the meanings of sentences - carleton collegepossible worlds (david lewis) ling 340 ~ spring 2018 ~...
TRANSCRIPT
THEMEANINGSOFSENTENCES
PART1
OURROADMAP
o PHILOSOPHICALCONTEMPLATION•Worlds,situations,andthemeaningsofsentences
o NEGATIVEPOLARITYITEMSANDDOWNWARDENTAILMENT
o WHAT’SSEMANTIC?WHAT’SPRAGMATIC?WHERE’STHELINE?
Ling340~Spring2018~C.Ussery
BACKTOTHEREFERENTIALVSINTERNALIST DEBATEINTERNALIST
• Themeaningofasentenceisacompositionally-derivedinternalmentalstructure.
REFERENTIAL• Sentencemeaningsareabstract“objects.”
• Twokindsofabstractobjects
• Russellian proposition<x,y>:anorderedpairconsistingofxandthepropertyy
• Possibleworlds:includemodality(necessity,possibility,contingency).
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ElizabethIIiswise.<ElizabethII,wisdom>• Setsareabstractobjects• MappingfromElizabethIItopropertyof
wisdom.
Thesnowmusthavemelted.-Ineveryworld,thesnowisgone.
Thesnowmighthavemelted.
-It’spossiblethatthereisaworldinwhichthereissnow.
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“Ifthereisoneobjectthatisthemeaningofanutteredsentence,thisseemstoprovideabetterfoundationforsuccessfulcommunicationthanthesituationthattheinternalist alternativewouldenvisage…” [p.44]
• BasedonSentence 1,wecandeducethetruthofSentence2.• ThereisanobjectthatHaroldandFionahaveabeliefrelationshipto.• ThatabstractobjectisthepropositionthatthereislifeonVenus.
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Sentence1:“HaroldbelievesthatthereislifeonVenus,andFionadoestoo."
Sentence2:“Thereissomethingtheybothbelieve– towit,thatthereislifeonVenus.”
FROMAREFERENTIALPERSPECTIVE…
FROMANINTERNALISTPERSPECTIVE…
• Sentencemeaningsareinternalmentalstructures.
• “Thereissomethingtheybothbelieve”isambiguousinthesamewaythat“Thereissomethingtheybothown”isambiguous.
• Iftheybothownhouses,thisdoesn’tnecessarily meantheyownthesamehouse.
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PossibleWorlds(DavidLewis)
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• Meaningsofsentencesaresetsofpossibleworlds.• Ifyouknowthemeaningofasentence,thenyouknowtheconditionsthatmustholdinorderforthesentencetobetrue.
• Twoplusthreeequalsfiveand Threeplusfourequalsseven• Bothtrueineverypossibleworld.• Themeaningofeachsentenceisthesetofallpossibleworlds.ØThesetwosentenceshavethesamemeaning.
• TwoplusthreeequalssixandThreeplusfourequalseight• Botharefalseineverypossibleworld.ØThesetwosentenceshavethesamemeaning. ◔_◔
ENTERSITUATIONS
• SITUATION:Spatiotemporallydelineatedpartoftheworld(orpossibleworld)
• Cherlon’s officebetween8:00and9:00p.m.
• Aminimalsituationinwhichsomeconditionholdscontains:• Justenoughentities,properties,andrelationstomakethat
conditionhold.
• AminimalsituationinwhichTwoplusthreeequalsfiveisdistinctfromaminimalsituationinwhichThreeplusfourequalsseven.• Bothsentencesaretrueinallpossibleworlds,but…
• ...theydon’thavethesamemeaningbecausetheydon’thavethesamesetofsituations.
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Barwise andPerry:Sentencemeaningsaresetsofpossiblesituations.
≠
NECESSARYFALSEHOODS:NOPOSSIBLESITUATIONINWHICHSOMEPROPOSITIONISTRUE
• NoactualsituationinwhichTwoplusthreeequalssix istrue.
