LINGUIST List 9.1290

Wed Sep 16 1998

Books: Semantics

Editor for this issue: Scott Fults <scottlinguistlist.org>

Directory

1. Maureen Burke, new books: semantics

SEMANTICS
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de Swart, Henriette (University of Utrecht); INTRODUCTION TO NATURAL
LANGUAGE SEMANTICS; ISBN: 1-57586-138-0 (paper), 1-57586-139-9 (cloth); 258
pp. CSLI Publications 1998: http://csli-www.stanford.edu/publications/
email: pubsroslin.stanford.edu. Distributed by Cambridge University Press.

	Semantics is defined as the study of meaning expressed by elements
of a language or combinations thereof. Utterances are not just noices or
scribbles, they are used to convey information, they are linked with kinds
of events, with states of mind, etc. Speaker and hearer use language to
communicate. This introduction is concerned with the semantics of natural
languages.
	The text examines what issues semantics, as a theory of meaning,
should address; determining what the meanings of words of the language are
and how to semantically combine elements of a language to build up complex
meanings. Logical langauges are then developed as formal metalanguages to
natural language. Subsequent chapters address propositional logic, the
syntax and semantics of (first-order) predicate logic as an extension of
propositional logic, and Generalized Quantifier Theory. Going beyond
extenstional theory, de Swart relativizes the interpretation of expressions
to times to account for verbal tense, time adverbials and temporal
connectives and introduces possible worlds to model intensions, modal
adverbs and modal auxiliaries.
	This broad overview of natural language semantics should cover most
of the points addressed in an introductory course. Numerous exercises
punctuate each chapter and an example exam based on the materials presented
is included, making this volume a perfect textbook and resource for any
undergraduate or graduate-level introductory course in semantics.

*************************
CSLI Publications
Ventura Hall
Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-4115
Telephone (650) 723-1839
Fax (650) 725-2166
http://csli-www.stanford.edu/publications

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