Structures and Categories for the Representation of Meaning - Hardcover

Potts, Timothy C.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0521434815 ISBN 13: 9780521434812

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1994

Synopsis

This 1994 book develops a way of representing the meanings of linguistic expressions which is independent of any particular language, allowing the expressions to be manipulated in accordance with rules related to their meanings which could be implemented on a computer. It begins with a survey of the contributions of linguistics, logic and computer science to the problem of representation, linking each with a particular type of formal grammar. A system of graphs is then presented, organized by scope relations in which linguistic constituents are sub-graphs whose configuration is determined by their categories. In developing this system, the author extends the notion of scope and argues that anaphoric and relative pronouns are structural signs not linguistic constituents. Certain count nouns are made the basis of this system and an account of proper names relating the count nouns, is given.

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Review

"This book fascinates..." Philosophical Review

Book Description

Timothy Potts offers a way of representing the meanings of linguistic expressions independent of any particular language and which allows them to be manipulated in accordance with rules related to their meanings which could be implemented on a computer. A two-dimensional notation is developed for this purpose. First published in 1994.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 1994
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0521434815
• ISBN 13: 9780521434812
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 326