• BUT,thesetofsituationsinwhichTwoplusthreeequalssixorThreeplusfourequalseightmightbetruearedistinct.
• SO…situationscanbeimpossible.
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WTFDOESTHISHAVETODOWITHANYTHING???!!!
oThepermissibilityofcertainwords/phrasesdependsonthepresenceofotherwords/phrases.
oSuggeststhatwe’reevaluatingsetsofpossibleworlds.
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NEGATIVEPOLARITYITEMS
• Any,atall,yet,liftafingerarenegativepolarityitems(NPIs).
• Not,atmostareNPIlicensors.
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(1)a.Richardhadnotmetany classicists.
b.*Richardhadmetany classicists.
(2)a.Richardhadmetmanyclassicists
b.Richardhadnotmetmanyclassicists.
(3)a.Henrydidnot discussthebacchanalatall.
b.*Henrydiscussedthebacchanalatall.
(4)a.Henrydidnot ever discussthebacchanal.
b.*Henryever discussedthebacchanal.
(5)a.Henryhasnot discussedthebacchanalyet.
b.*Henryhasdiscussedthebacchanalyet.
(6)a.Henrydidnot liftafingertopreventCloke beingincriminated.
b.*HenryliftedafingertopreventCloke beingincriminated.
• NPIlicensorsaredownwardentailing.
• Ifonesentenceentailstheother,thereisnopossibleworldinwhichthefirstsentenceistrueandthesecondsentenceisfalse.
DownwardEntailing
a.Nogodsworry.Nogodsworryaboutincometax.
b.Atmostthreegodsworry.Atmostthreegodsworryaboutincometax.
NotDownwardEntailing
c.Somegodsworry.Somegodsworryaboutincometax.
d.Allgodsworry.Allgodsworryaboutincometax.
NPILICENSING&DOWNWARDENTAILMENT
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THEBIGPICTURE
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a. Nogodsshowanymercytomortals.
b. Atmostthreegodsshowanymercytomortals.
c. *Somegodsshowanymercytomortals.
d. *Allgodsshowanymercytomortals. [p.56]
Ladusaw’s Theory:NPIsteachusthatsentencemeaningsaresetsofpossibleworldsandthatsomepartofourbrainisperformingsettheoreticcalculationsinordertoevaluatesentencemeanings.
Sidebar:PositivePolarityItems• notOKwithnegation
a.BillwouldratherbeinMontpelier.b.*Billwouldn’tratherbeinMontpelier.c.Johnisherealready.d.*Johnisn’therealready.
Positivepolarityexamplesfrom:Giannakidou,Anastasia.2011. Positivepolarityitemsandnegativepolarityitems:variation,licensing,andcompositionality. InSemantics:AnInternationalHandbookofNaturalLanguageMeaning(Secondedition;ed.byC.Maienborn,K.vonHeusinger,andP.Portner).Berlin:MoutondeGruyter.pp.1660-1712.
WHATELSEISPARTOFSENTENCEMEANING?
“CHERLON,HAVEYOUSTOPPEDBUYINGNECKLACES?”
• Presupposes thatCherlon bought(several)necklacesintherecentpast.
• Cherlon,haven’tyoustoppedbuyingnecklaces?
• NegatingthesentencemaintainsthepresuppositionthatCherlonboughtnecklaces.
• Cherlon cancancelthepresupposition.• “Well,actually,noIhaven’tstoppedbuyingnecklacesbecauseIneverstarted.Theywereallgiventome.”
“CHERLON,HAVEYOUSTOPPEDBUYINGNECKLACES?”
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a.BillClintonwasimpeached.b.BillClintonhadsexualrelationswithMonicaLewinsky.
• apresupposes b• Again,wecannegate(a)andstillmaintainthepresupposition:• BillClintonwasnotimpeached,eventhoughweallknowhehadsexualrelationswithMonicaLewinsky.
• Orwecancancelthepresupposition:• BillClintonwasimpeached,eventhoughhedidn’tactuallyhavesexualrelationswithMonicaLewinsky.
