4.1 The structure and interpretation
of elementary clauses
Evidence for the division of sentences into subjects and predicates
[review data 116-7]
Dislocation
Elision
Pro-form replacement
Subsititution by a single form
4.1.1 The theory PC+
The goal is to express the truth conditions of parts of sentences
in terms of "familiar, garden-variety objects like people,
places, and things". We start with the truth conditions of
terminal nodes:
Terminal node
Semantic
value
Example
proper noun
persons
Val(x, Jill ) iff x = Jill
intransitive verb
condition that holds of an object
Val(x, ponder ) iff x ponders
transitive
verb
condition
that holds of two objects
Val(<x,y>,
knows ) iff x knows y
The truth conditions of nonterminal nodes:
Nonterminal node
Syntactic
structure
Example
S (sentence)
[S NP VP]
Val(x, Jill ) iff x = Jill
VP (intransitive verb phrase)
[VP V]
Val(x, ponder ) iff x ponders
VP (transitive verb phraase)
[VP V NP]
Val(<x,y>, knows ) iff x knows
y
An example:
4.2 The semantics of predicates and predication
figure
Name
Predicate
The expressions that go here name, refer
to, or designate an object.
The expressions that go here describe,
apply to, or are predicated of this object.
4.2.1 Some thought experiments
Language A, language B
Hypothesizing predicates
Feature placers vs. predicates: when we find
expressions whose semantic contributions require us to distinguish
features of objects, and hence objects themselves, we are dealing
with predicates.
4.2.2 Generality and object independence
Each predicate is associated with a condition that an object
may meet or fail to meet. If the object meets the condition, the
predicate applies to the object. If not, it doesn't.
Contrasts between proper
nouns and predicates
Proper
noun
Predicate
proper
nouns care how many individuals they apply to
predicates
do not care how many individuals they apply to
proper
names care which individuals they apply to
predicates
do not care which individuals they apply to
4.2.3 Distinguishing predicates
Sortal
Not
sortal
Gradable
?
A
Not
gradable
N
V
4.3 Alternatives to the
PC+ analysis of predicates
