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OverviewThis book explores how grammatical structure is related to meaning. The meaning of a phrase clearly depends on its constituent words and how they are combined. But how does structure contribute to meaning in natural language? Does combining adjectives with nouns (as in 'brown dog') differ semantically from combining verbs with adverbs (as in 'barked loudly')? What is the significance of combining verbs with names and quantificational expressions (as in 'Fido chased every cat')? In addressing such questions, Paul Pietroski develops a novel conception of linguistic meaning according to which the semantic contribution of combining expressions is simple and uniform across constructions. Drawing on work at the heart of contemporary debates in linguistics and philosophy, the author argues that Donald Davidson's treatment of action sentences as event descriptions should be viewed as an instructive special case of a more general semantic theory. The unified theory covers a wide range of examples, including sentences that involve quantification, plurality, descriptions of complex causal processes, and verbs that take sentential complements. Professor Pietroski also provides fresh ways of thinking about much-discussed semantic generalizations that seem to reflect innately determined aspects of human languages. Designed to be accessible to anyone with a basic knowledge of logic, Events and Semantic Architecture will interest advanced students of linguistics, philosophy, and cognitive science at graduate level and above. Full Product DetailsAuthor: Paul M. Pietroski (University of Maryland)Publisher: Oxford University Press Imprint: Oxford University Press Edition: New edition Dimensions: Width: 15.60cm , Height: 1.60cm , Length: 23.30cm Weight: 0.432kg ISBN: 9780199244317ISBN 10: 0199244316 Pages: 276 Publication Date: 20 July 2006 Audience: Professional and scholarly , Professional & Vocational Format: Paperback Publisher's Status: Active Availability: To order  Stock availability from the supplier is unknown. We will order it for you and ship this item to you once it is received by us. Table of ContentsIntroduction 1: Elementary Cases 2: Quantification and Plurality 3: Causal Verbs and Sentential Complements Tentative Conclusions and Promissory Notes References IndexReviewsPietroski's book offers a fascinating view of how natural language semantics may be organised...His thesis is a no doubt a bold one, but also highly interesting. We can only look forward with excitment to the forthcoming book. Terje Lohndal, Oslo Studies in Language ...the book provides a detailed overview of the desiderata for linguistic theories, which makes it highly accessible even to beginners. The Year's Works in English Studies Pietroski's book offers a fascinating view of how natural language semantics may be organised...His thesis is a no doubt a bold one, but also highly interesting. We can only look forward with excitment to the forthcoming book. Terje Lohndal, Oslo Studies in Language ...the book provides a detailed overview of the desiderata for linguistic theories, which makes it highly accessible even to beginners. The Year's Works in English Studies Author InformationPaul M. Pietroski is Professor of Philosophy and Professor of Linguistics at the University of Maryland. He is the author of Causing Actions (OUP 2000; paperback edition 2002) and many articles concerning the semantics of natural language. Tab Content 6Author Website:Countries AvailableAll regions |
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