What is Meaning?: Fundamentals of Formal Semantics

Acknowledgments x

1 The Fundamental Question 1

1.1 What is a Meaning? 3

1.2 Meanings are Out in the World 11

1.3 We should Think of the Meaning of Sentences in Terms of Truth-Conditions 12

2 Putting a Meaning Together from Pieces 28

2.1 Names Refer 29

2.2 Incomplete Propositions 30

2.3 Prediction is Saturation 31

2.4 Compositionality 33

2.5 Syntax and Semantics 34

3 More about Predicates 40

3.1 Other Types of Predicates: Adjectives, Predicate Nominals 40

3.2 Transitive Verbs 44

3.3 Relative Clauses 45

3.4 Topicalization 48

3.5 Sub-atomic Semantics 49

3.6 Modeling Properties with Sets and Functions 54

4 Modifiers 61

4.1 Adjective + N Combination 61

4.2 More Issues with Adjectives 65

4.3 Relative Clauses as Modifier 68

4.4 Adverbs 69

4.5 The Form of Meanings and their World-describing Content 74

5 Complexities of Referring Expressions 78

5.1 Definite NPs 78

5.2 Some Subtleties 80

5.3 A Bit about Indefinite NPs 83

5.4 Theories of Reference 84

5.5 Plurals and Mass Terms 95

5.6 Kinds 99

5.7 Pronouns and Anaphora 102

6 Quantifiers 112

6.1 Generalized Quantifiers: Predicate of Predicates, or Sets of Sets 113

6.2 NP Conjunction 120

6.3 Negative Polarity Items 122

6.4 Quantifiers in Object Position 127

7 Extensional vs. Intensional Contexts 132

8 Tense, Aspect, and Modality 137

8.1 Tense 138

8.2 Aspect 146

8.3 Modality 154

9 Propositional Attitudes 161

9.1 A Possible Worlds Semantics for Belief and Desire 162

9.2 Logical Consequences of the Modal Analysis of Propositional Attitude Verbs 164

9.3 Two foundational Problems: Coreferential Terms and Logical Truths 166

9.4 Structure and Meaning 170

9.5 Or, Have We Reached the Limits of Semantics? 174

10 The Pragmatics of What’s Given 176

10.1 Indexicality and Deixis 177

10.2 Presupposition 178

10.3 Speech Acts 190

10.4 Focus and Topic 195

11 The Pragmatics of Inference 199

11.1 Properties Implicature 203

12 Formal Semantics Today 206

12.1 Diversity within Formal Semantics 206

12.2 Relationships with Other Varieties of Semantics 213

12.3 Relationships with Other Fields 214

Appendix: Answers to Selected Exercises 218

References 223

Index 230