN 10: 0262621002 / ISBN 13: 9780262621007

Published by MIT Press, 1995

About this Item

Sept 1995 oversize 1st paperback edition (nap). Remainder mark on bottom edge, tiny fray on bottom of cover, light curling and denting, else fine . Oversize book extra shipping charges will apply, especially for international and priority orders as this will not fit into a flat rate envelope.

Seller Inventory # ABE-1719516455027

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Knowledge of Meaning: An Introduction to Semantic Theory
• Publisher: MIT Press
• Publication Date: 1995
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0262621002
• ISBN 13: 9780262621007
• Binding: Soft cover
• Edition: 1st Edition.
• Condition: Very Good

About this title

Synopsis

Current textbooks in formal semantics are all versions of, or introductions to, the same paradigm in semantic theory: Montague Grammar. Knowledge of Meaning is based on different assumptions and a different history. It provides the only introduction to truth- theoretic semantics for natural languages, fully integrating semantic theory into the modern Chomskyan program in linguistic theory and connecting linguistic semantics to research elsewhere in cognitive psychology and philosophy. As such, it better fits into a modern graduate or undergraduate program in linguistics, cognitive science, or philosophy. Furthermore, since the technical tools it employs are much simpler to teach and to master, Knowledge of Meaning can be taught by someone who is not primarily a semanticist.

Linguistic semantics cannot be studied as a stand-alone subject but only as part of cognitive psychology, the authors assert. It is the study of a particular human cognitive competence governing the meanings of words and phrases. Larson and Segal argue that speakers have unconscious knowledge of the semantic rules of their language, and they present concrete, empirically motivated proposals about a formal theory of this competence based on the work of Alfred Tarski and Donald Davidson. The theory is extended to a wide range of constructions occurring in natural language, including predicates, proper nouns, pronouns and demonstratives, quantifiers, definite descriptions, anaphoric expressions, clausal complements, and adverbs.

Knowledge of Meaning gives equal weight to philosophical, empirical, and formal discussions. It addresses not only the empirical issues of linguistic semantics but also its fundamental conceptual questions, including the relation of truth to meaning and the methodology of semantic theorizing. Numerous exercises are included in the book.

About the Author

Richard K. Larson is Professor of Linguistics at Stony Brook University.

Gabriel M.A. Segal is Professor of Philosophy at King's College London.