On the Semantics of Wh-Clauses Routledge Library Editions: Semantics and Semiology Series
Auteur : Berman Stephen
First published in 1994, this book is concerned with certain kinds of wh-clauses, whose interpretations are easily and, the author argues, plausibly rendered by a logicosemantic analysis on which wh-phrases translate as open sentences, that is, as expressions of the semantically interpreted representation which contain free variables. After a review of influential contemporary analyses of the semantics of questions, concentrating on issues related to the truthconditional interpretation of these constructions, the author goes on to analyse logicosemantic similarities between wh-phrases and indefinite NPs. This analysis is extended in chapter V to account for asymmetries between wh-phrases and indefinites, but is preceded by the engagement and refutation of some of the challenges to it. The appendices discuss some peripheral points relating to the central points made by the author which are in need of further study.
Preface; Acknowledgments; I Introduction; 1 Overview 2 The Lewis/Heim/Kamp Theory 3 Summary Notes; II An Overview of Semantic Analyses of Questions; 1 Introduction 2 Categorical Approaches 3 Embedding Approaches 4 Propositional Approaches 5 Summary Notes; III A Nonquantificational Analysis of Wh-Phrases, I: Parallels Between Wh-Phrases and Indefinites; 1 Introduction 2 The Quantificational Variability of Wh-Phrases 3 Wh-Clauses as Restrictive Terms 4 Deriving the Restrictive Term: Presupposition 5 The Presuppositional Vagueness of clauses-embedding Predicates 6 Recapitulation Notes; IV Exhaustiveness; 1 Introduction 2 (Weak) Exhaustiveness 3 The Domain of Quantification 4 Summary Notes; V A Nonquantificational Analysis of Wh-Phrases II: Asymmetries Between Wh-Phrases and Indefinites; 1 Introduction 2 Data and Generalizations 3 Wh-Movement as a Determinate of Wh-Phrase Quantifiability 4 Nonquantifiable Wh-Phrases 5 Summary Notes; Appendices; A Wh-Phrases as Variables Over Functions B Definiteness and Global Accommodation C Complement If- and Whether-Clauses; Bibliography; Index
Date de parution : 10-2016
15.6x23.4 cm
Date de parution : 02-2018
15.6x23.4 cm
Thème d’On the Semantics of Wh-Clauses :
Mots-clés :
Nuclear Scope; Discourse; Restrictive Term; Linguistic Theory; Logical Translation; Philosophy of Language; Much; Semantics; Quantificational Force; Syntax; Cheat; Independent; Matrix Predicate; Follow; All; Time; Birthday; Final Exam; Quantified Sentence; Propositional Approach; Logical Representation; Holds; Free Variables; Matrix Clauses; Ineffect; Indirect Questions; Global Accommodation; Free Relative; Generalized Quantifiers; Indirect Wh Questions