Linguistic Meaning PDF Download

Author: Keith Allan
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134742444
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 826

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Book Description
Dr Keith Allan presents a coherent, consistent and comprehensive account of linguistic meaning, centred around an informally presented theory of meaning. It is intended for graduate and undergraduate students of linguistics, or any linguist curious about what a theory of meaning should seek to accomplish and the way to achieve that aim. The work assumes that the primary task of a theory of linguistic meaning is to describe the meaning of speech acts. This in turn presupposes a theory of semantics and a theory of prosodic meaning, as well as a proper treatment of the co-operative principle, context and background information. These matters are dealt with in detail. The second task of a theory of linguistic meaning is to identify what meaning is, to explain the relationships between sense and denotation, and to explicate the nature of meaningful properties and meaning relations. These matters are fully covered, and the work concludes with a summary of the principle arguments presented.

Author: John Collins
Publisher: Oxford University Press (UK)
ISBN: 0199694842
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 219

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Book Description
John Collins presents an analysis of the problem of the unity of the proposition - how propositions can be both single things and complexes at the same time. He surveys previous investigations of the problem and offers his own solution, which is defended from both philosophical and linguistic perspectives.

Author: Heidi Savage
Publisher: National Geographic Books
ISBN: 0262535734
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
A new edition of a comprehensive introduction to the philosophy of language, substantially updated and reorganized. The philosophy of language aims to answer a broad range of questions about the nature of language, including “what is a language?” and “what is the source of meaning?” This accessible comprehensive introduction to the philosophy of language begins with the most basic properties of language and only then proceeds to the phenomenon of meaning. The second edition has been significantly expanded and reorganized, putting the original content in a contemporary context and offering substantial new material, with extended discussions and entirely new chapters. After establishing the basics, the book discusses general criteria for an adequate theory of meaning, takes a first pass at describing meaning at an abstract level, and distinguishes between meaning and other related phenomena. Building on this, the book then addresses various specific theories of meaning, beginning with early foundational theories and proceeding to more contemporary ones. New to this edition are expanded discussions of Chomsky's work and compositional semantics, among other topics, and new chapters on such subjects as propositions, Montague grammar, and contemporary theories of language. Each chapter has technical terms in bold, followed by definitions, and offers a list of main points and suggested further readings. The book is suitable for use in undergraduate courses in philosophy and linguistics. Some background in philosophy is assumed, but knowledge of philosophy of language is not necessary.

Author: Joseph Errington
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1444329057
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 213

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Book Description
Drawing on both original texts and critical literature, Linguistics in a Colonial World surveys the methods, meanings, and uses of early linguistic projects around the world. Explores how early endeavours in linguistics were used to aid in overcoming practical and ideological difficulties of colonial rule Traces the uses and effects of colonial linguistic projects in the shaping of identities and communities that were under, or in opposition to, imperial regimes Examines enduring influences of colonial linguistics in contemporary thinking about language and cultural difference Brings new insight into post-colonial controversies including endangered languages and language rights in the globalized twenty-first century

Author: Lauren Hall-Lew
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108633609
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 405

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Book Description
The 'third wave' of variation study, spearheaded by the sociolinguist Penelope Eckert, places its focus on social meaning, or the inferences that can be drawn about speakers based on how they talk. While social meaning has always been a concern of modern sociolinguistics, its aims and assumptions have not been explicitly spelled out until now. This pioneering book provides a comprehensive overview of the central tenets of variation study, examining several components of dialects, and considering language use in a wide variety of cultural and linguistic contexts. Each chapter, written by a leader in the field, posits a unique theoretical claim about social meaning and presents new empirical data to shed light on the topic at hand. The volume makes a case for why attending to social meaning is vital to the study of variation while also providing a foundation from which variationists can productively engage with social meaning.

Author: Betty J Birner
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351374044
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 129

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Book Description
Language and Meaning provides a clear, accessible and unique perspective on the philosophical and linguistic question of what it means to mean. Looking at relationships such as those between literal and non-literal meanings, linguistic form and meaning, and language and thought, this volume tackles the issues involved in what we mean and how we convey it. Divided into five easy-to-read chapters, it features: Broad coverage of semantic, pragmatic and philosophical approaches, providing the reader with a balanced and comprehensive overview of the topic; Frequent examples to demonstrate how meaning is perceived and manipulated in everyday discourse, including the importance of context, scientific studies of human language, and theories of pragmatics; Topics of debate and key points of current theories, including references to ongoing controversies in the field; Annotated further reading, allowing students to explore topics in more detail. Aimed at undergraduate students with little or no prior knowledge of linguistics, this book is essential reading for those studying this topic for the first time.

Author: C. Iten
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 0230503233
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 266

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Book Description
The main argument of this book is that the notion of truth plays no role in speaker-hearers' interpretation of linguistic utterances and that it is not needed for theoretical accounts of linguistic meaning either. The theoretical argument is developed in the first part, while the second part supports it with cognitive relevance-theoretic, rather than truth-based, analyses of the 'concessive' expressions but, although and even if .

Author: Ahti-Veikko Pietarinen
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 0080548520
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 258

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Book Description
This is the first book to collect research on game-theoretic tools in the analysis of language with particular reference to semantics and pragmatics. Games are significant, because they pertain equally to pragmatics and semantics of natural language. The book provides an overview of the variety of ways in which game theory is used in the analysis of linguistic meaning and shows how games arise in pragmatic as well as semantic investigations. The book is a balanced combination of philosophical, linguistic, logical and mathematical argumentation. The book has an introductory and a concluding chapter, written by the editor, to give a gentle introduction to the topics covered in the book and to provide wider conclusions and prospects arising from the individual essays. The major topics covering the field of game theory and linguistic meaning included in the book are: language games, Wittgenstein evolutionary language games communication games, Grice games of partial information equilibrium semantics game-theoretic semantics logical modelling, and generalised quantifiers the semantics/pragmatics distinction. It includes international contributions from known leaders in the field. It is part of the Current Research in Semantics/Pragmatics Interface series.

Author: Hans Kamp
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004487220
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 566

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Book Description
This collection of papers addresses context-dependence and methods for dealing with it. The book also records comments to the papers and the authors' replies to the comments. In this way, the contributions themselves are contextually dependent. It represents an inquiry into the activities on the semantics side of the pragmatics boundary.

Author: James McElvenny
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
ISBN: 1474425046
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 200

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Book Description
This book explores the influential currents in the philosophy of language and linguistics of the first half of the twentieth century, from the perspective of the English scholar C. K. Ogden (1889 - 1957). It reveals links between early analytic philosophy, semiotics and linguistics in a crucial period of their respective histories.