An Introduction To Lexical Semantics A Formal Approach To Word Meaning And Its Composition

An Introduction to Lexical Semantics

An Introduction to Lexical Semantics provides a comprehensive theoretical overview of lexical semantics, analysing the major lexical categories in English: verbs, nouns, adjectives, adverbs and prepositions. The book illustrates step-by-step how to use formal semantic tools. Divided into four parts, covering the key aspects of lexical semantics, this book: introduces readers to the major influential theories including the syntax-lexical semantics interface theory by Levin and Rappaport and Pinker, the generative lexicon theory by Pustejovsky and formal semantic analyses discusses key topics in formal semantics including metonymy, metaphor and polysemy illustrates how to study word meaning scientifically by discussing mathematical notions applied to compositional semantics. Including reflection questions, summaries, further reading and practice exercises for each chapter, this accessible guide to lexical semantics is essential reading for advanced students and teachers of formal semantics.

Lexical Meaning in Context

This is a book about the meanings of words and how they can combine to form larger meaningful units, as well as how they can fail to combine when the amalgamation of a predicate and argument would produce what the philosopher Gilbert Ryle called a 'category mistake'. It argues for a theory in which words get assigned both an intension and a type. The book develops a rich system of types and investigates its philosophical and formal implications, for example the abandonment of the classic Church analysis of types that has been used by linguists since Montague. The author integrates fascinating and puzzling observations about lexical meaning into a compositional semantic framework. Adjustments in types are a feature of the compositional process and account for various phenomena including coercion and copredication. This book will be of interest to semanticists, philosophers, logicians and computer scientists alike.

Formal Semantics