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2600XXXIX. 20th-Century Linguistics and Adjacent Fields of Study: Perspectives and Developments267. Linguistics and logic I: The influence of Frege and Russellon semantic theory1.Introduction: Conceptions of semantics2.Logic and language3.The Context Principle4.Sense andBedeutung5.Assertoric force6.The principle of compositionality7.Unsaturatedness8.Extensionality9.Oratio obliqua10.Definite descriptions11.Denoting and referring12.Frege and Russell in a modal setting13.Bibliography1.Introduction: Conceptionsof semanticsFrege’s and Russell’s contributions to seman-tic theory cannot be divorced from their con-tributions to logic and to the foundationsof mathematics. Their foundationial pro-gramme is known as ‘logicism’ Frege’s theo-ries of concept, of sense andBedeutung,ofassertoric force, his account oforatio obliquaare closely connected with his new concep-tion of logic. Unlike Frege, Russell was notinterested in semantics proper, i.e. in the taskof devising asystematicassignment of seman-tic values to the sentences of a (formalized)language, following by and large their syntac-tic composition. But there can be no doubtthat Russell’s theory of definite descriptionshas been acclaimed, not only as a paradigmof logical analysis, but also as an example ofa syntactic reconstruction capable of provid-ing insights into the semantic evaluation ofsentences containing such expressions.It may prove useful to employ a broadsense of “semantics”, according to which thetask of semantics is to explain how notionssuch as meaning, denotation, designation,truth, cognitive significance, belief, intention,etc. enter a philosophical account of themechanism whereby the sentences we utterrelate to the things, properties, events, situa-tions they purport to be about. To Frege,Russell and the early Wittgenstein we owe thevery idea of semantics (s. Coffa 1991). Thereis, however, also a narrow sense of “seman-tics”, according to which semantics is abranch of the mathematical theory of mod-els, whose task is to investigate the relationbetween a (preferably) formalized theorycouched generally in a first-order languageand the (algebraic, set-theoretical, topologi-cal) structures which can be shown to bemodelsof the theory. The chief notion of se-mantics in the narrow sense is that oftruth ina modelunder an interpretation which as-signs to the individual variables and con-stants (if any) objects belonging to a pre-viously specified domain and maps predicatesinto subsets of objects in the domain (cf.Dummett 1991a). In order for a model-theoretic account of semantics to be possible,the notion of different domains of interpreta-tion for the predicates and constants of theformalized theory must be at hand, togetherwith the distinction between object-languageand meta-language.Neither Frege nor Russell can be creditedwith a model-theoretic conception of seman-tics, for they did not think in terms of vari-able domains of interpretation, nor of vari-able interpretations of the predicate letterswithin the same domain. In fact, the model-theoretic conception of semantics it due toAlfred Tarski. And yet, the way in which inhis first volume ofGrundgesetze der Arith-metikof 1893 Frege set about to explain un-der which conditions a sentence built out ofthe primitive functions of his symbolic lan-guage has aBedeutung(semantic value), canbe seen as the first attempt of laying down asemantic interpretation for a language in an(almost) inductive fashion. Russell’s discov-ery that a logical contradiction is derivable inthe system ofGrundgesetzeshowed thatFrege had failed to provide a semantic evalu-ation for all the sentences which could beformed in that language. Nonetheless, owingto his formulation of principles of composi-tionality and to his emphasis on the harmonybetween syntax and semantics, Frege pro-vided the guidelines for much of the workwhich has been done in formal semanticsduring this century.2.Logic and languageIn hisBegriffsschriftof 1879 Frege laid downa formal system of first and second orderlogic, enunciated axioms, definitions, rules ofinference and substitution by appeal to whichthe single steps of a derivation could be

