Sorting the World
On the Relevance of the Kind/Object-Distinction to Referential Semantics
Olav Mueller-Reichau(Author)
De Gruyter (Publisher)
Published on 1. January 2011
Book
Mixed media product
165 pages
978-3-11-032359-7 (ISBN)
Article is exhausted; no reprint
Description
The basic hypothesis of this book is that linguistic reference to kinds should be seen as reference to sortal concepts, i.e. cognitive categories for identifying and classifying objects. Viewed that way, kinds serve as the interface between the conceptual system and the grammatical system. Kind-level predicates differ as to whether they presuppose (e.g. to be extinct) or entail (e.g. to invent) the existence of objects, with crucial consequences for the interpretation of indefinite argument noun phrases. Moreover, object reference always involves underlying kind reference, but kind reference does not always involve object reference. This asymmetry, once recognized, proves useful in solving otherwise puzzling problems in semantic composition.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Berlin
Germany
Target group
Professional and scholarly
US School Grade: College Graduate Student
Illustrations
Includes a print version and an ebook
Dimensions
Height: 21 cm
Width: 14.8 cm
ISBN-13
978-3-11-032359-7 (9783110323597)
Schweitzer Classification