Introduction to Semantics : an Essential Guide to the Composition of Meaning.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Preface; 1 Literal Meaning; 1 Hidden Sense; 2 Irony and Implicature; 3 The Way You Say It; 4 Difficult Sentences; 2 Lexical Semantics; 1 What's in a Word?; 2 Homonymy and Polysemy; 3 Sense Relations; 4 Semantic Networks; 3 Structural Ambiguity; 1 Some Elementary Examples; 2 Scope and Syntactic Domains; 3 Syntactic Domains and Reconstruction; 4 Logical Form; 4.1 The LF Scope Principle; 4.2 Quantifier Raising; 4.3 Opaque and Transparent Readings; 4.4 More Hidden Structure*; Summary; 4 Introducing Extensions; 1 Frege's Principle; 2 A Farewell to Psychologism; 3 Extensions for Words and Phrases.

3.1 Referential Expressions3.2 Common Nouns; 3.3 Functional Nouns; 3.4 Verbs and Verb Phrases; 4 Truth Values as Extensions of Sentences; 5 Thematic Roles; 5 Composing Extensions; 1 Truth Tables; 2 Referential Subjects and Objects; 3 Sets and Set-Theoretic Notation; 4 Referential Arguments and Functional Nouns; 5 Analyzing Structural Ambiguities; 5.1 Logical Connectives: and and or; 5.2 Nominal Modification; 5.3 Calculating an Attachment Ambiguity; 5.4 Plural NPs*; 6 Quantifiers; 1 Determiners and Quantifiers; 2 Names as Quantifiers; 3 Type-Driven Interpretation.

4 Quantifying DPs in Object Position*4.1 Solution 1: Quantifier Raising; 4.2 Solution 2: In Situ Interpretation; 4.3 Discussion; 5 The Verb to be; 7 Propositions; 1 Intensional Contexts; 2 Cases and Propositions; 3 Logical Space; 4 Propositional Logic as the Logic of Propositions; 4.1 Venn Diagrams and Truth Tables; 4.2 Logical Connectives Revisited; 4.3 Material Implication and Valid Inferences; 5 Limits and Limitations of Propositional Logic; 5.1 Beyond Truth Functionality; 5.2 Exclusive or; 5.3 Non-Clausal Connectives; 8 Intensions; 1 From Propositions to Intensions; 2 Composing Intensions.

3 Intensions and Sense Relations4 Compositional vs. Lexical Semantics; 5 Hintikka's Attitudes; 6 From Intension to Extension and Back Again; 7 Tense, Time, and Logic*; 9 Presuppositions; 1 The Definite Article; 2 More on Entailments and Truth Value Gaps; 3 Presupposition and Assertion; 4 Presupposition and Discourse; 5 Accommodation; 6 Presupposition Projection*; 10 Compositional Variable Binding*; 1 The Problem; 2 Assignments; 3 Interpreting Variable Binding; 4 Compositionality; 5 Predicate Logic; 5.1 Basic Definitions; 5.2 Some Variants and Alternatives.

5.3 Predicate Logic and Compositionality5.4 Validity, Logical Equivalence, and Entailment; 6 The Lambda Operator; 6.1 Predicate Logic with Lambda Terms; 6.2 Beyond Predicate Logic; Solutions to the Exercises; References; Index.

Preface; 1 Literal Meaning; 1 Hidden Sense; 2 Irony and Implicature; 3 The Way You Say It; 4 Difficult Sentences; 2 Lexical Semantics; 1 What's in a Word?; 2 Homonymy and Polysemy; 3 Sense Relations; 4 Semantic Networks; 3 Structural Ambiguity; 1 Some Elementary Examples; 2 Scope and Syntactic Domains; 3 Syntactic Domains and Reconstruction; 4 Logical Form; 4.1 The LF Scope Principle; 4.2 Quantifier Raising; 4.3 Opaque and Transparent Readings; 4.4 More Hidden Structure*; Summary; 4 Introducing Extensions; 1 Frege's Principle; 2 A Farewell to Psychologism; 3 Extensions for Words and Phrases3.1 Referential Expressions3.2 Common Nouns; 3.3 Functional Nouns; 3.4 Verbs and Verb Phrases; 4 Truth Values as Extensions of Sentences; 5 Thematic Roles; 5 Composing Extensions; 1 Truth Tables; 2 Referential Subjects and Objects; 3 Sets and Set-Theoretic Notation; 4 Referential Arguments and Functional Nouns; 5 Analyzing Structural Ambiguities; 5.1 Logical Connectives: and and or; 5.2 Nominal Modif ...

This textbook introduces undergraduate students of language and linguistics to the basic ideas, insights, and techniques of contemporary semantic theory. The book starts with everyday observations about word meaning and use primarily and then gradually zooms in on the question of how speakers manage to meaningfully communicate with phrases, sentences, and texts they have never come across before. Extensive English examples provide ample illustration.