Reference to Abstract Objects in Discourse: 50 - Rilegato

Asher, Nicholas

 
9780792322429: Reference to Abstract Objects in Discourse: 50

Sinossi

"Reference to Abstract Objects in Discourse" presents a novel framework and analysis of the ways we refer to abstract objects in natural language discourse. The book begins with a typology of abstract objects and related entities like eventualities. After an introduction to "bottom up, compositional" discourse representation theory (DRT) and to previous work on abstract objects in DRT (notably work on the semantics of the attitudes), the book turns to a semantic analysis of eventuality and abstract object denoting nominals in English. The book then revises and extends the dynamic semantic framework of DRT to develop an analysis of anaphoric reference to abstract objects and eventualities that exploits discourse structure and the discourse relations that obtain between elements of the structure. A dynamic, semantically based theory of discourse structure (SDRT) is proposed, along with many illustrative examples. Two further chapters then provide the analysis of anaphoric reference to propositions VP ellipsis. The abstract entity anaphoric antecedents are elements of the discourse structures that SDRT develops. The final chapter discusses some logical and philosophical difficulties for a semantic analysis of reference to abstract objects. The work should be of interest to semanticists, philosophers of language, computer scientists interested in natural language applications and discourse, philosophical logicians, and graduate students in linguistics, philosophy, cognitive science and artificial intelligence.

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Contenuti

Preface. Introduction. 1. From Events to Propositions: a Tour of Abstract Entities, Eventualities and the Nominals that Denote them. 2. A Crash Course in DRT. 3. Attitudes and Attitude Descriptions. 4. The Semantic Representation for Sentential Nominals. 5. Problems for the Semantics of Nominals. 6. Anaphora and Abstract Entities. 7. A Theory of Discourse Structure for an Analysis of Abstract Entity Anaphora. 8. Applying the Theory of Discourse Structure to the Anaphoric Phenomena. 9. Applications of the Theory of Discourse Structure to Concept Anaphora and VP Ellipsis. 10. Model Theory for Abstract Entities and its Philosophical Implications. Conclusion. Bibliography. Index.

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Altre edizioni note dello stesso titolo

9789401047517: Reference to Abstract Objects in Discourse: 50

Edizione in evidenza

ISBN 10:  9401047510 ISBN 13:  9789401047517
Casa editrice: Springer, 2012
Brossura