The Semantics of Syntax: A Minimalist Approach to Grammar von Bouchard, Denis: Fine Soft cover (1995)

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Trade paperback in fine condition.

Bestandsnummer des Verk�ufers 5879

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Bibliografische Details

Titel

The Semantics of Syntax: A Minimalist Approach to Grammar

Verlag

Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.: Univ of Chicago Pr

Erscheinungsjahr

1995

Sprache

Englisch

ISBN-10

0226067335

ISBN-13

9780226067339

Einband

Soft cover

Zustand

Fine

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Inhaltsangabe

Linguists and philosophers have assumed that meaning can be represented symbolically and that the mental processing of language involves the manipulation of symbols. Scholars have assembled strong evidence that there must be linguistic representations at several abstract levels - phonological, syntactic and semantic - and that those representations are related by a describable system of rules. Because meaning is so complex, linguists often posit an equally complex relationship between semantic and other levels of grammar. This is an analysis of the relationship between syntax and semantics. Noting that meaning is underdetermined by form even in simple cases, the study argues that it is impossible to build knowledge of the world into grammar and still have a describable grammar. The author proposes simple semantic representations and simple rules to relate linguistic levels. Focusing on a class of French verbs, Bouchard shows how multiple senses can be accounted for by the assumption of a single abstract core meaning along with background information about how objects behave in the world. He demonstrates that this move simplifies the syntax at no cost to the descriptive power of the semantics. In the final chapters, he examines the consequences of his approach for standard syntactic theories.

Rese�a del editor

Linguists and philosophers have assumed that meaning can be represented symbolically and that the mental processing of language involves the manipulation of symbols. Scholars have assembled strong evidence that there must be linguistic representations at several abstract levels - phonological, syntactic and semantic - and that those representations are related by a describable system of rules. Because meaning is so complex, linguists often posit an equally complex relationship between semantic and other levels of grammar. This is an analysis of the relationship between syntax and semantics. Noting that meaning is underdetermined by form even in simple cases, the study argues that it is impossible to build knowledge of the world into grammar and still have a describable grammar. The author proposes simple semantic representations and simple rules to relate linguistic levels. Focusing on a class of French verbs, Bouchard shows how multiple senses can be accounted for by the assumption of a single abstract core meaning along with background information about how objects behave in the world. He demonstrates that this move simplifies the syntax at no cost to the descriptive power of the semantics. In the final chapters, he examines the consequences of his approach for standard syntactic theories.

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