2600XXXIX. 20th-Century Linguistics and Adjacent Fields of Study: Perspectives and Developments267. Linguistics and logic I: The influence of Frege and Russellon semantic theory1.Introduction: Conceptions of semantics2.Logic and language3.The Context Principle4.Sense andBedeutung5.Assertoric force6.The principle of compositionality7.Unsaturatedness8.Extensionality9.Oratio obliqua10.Definite descriptions11.Denoting and referring12.Frege and Russell in a modal setting13.Bibliography1.Introduction: Conceptionsof semanticsFrege’s and Russell’s contributions to seman-tic theory cannot be divorced from their con-tributions to logic and to the foundationsof mathematics. Their foundationial pro-gramme is known as ‘logicism’ Frege’s theo-ries of concept, of sense andBedeutung,ofassertoric force, his account oforatio obliquaare closely connected with his new concep-tion of logic. Unlike Frege, Russell was notinterested in semantics proper, i.e. in the taskof devising asystematicassignment of seman-tic values to the sentences of a (formalized)language, following by and large their syntac-tic composition. But there can be no doubtthat Russell’s theory of definite descriptionshas been acclaimed, not only as a paradigmof logical analysis, but also as an example ofa syntactic reconstruction capable of provid-ing insights into the semantic evaluation ofsentences containing such expressions.It may prove useful to employ a broadsense of “semantics”, according to which thetask of semantics is to explain how notionssuch as meaning, denotation, designation,truth, cognitive significance, belief, intention,etc. enter a philosophical account of themechanism whereby the sentences we utterrelate to the things, properties, events, situa-tions they purport to be about. To Frege,Russell and the early Wittgenstein we owe thevery idea of semantics (s. Coffa 1991). Thereis, however, also a narrow sense of “seman-tics”, according to which semantics is abranch of the mathematical theory of mod-els, whose task is to investigate the relationbetween a (preferably) formalized theorycouched generally in a first-order languageand the (algebraic, set-theoretical, topologi-cal) structures which can be shown to bemodelsof the theory. The chief notion of se-mantics in the narrow sense is that oftruth ina modelunder an interpretation which as-signs to the individual variables and con-stants (if any) objects belonging to a pre-viously specified domain and maps predicatesinto subsets of objects in the domain (cf.Dummett 1991a). In order for a model-theoretic account of semantics to be possible,the notion of different domains of interpreta-tion for the predicates and constants of theformalized theory must be at hand, togetherwith the distinction between object-languageand meta-language.Neither Frege nor Russell can be creditedwith a model-theoretic conception of seman-tics, for they did not think in terms of vari-able domains of interpretation, nor of vari-able interpretations of the predicate letterswithin the same domain. In fact, the model-theoretic conception of semantics it due toAlfred Tarski. And yet, the way in which inhis first volume ofGrundgesetze der Arith-metikof 1893 Frege set about to explain un-der which conditions a sentence built out ofthe primitive functions of his symbolic lan-guage has aBedeutung(semantic value), canbe seen as the first attempt of laying down asemantic interpretation for a language in an(almost) inductive fashion. Russell’s discov-ery that a logical contradiction is derivable inthe system ofGrundgesetzeshowed thatFrege had failed to provide a semantic evalu-ation for all the sentences which could beformed in that language. Nonetheless, owingto his formulation of principles of composi-tionality and to his emphasis on the harmonybetween syntax and semantics, Frege pro-vided the guidelines for much of the workwhich has been done in formal semanticsduring this century.2.Logic and languageIn hisBegriffsschriftof 1879 Frege laid downa formal system of first and second orderlogic, enunciated axioms, definitions, rules ofinference and substitution by appeal to whichthe single steps of a derivation could be

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Contents V
  3. Formalization Tendencies and Mathematization in 20th-Century Linguistics, Generative Grammar, and Alternative Approaches
  4. Formalization Tendencies and Mathematization in 20th-Century Linguistics, Generative Grammar, and Alternative Approaches
  5. The axiomatic method in 20th-century European linguistics 2007
  6. Formalization Tendencies and Mathematization in 20th-Century Linguistics, Generative Grammar, and Alternative Approaches
