Essays in Logical Semantics

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xi

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2. Constraints on Denotations

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1

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   2. Determiners

      • Johan Van Benthem

      Pages 3-24

   3. Quantifiers

      • Johan Van Benthem

      Pages 25-54

   4. All Categories

      • Johan Van Benthem

      Pages 55-71

   5. Conditionals

      • Johan Van Benthem

      Pages 72-100

   6. Tense And Modality

      • Johan Van Benthem

      Pages 101-108

   7. Natural Logic

      • Johan Van Benthem

      Pages 109-119

3. Dynamics of Interpretation

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 121-121

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   2. Categorial Grammar

      • Johan Van Benthem

      Pages 123-150

   3. Semantic Automata

      • Johan Van Benthem

      Pages 151-176

4. Methodology of Semantics

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 177-177

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   2. Logical Semantics as an Empirical Science

      • Johan Van Benthem

      Pages 179-197

   3. The Logic of Semantics

      • Johan Van Benthem

      Pages 198-214

5. Back Matter

   Pages 215-225

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Recent developments in the semantics of natural language seem to lead to a genuine synthesis of ideas from linguistics and logic, producing novel concepts and questions of interest to both parent disciplines. This book is a collection of essays on such new topics, which have arisen over the past few years. Taking a broad view, developments in formal semantics over the past decade can be seen as follows. At the beginning stands Montague's pioneering work, showing how a rigorous semantics can be given for complete fragments of natural language by creating a suitable fit between syntactic categories and semantic types. This very enterprise already dispelled entrenched prejudices concerning the separation of linguistics and logic. Having seen the light, however, there is no reason at all to stick to the letter of Montague's proposals, which are often debatable. Subsequently, then, many improvements have been made upon virtually every aspect of the enterprise. More sophisticated grammars have been inserted (lately, lexical-functional grammar and generalized phrase structure grammar), more sensitive model structures have been developed (lately, 'partial' rather than 'total' in their com­ position), and even the mechanism of interpretation itself may be fine-tuned more delicately, using various forms of 'representations' mediating between linguistic items and semantic reality. In addition to all these refinements of the semantic format, descriptive coverage has extended considerably.

• semantic
• semantics

• Mathematics Institute, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands

  Johan Benthem

Professor Dr J.F.A.K. van Benthem has received the 1996 Spinoza Award, an annual award to honour outstanding scientific merit and to stimulate innovative future research.

from the jury report:
`Van Benthem has positioned logic as an interdisciplinary science par excellence ... It is through his work that logic has acquired a bridge-function between alpha and gamma sciences on the one side and beta sciences on the other ... Van Benthem is a stimulating and innovative researcher, which explains his great attraction to young researchers. Under his inspirational guidance 38 promovendi from the Netherlands and abroad have finished their theses. In view of Van Benthem's innovative powers and the high level of his research, a number of initiatives are to be expected from him that will further strengthen the Dutch position of logic, more especially so in connection with the formal study of natural language.'

Policies and ethics