Language and conceptual reanalysis
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Paul Pietroski
Abstract
In my view, phrasal meanings are instructions for how to build conjunctive monadic concepts. But phrasal concepts like ‘chase cows’ are not merely conjunctive. The idea is that open class lexical items fetch monadic concepts like CHASE(_), while some grammatical relations introduce thematic concepts like PATIENT(_, _) and a restricted form of existential closure. I grant that animal cognition employs singular and polyadic concepts. But I think lexicalization is often a formally creative process in which nonmonadic concepts are used to introduce concepts like CHASE(_). In defending this view, I draw on Frege’s conception of logic and Chomsky’s conception of linguistics. My aim, in the spirit of Chomsky’s minimalist program, is to reduce the stock of composition operations that semanticists appeal to. Much of the paper focuses on the requisite conjunction and closure operations, distinguishing them from more general operations that theorists often invoke.
Abstract
In my view, phrasal meanings are instructions for how to build conjunctive monadic concepts. But phrasal concepts like ‘chase cows’ are not merely conjunctive. The idea is that open class lexical items fetch monadic concepts like CHASE(_), while some grammatical relations introduce thematic concepts like PATIENT(_, _) and a restricted form of existential closure. I grant that animal cognition employs singular and polyadic concepts. But I think lexicalization is often a formally creative process in which nonmonadic concepts are used to introduce concepts like CHASE(_). In defending this view, I draw on Frege’s conception of logic and Chomsky’s conception of linguistics. My aim, in the spirit of Chomsky’s minimalist program, is to reduce the stock of composition operations that semanticists appeal to. Much of the paper focuses on the requisite conjunction and closure operations, distinguishing them from more general operations that theorists often invoke.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Interfaces in a biolinguistic perspective 1
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Part I. Syntax, semantics
- Single cycle syntax and a constraint on quantifier lowering 13
- A constraint on remnant movement 31
- Language and conceptual reanalysis 57
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Part II. Features and interfaces
- Decomposing force 89
- Function without content 117
- The association of sound with meaning 141
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Part III. Phonology, syntax
- Towards a bottom-up approach to phonological typology 169
- The emergence of phonological forms 193
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Part IV. Language development
- Non-native acquisition and language design 217
- Interface ingredients of dialect design 239
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Part V. Experimental studies
- What sign languages show 265
- Indeterminacy and coercion effects 277
- Computation with doubling constituents 303
- Concealed reference-set computation 339
- Index 363
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Interfaces in a biolinguistic perspective 1
-
Part I. Syntax, semantics
- Single cycle syntax and a constraint on quantifier lowering 13
- A constraint on remnant movement 31
- Language and conceptual reanalysis 57
-
Part II. Features and interfaces
- Decomposing force 89
- Function without content 117
- The association of sound with meaning 141
-
Part III. Phonology, syntax
- Towards a bottom-up approach to phonological typology 169
- The emergence of phonological forms 193
-
Part IV. Language development
- Non-native acquisition and language design 217
- Interface ingredients of dialect design 239
-
Part V. Experimental studies
- What sign languages show 265
- Indeterminacy and coercion effects 277
- Computation with doubling constituents 303
- Concealed reference-set computation 339
- Index 363
