Structuring Events presents a novel semantic theory of lexical aspect for anyone interested in the study of verb meanings. Provides an introduction to aspectual classes and aspectual distinctions. Utilizes case studies to present a novel semantic theory of lexical aspect and compare it with alternative theories. Useful for students and scholars in semantics and syntax as well as the neighboring fields of pragmatics and philosophy of language.
Barbara H. Partee has played a central role in developing the now-flourishing field of formal semantics, bringing the formal semantic approach developed by logicians together with a linguistically sophisticated account of the syntax of natural languages. She has continued to be a major contributor to semantics, offering general ideas that have helped to clarify the character of the enterprise as well as imaginative and persuasive detailed analyses. Compositionality in Formal Semantics is a collection of Partee's papers that have been influential in the field but are not all readily available, and includes a new introductory essay in which Partee reflects on how her thinking and the field of semantics have developed over the past 35 years. This collection is invaluable both for understanding the history and evolution of the field and for its contribution to ongoing research.
The Proper Treatment of Events offers a novel approach to the semantics of tense and aspect motivated by cognitive considerations.
offers a new theory of the semantics of tense aspect and nominalizations that combines formal semantics and cognitive approaches written accessibly for students and scholars in theoretical linguists, as well as in philosophy of language, logic, cognitive science, and computer science accompanied by a website at (http://staff.science.uva.nl/~michiell/) that provides slides for instructors and background material for students. It seems fair to say that there is no definite theory of the semantics of tense and aspect yet. In their book "The Proper Treatment of Events", Michiel van Lambalgen, a philosopher and cognitive scientist, and Fritz Hamm, a linguist, propose a new theory that, as far as I can tell, does remarkably well.
In this short monograph, John Horty explores the difficulties presented for Gottlob Frege's semantic theory, as well as its modern descendents, by the treatment of defined expressions.
The book begins by focusing on the psychological constraints governing Frege's notion of sense, or meaning, and argues that, given these constraints, even the treatment of simple stipulative definitions led Frege to important difficulties. Horty is able to suggest ways out of these difficulties that are both philosophically and logically plausible and Fregean in spirit. This discussion is then connected to a number of more familiar topics, such as indexicality and the discussion of concepts in recent theories of mind and language.
This book deals with the interpretation of adverbially quantified sentences containing definite DPs and Free Relatives (FR) Thereby, it concentrates on the origins of Quantificational Variability Effects (QVEs), i.e. readings according to which the respective quantificational adverb seems to quantify over the individuals denoted by the respective DP/FR. QVEs are usually discussed only in connection with singular indefinites and bare plurals. This book therefore provides the first comprehensive account of QVEs with definite DPs and Free Relatives (while also discussing singular indefinites and bare plurals). Presenting new empirical observations and arguments for the assumption that Q-adverbs quantify over situations exclusively, it is also an important contribution to the theoretical debate concerning the quantificational domain of Q-adverbs.. В It is of interest to linguists working in formal semantics and the syntax-semantics interface as well as to philosophers of language who are interested in adverbial quantification and situation semantics. Furthermore, it offers an introduction to the core issues of situation semantics and adverbial quantification and is therefore accessible to graduate students interested in these topics.