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a.Theanarchistassassinatedtheemperor.b.Theemperordied.• aentails b:onecan’ttruthfullyassertaandnotalsotruthfullyassertb.
• Notareciprocalrelationship:bdoesnotentaila
oWhenanentailingsentenceisnegated,theentailmentfails:a.Theanarchistdidn’tassassinatetheemperor.
b.Theemperordied.
• Theemperormayhavedied,butitdoesn’tfollowfroma.
o Theentailmentcan’tbecanceled:• *Theanarchistassassinatedtheemperor,buttheemperordidn’tdie.
Is(b)partofthemeaningof(a)?
• Locutionary Act:theactofutteringtheactualwords• “Thisclassroomishot.”…
• IllocutionaryForce:theforceorintentionbehindthewords• …mightmeanthatIwantsomefreshair…
• Perlocutionary Effect:theeffectoftheillocutiononthehearer• …andsomekindstudentopensthedoortotheclassroom
THETHINGSWE“DO”WITHLANGUAGE:
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Isthemeaningassociatedwithillocutionaryforcepartofthemeaningofthesentence?
• “…languagecanbeviewedasasetofabstractdevices,rulesystems,andprinciplesthatservetocharacterizeformallyvariouspropertiesofthewell-formedsentencesofthatlanguage.”(C,M-G1)
• “…grammars…constituteaccuratemodelsofthe(implicit)knowledgethatunderliestheactualproductionandinterpretationofutterancesbynativespeakers.”(C,M-G1-2)
• “Thelinguisticknowledgeweseektomodel,speakers’competence,mustbedistinguishedfromtheirobservablelinguisticbehavior.”(C,M-G1-2)
WAYSOFTHINKINGABOUTMEANING
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• Mapstodifferentsituations:
• Thedoorcouldbeinastateofhavingbeenlockedforsomeindeterminateamountoftime.
• Apropertyofthedoor
• “Locked”couldbetheresultantstateofsomeonejusthavingpushedonit.
• Apropertyofthedoorthatiscloselyconnectedtoapropertyoftheimmediatelargerevent
• Metaphoric/idiomaticmeaning:Anopportunitythatonceexistednolongerdoes.
“THEDOORISLOCKED”
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What*should*weincludeinaformalmodel?
IAMREADYTOLEAVE.
Semantics
• Traditionally,semanticsisconcernedwithdetermininganabstractmeaningforwords/sentencesthatissomewhatgeneralizableacrosssituationsirrespectiveofcontext.
• Meaningisabstractedawayfromtheindividualconversationalparticipants.
• Formalsemanticmeaningisindependentofthecontext.
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PRAGMATICSLing340~Spring2018~C.Ussery
• Pragmaticsisconcernedwiththemeaningthatsentenceshavewithinaparticularcontext.
• Meaningisderivedinrelationtotheindividualconversationalparticipants.
• Thesentenceabovehasavarietyofinterpretations.• IcouldbesuggestingtoacompanionthatInolongerwishtobepresentat
areallyboringdinnerparty.• IcouldbesayingthatI’mpackedandpreparedformynexttripto
Reykjavík.• Ifit’sthedeadofwinter– ormid-April– I’mlikelysayingthatI’mreadyto
getoutofMinnesota.
IAMREADYTOLEAVE.
SUMMARY
•THEINTERPRETATIONSOFNPISSUGGESTTHATWEARECOMPUTINGSET-THEORETICPOSSIBLEWORLDSCENARIOS.
•THEREHASTRADITIONALLYBEENALINEBETWEENSEMANTICSANDPRAGMATICS,BUTIT’SNOTENTIRELYCLEARWHERETHATLINESHOULDBEDRAWN.
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REFERENCES
• Chierchia,Gennaro andSallyMcConnell-Ginet.2000.Meaningandgrammar:anintroductiontosemantics.TheMITPress:Cambridge.
• Elbourne,Paul.2011.Meaning:aslimguidetosemantics.OxfordUniversityPress:Oxford.
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