This book presents the most important problems of reference and considers their solution. It presupposes no technical knowledge, presents analyses from first principles, illustrates every stage with examples, and is written with verve and clarity. This is the ideal introduction to reference for students of linguistics and philosophy of language.
This book presents the most important problems of reference and considers their solution. It presupposes no technical knowledge, presents analyses from first principles, illustrates every stage with examples, and is written with verve and clarity. This is the ideal introduction to reference for students of linguistics and philosophy of language.
Barbara Abbott is Emeritus Professor of Linguistics and Philosophy at Michigan State University where for many years she taught semantics, pragmatics, and philosophy of language. Her published work includes articles in Natural Language Semantics, Language, Linguistics and Philosophy, Journal of Pragmatics, and Mind.
Inhaltsangabe
1: Introduction 2: The Foundations 3: Subsequent Developments 4: The Proper Treatment of Quantification 5: Proper Names 6: Definite Descriptions 7: Plurals and Generics 8: Indexicality and Pronouns 9: Definiteness, Strength, Partitives, and Referentiality 10: NPs in Discourse 11: Taking Stock