  7. Early formalization tendencies in 20th-century American linguistics 2026
  8. Formalization Tendencies and Mathematization in 20th-Century Linguistics, Generative Grammar, and Alternative Approaches
  9. On the origins and early developments of Chomskyan linguistics: The rise and fall of the standard model 2034
  10. Formalization Tendencies and Mathematization in 20th-Century Linguistics, Generative Grammar, and Alternative Approaches
  11. Les développements de la grammaire catégorielle et de la grammaire applicative 2039
  12. Formalization Tendencies and Mathematization in 20th-Century Linguistics, Generative Grammar, and Alternative Approaches
  13. The development of stratificational grammar 2048
  14. Formalization Tendencies and Mathematization in 20th-Century Linguistics, Generative Grammar, and Alternative Approaches
  15. The development of Montague grammar 2058
  16. Formalization Tendencies and Mathematization in 20th-Century Linguistics, Generative Grammar, and Alternative Approaches
  17. Le développement des grammaires casuelles au XXe siècle 2073
  18. Formalization Tendencies and Mathematization in 20th-Century Linguistics, Generative Grammar, and Alternative Approaches
  19. La grammaire générative du milieu des années 70 au milieu des années 90: du modèle standard étendu aux débuts du programme minimaliste 2084
  20. Formalization Tendencies and Mathematization in 20th-Century Linguistics, Generative Grammar, and Alternative Approaches
  21. Le développement des alternatives à la grammaire générative transformationnelle 2110
  22. Formalization Tendencies and Mathematization in 20th-Century Linguistics, Generative Grammar, and Alternative Approaches
  23. État du lexique-grammaire du français et perspectives d'extension 2122
  24. The Development of Theories of Semantics, of the Lexicon, and Semantic-Based Theories in the 20th Century
  25. The Development of Theories of Semantics, of the Lexicon, and Semantic-Based Theories in the 20th Century
  26. Die Zeichentheorie F. de Saussures und die Semantik im 20. Jahrhundert 2130
  27. The Development of Theories of Semantics, of the Lexicon, and Semantic-Based Theories in the 20th Century
  28. Die Wortfeldtheorie unter dem Einfluß des Strukturalismus 2152
  29. The Development of Theories of Semantics, of the Lexicon, and Semantic-Based Theories in the 20th Century
  30. Die Entwicklung der inhaltbezogenen Grammatik in Deutschland 2166
  31. The Development of Theories of Semantics, of the Lexicon, and Semantic-Based Theories in the 20th Century
  32. Die europäische Onomasiologie in der zweiten Hälfte des 20. Jahrhunderts und ihr Verhältnis zur Semasiologie 2179
  33. The Development of Theories of Semantics, of the Lexicon, and Semantic-Based Theories in the 20th Century
  34. Die sinnrelationale Semantik als Alternative zur Merkmalssemantik 2188
  35. The Development of Theories of Semantics, of the Lexicon, and Semantic-Based Theories in the 20th Century
  36. Research on semantic change after Hermann Paul 2195
  37. The Development of Theories of Semantics, of the Lexicon, and Semantic-Based Theories in the 20th Century
  38. Sentence-oriented semantic approaches in generative grammar 2201
  39. The Development of Theories of Semantics, of the Lexicon, and Semantic-Based Theories in the 20th Century
  40. Semantic theories in 20th-century America: An overview of the different approaches outside of generative grammar 2213
  41. The Development of Theories of Semantics, of the Lexicon, and Semantic-Based Theories in the 20th Century
  42. Semantic considerations in recent onomastic research: A survey 2229
  43. The Development of Theories of Semantics, of the Lexicon, and Semantic-Based Theories in the 20th Century
  44. Semantik und Lexikographie im 20. Jahrhundert 2234
  45. The Development of Theories of Semantics, of the Lexicon, and Semantic-Based Theories in the 20th Century
  46. Théorie du lexique et grammaires génératives: le tournant lexicaliste 2253
  47. Phonology and Morphology in the Later 20th century
  48. Phonology and Morphology in the Later 20th century
  49. La phonologie générative jusqu'en 1975 2265
  50. Phonology and Morphology in the Later 20th century
  51. La phonologie générative et la phonologie naturelle 2271
  52. Phonology and Morphology in the Later 20th century
  53. Autosegmental phonology and underspecification theory 2280
