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Preface

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2012

Ronnie Cann
Affiliation:
University of Edinburgh
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Summary

Although billed as an introduction to formal semantics in general, this textbook is concerned primarily with what has come to be called Montague Semantics and is therefore based primarily on Montague (1970a; 1970b; 1973). A good deal of research within Montague's general framework has been carried out since the 1970s and this has led to many changes in, and many variations of, the original theory. Other research has also led to reactions to Montague's programme and the development of rival theories. Only a few of these revisions and extensions to Montague's theory have, however, found their way into the text of the book. This may seem retrogressive, but it is my conviction that many of the questions being asked in formal semantics and the directions of research are best understood by learning about the more radical elements of Montague's original approach, particularly the semantic analysis of noun phrases and the theory of intensionality. Once these have been grasped, later developments can be understood more easily. For this reason, the exposition develops an account of the now classical version of Montague's theory, but references are given for the major revisions and extensions at the end of each chapter for readers to pursue as their interests dictate. Furthermore, there is no attempt in this book to give more of the logical and mathematical background than is necessary to understand how such things can help in the analysis of the semantics of natural languages.

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Chapter
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Formal Semantics
An Introduction
, pp. xiii - xiv
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 1993

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  • Preface
  • Ronnie Cann, University of Edinburgh
  • Book: Formal Semantics
  • Online publication: 05 June 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139166317.001
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  • Preface
  • Ronnie Cann, University of Edinburgh
  • Book: Formal Semantics
  • Online publication: 05 June 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139166317.001
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Preface
  • Ronnie Cann, University of Edinburgh
  • Book: Formal Semantics
  • Online publication: 05 June 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139166317.001
Available formats
×