Sorting the World (eBook)

On the Relevance of the Kind/Object-Distinction to Referential Semantics

Olav Mueller-Reichau (Autor)

eBook Download: PDF

2011
165 Seiten
De Gruyter (Verlag)
978-3-11-032358-0 (ISBN)

Infos

The basic hypothesis of this book is that linguistic reference to kinds should be seen as reference to sortal concepts, i.e. cognitive categories for identifying and classifying objects. Viewed that way, kinds serve as the interface between the conceptual system and the grammatical system. Kind-level predicates differ as to whether they presuppose (e.g. to be extinct) or entail (e.g. to invent) the existence of objects, with crucial consequences for the interpretation of indefinite argument noun phrases. Moreover, object reference always involves underlying kind reference, but kind reference does not always involve object reference. This asymmetry, once recognized, proves useful in solving otherwise puzzling problems in semantic composition.

Inhalt

Chapter 1 Genericity – the standard view 9
1.1 Rules and their truth conditions 9
1.2 The standard theory of genericity 12
1.3 Predicate genericity 14
1.4 Nominal genericity I: the standard theoretical point of view 18
1.5 Nominal genericity II: the two-way distinction approach 21
Chapter 2 Kinds as sortal concepts – from a cognitive perspective 25
2.1 Overview 25
2.2 Things in the world 25
2.3 Categorisation and individuation 27
2.4 The development of kind-based object individuation 29
2.5 Linguistic input as trigger? 34
2.6 Speculating about developmental stages 36
2.7 Conclusions I: kinds as sortal concepts 38
2.8 Conclusions II: what does it mean for a kind to exist? 40
Chapter 3 Kinds as ontological primitives – from a semantic perspective 43
3.1 Overview 43
3.2 Object reference and kind reference 44
3.3 Kinds as taxonomic categories 47
3.4 Kinds and concepts 49
3.5 Kinds and properties 51
3.6 Chierchia’s (1998) notion of kind 54
3.7 Lexical and formal semantics 57
Chapter 4 Spatiotemporal localisation – type-token theories of genericity 61
4.1 Overview 61
4.2 Three-class systems 62
4.3 Two-class systems 66
4.4 On the sense of the term “referential” 70
4.5 Conclusions 71
Chapter 5 Indefinite reference to kinds – the pumpkin crusher puzzle 73
5.1 Overview 73
5.2 Reference to subkinds and the pumpkin crusher 73
5.3 Indefinite NPs in Carlsonian object-level predications 76
5.4 Indefinite NPs in Carlsonian kind-level predications 78
5.5 Two kinds of kind-level predicates 80
5.6 To invent versus to be extinct 82
5.7 How the taxonomic reading comes about 84
5.8 Well-establishedness 88
5.9 Conclusions 89
Chapter 6 Lexical classes of predicates – normal and Carlsonian kind-level predicates 91
6.1 Overview 91
6.2 Predicate classes according to the standard theory 92
6.3 Outlining the alternative 94
6.4 The representative object interpretation 95
6.5 Categorising statements as representative object interpretations 99
6.6 No reference to objects without reference to kinds 103
6.7 Carlsonian stage-level predicates 107
6.8 Conceptual restrictions on spatiotemporal localisation 110
6.9 What is special about Carlsonian kind-level predicates 112
6.10 Carlsonian kind-level predicates as existence predicates 115
6.11 Conclusions 117
Chapter 7 Overt and covert articles – a kind-based DRT approach to the semantics of noun phrases 121
7.1 Overview 121
7.2 The grammatical role of overt articles 122
7.3 Forming complex predicates 127
7.4 Internal and external modification 129
7.5 Attributive adjectives 133
7.6 On the semantic function of NPs 136
7.7 The grammatical null article 138
7.8 The requirement of earliest application 140
7.9 Existentially interpreted bare plural NPs 144
7.10 The semantic contribution of a token-restricting modifier 147
7.11 Chierchia’s and Krifka’s explanations 150
7.12 Object-level arguments in kind-level positions 153
7.13 Conclusions 159

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 2.5.2013
• Reihe/Serie: ISSN
• Reihe/Serie: ISSN
• Reihe/Serie: Linguistics & Philosophy
• Reihe/Serie: Linguistics & Philosophy
• Verlagsort: Berlin/Boston
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Philosophie ► Geschichte der Philosophie
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Philosophie ► Philosophie der Neuzeit
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Philosophie ► Sprachphilosophie
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Sprach- / Literaturwissenschaft ► Sprachwissenschaft
• ISBN-10: 3-11-032358-3 / 3110323583
• ISBN-13: 978-3-11-032358-0 / 9783110323580