  54. Phonology and Morphology in the Later 20th century
  55. The development of lexical phonology 2292
  56. Phonology and Morphology in the Later 20th century
  57. Développement de la phonologie métrique 2303
  58. Phonology and Morphology in the Later 20th century
  59. Les théories morphologiques à la fin du XXe siècle 2313
  60. Phonology and Morphology in the Later 20th century
  61. Morphology as word-formation in 20th-century linguistics: A survey 2324
  62. Phonology and Morphology in the Later 20th century
  63. Ältere Entwicklungen in der natürlichen Morphologie 2340
  64. Phonology and Morphology in the Later 20th century
  65. Homogenität und Heterogenität der Sprache: Die Entwicklung der Diskussion im 20. Jahrhundert 2351
  66. The Study of Language Differenciation in the 20th Century
  67. The Study of Language Differenciation in the 20th Century
  68. Neuere Entwicklungen in der europäischen Dialektologie (1950-2000) 2352
  69. The Study of Language Differenciation in the 20th Century
  70. Recent developments in North American dialectology 2366
  71. The Study of Language Differenciation in the 20th Century
  72. Die Erforschung der sozialen Variation von Sprachen: Die Entwicklung in Europa 2379
  73. The Study of Language Differenciation in the 20th Century
  74. The analysis of social differentiation of languages: An overview of the development in North America 2393
  75. The Study of Language Differenciation in the 20th Century
  76. The development of creolistics and the study of pidgin languages: An overview 2398
  77. The Study of Language Differenciation in the 20th Century
  78. La linguistique de contact, la recherche sur le conflict linguistique et l'aménagement linguistique au XXe siècle 2413
  79. Historical Linguistics in the Second Half of the 20th Century
  80. Historical Linguistics in the Second Half of the 20th Century
  81. The place of historical linguistics in the age of structuralism 2430
  82. Historical Linguistics in the Second Half of the 20th Century
  83. Konzepte von der Historizität von Sprachen und von Sprachgeschichte 2445
  84. Historical Linguistics in the Second Half of the 20th Century
  85. The investigation of diachronic variety in languages: Traditions and recent developments 2445
  86. Historical Linguistics in the Second Half of the 20th Century
  87. Les tendances et les traditions de la lexicographie dans la seconde moitié du XXe siècle 2453
  88. Historical Linguistics in the Second Half of the 20th Century
  89. The laryngeal and the glottalic theories 2462
  90. Historical Linguistics in the Second Half of the 20th Century
  91. Modern theories of linguistic change: An overview 2479
  92. Critique of Traditional Linguistics and the Development of New Approaches to Language Analysis
  93. Critique of Traditional Linguistics and the Development of New Approaches to Language Analysis
  94. La philosophie du langage de Wittgenstein et la linguistique de la seconde moitié du XXe siècle 2501
  95. Critique of Traditional Linguistics and the Development of New Approaches to Language Analysis
  96. The interface of linguistics and pragmatics: Its development during the second half of the 20th century 2510
  97. Critique of Traditional Linguistics and the Development of New Approaches to Language Analysis
  98. Die Rezeption und Weiterentwicklung der Sprechakttheorie in der Sprachwissenschaft 2520
  99. Critique of Traditional Linguistics and the Development of New Approaches to Language Analysis
  100. Ursprung und Entwicklung der Textlinguistik 2540
  101. Critique of Traditional Linguistics and the Development of New Approaches to Language Analysis
  102. La réception de l'analyse de conversation: de la sociologie à la linguistique interactionelle 2551
  103. Critique of Traditional Linguistics and the Development of New Approaches to Language Analysis
  104. Le développement des théories énonciatives: Antoine Culioli et son école 2560
  105. 20th-Century Linguistics and Adjacent Fields of Study: Perspectives and Developments
  106. 20th-Century Linguistics and Adjacent Fields of Study: Perspectives and Developments
  107. The ontology and epistemology of linguistics 2571
  108. 20th-Century Linguistics and Adjacent Fields of Study: Perspectives and Developments
  109. Linguistics and semiotics I: The impact of Ogden & Richards' The Meaning of Meaning 2579
  110. 20th-Century Linguistics and Adjacent Fields of Study: Perspectives and Developments
  111. Linguistics and semiotics II: C. S. Peirce's influence on 20th-century linguistics 2589
  112. 20th-Century Linguistics and Adjacent Fields of Study: Perspectives and Developments
  113. Linguistics and logic I: The influence of Frege and Russell on semantic theory 2600
  114. 20th-Century Linguistics and Adjacent Fields of Study: Perspectives and Developments
  115. Sprachwissenschaft und Logik II: Der Einfluß der Quantorenlogik und ihrer Semantik auf die sprachwissenschaftliche Theoriebildung 2612
  116. 20th-Century Linguistics and Adjacent Fields of Study: Perspectives and Developments
  117. Sprachwissenschaft und Philosophie I: Der Einfluß der Stereotypentheorie von Hilary Putnam und ihre Rezeption und Weiterentwicklung in der Semantik 2612
  118. 20th-Century Linguistics and Adjacent Fields of Study: Perspectives and Developments
  119. Sprachwissenschaft und Philosophie II: Der Einfluß von H. P. Grice auf die Theoriebildung zur sprachlichen Kommunikation 2626
  120. 20th-Century Linguistics and Adjacent Fields of Study: Perspectives and Developments
  121. La linguistique et la psychologie I: Le rapport entre le langage et la pensée au XXe siècle 2637
  122. 20th-Century Linguistics and Adjacent Fields of Study: Perspectives and Developments
  123. Linguistique et psychologie II: La théorie des prototypes d'Eleanor Rosch, sa réception critique en psychologie et sa réception en sémantique linguistique 2649
  124. 20th-Century Linguistics and Adjacent Fields of Study: Perspectives and Developments
  125. Le langage et les processus cérébraux I: La neurolinguistique du XXe siècle de l'aphasiologie localiste aux sciences cognitives 2657
  126. 20th-Century Linguistics and Adjacent Fields of Study: Perspectives and Developments
  127. Le langage et les processus cérébraux II: Apport de la linguistique et de la psycholinguistique à l'aphasiologie et à la neuropsycholinguistique cognitive du XXe siècle 2671
  128. 20th-Century Linguistics and Adjacent Fields of Study: Perspectives and Developments
  129. Spracherwerb I: Die Entwicklung der Auffassung vom Erwerb der Muttersprache im 20. Jahrhundert 2683
  130. 20th-Century Linguistics and Adjacent Fields of Study: Perspectives and Developments
  131. Language acquisition II: Second Language Acquisition in the 20th century 2705
  132. 20th-Century Linguistics and Adjacent Fields of Study: Perspectives and Developments
  133. Tendances majeures du développement des sciences phonétiques au XXe siècle: filiations, émergences et réarticulations 2729
  134. 20th-Century Linguistics and Adjacent Fields of Study: Perspectives and Developments
  135. Language and technology. The Emergence of new application fields of linguistic research in the 20th century: Computational linguistics, language engineering and electronic textuality 2752
  136. 20th-Century Linguistics and Adjacent Fields of Study: Perspectives and Developments
  137. La recherche sur les langages spécialisés et les langages scientifiques au XXe siècle 2760
  138. 20th-Century Linguistics and Adjacent Fields of Study: Perspectives and Developments
  139. La traduction automatique I: les premières tentatives jusqu'au rapport ALPAC 2767
  140. 20th-Century Linguistics and Adjacent Fields of Study: Perspectives and Developments
  141. La traduction automatique II: developpements récents 2774
  142. 20th-Century Linguistics and Adjacent Fields of Study: Perspectives and Developments
  143. La linguistique et l'intelligence artificielle 2781
  144. 20th-Century Linguistics and Adjacent Fields of Study: Perspectives and Developments
  145. Language and biology: A survey of problems and principles of biolinguistics 2790
  146. 20th-Century Linguistics and Adjacent Fields of Study: Perspectives and Developments
  147. Integrational tendencies in linguistic theory 2790
  148. History of Linguistics - The Field
  149. History of Linguistics - The Field
  150. The study of non-Western linguistic traditions 2791
  151. History of Linguistics - The Field
  152. The development of linguistic historiography - history, methodology, and present state 2802
  153. Indexes
  154. Indexes
  155. Index of biographical names 2821
  156. Indexes
  157. Index of subjects and terms 2853
  158. Indexes
  159. Index of languages and language families 2888
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