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First published in 1985, this book analyses temporal meaning in German. The framework is that of a model-theoretic semantics, more specifically one incorporating a multi-dimensional tense logic. The first chapter presents this logic and argues that three dimensions are optimal for the description of natural language temporalia. The second chapter applies this theory to the analysis of temporal meaning in German. Frame adverbials, the Present and Past Tenses, duratives, aspectual adverbials using in, and the adverbials particle schon are examined. Chapter 3 provides a formal syntax to bear the semantic analysis proposed in the second chapter and the final chapter explores syntactic and semantic extensions of the fragment, showing how the Perfect, the particle noch, the passive, and a distinct reading of frame adverbials may be accommodated.
1. OUTLINE German has the three main perfect constructions which are illustrated in (1. 1). 1 In each of these constructions, the verb appears in the past participial form and is combined with an auxiliary - in this case, haben ('have'); other verbs form their perfect constructions with the auxiliary sein ('be'). 2 The auxiliary can then be com bined with a tense -Le. the present tense as in (Ua), the past tense as in (b), or the future tense as in (c). 3 (1. 1) a. PRESENT PERFECT: Die Eule hat die Schule verlassen. the owl has the school left b. PAST PERFECT: Die Eule hatte die Schule verlassen. the owl had the school left c. FUTURE PERFECT: Die Eule wird die Schule verlassen haben. the owl will the school left have As will shortly become clear, the present perfect is the most intricate of the perfect constructions in German. It has been investigated intensely in the past, with the result that today there is little doubt about what the core problems concerning its semantics are.
The volume presents an essential selection collected from the essays of Wolfgang Klein. In addition to journal and book articles, many of them published by Mouton, this book features new and unpublished texts by the author. It focuses, among other topics, on information structure, the expression of grammatical categories and the structure of learner varieties.
This book is the first to provide an integrated view of preposition from morphology to reasoning, via syntax and semantics. It offers new insights in applied and formal linguistics, and cognitive science. It underlines the importance of prepositions in a number of computational linguistics applications, such as information retrieval and machine translation. The reader will benefit from a wide range of views and applications to various linguistic frameworks, among which, most notably, HPSG. The book is for researchers working in the fields of computational linguistics, linguistics, and artificial intelligence.
The series is a platform for contributions of all kinds to this rapidly developing field. General problems are studied from the perspective of individual languages, language families, language groups, or language samples. Conclusions are the result of a deepened study of empirical data. Special emphasis is given to little-known languages, whose analysis may shed new light on long-standing problems in general linguistics.
Semantics and semiology are two of the most important branches of linguistics and have proven to be fecund areas for research. They examine language structures and how they are dictated by both the meanings and forms of communication employed — semantics by focusing on the denotation of words and fixed word combinations, and semiology by studying sign and sign processes. As numerous interrelated fields connect to and sub-disciplines branch off from these major spheres, they are essential to a thorough grounding in linguistics and crucial for further study. ‘Routledge Library Editions: Semantics and Semiology’ collects together wide-ranging works of scholarship that together provide a comprehensive overview of the preceding theoretical landscape, and expand and extend it in numerous directions. A number of interrelated disciplines are also discussed in conjunction with semantics and semiology such as anaphora, pragmatics, syntax, discourse analysis and the philosophy of language. This set reissues 14 books originally published between 1960 to 2000 and will be of interest to students of linguistics and the philosophy of language.
The volume contains articles that focus on the interface between linguistic and conceptual knowledge. The issues addressed in the volume include the preconditions of every level of the language system that are required for the transformation of linguistic information into conceptual representations. In accordance with Chomsky’s Minimalist language model, the language system is embedded into the performative systems where language is a part of the cognitive competence of human beings, i.e. system of articulation and perception (A/P) and the conceptual-intentional system (C/I). During the formation of linguistic structures, every performative system obtains well-formed representations as its input information. The articles of the volume show how interface conditions determine the linguistic representations on each level of the linguistic system. Interface conditions result in requirements for the ordering of linguistic elements. The syntactic transformation achieves a point, where the linguistic structure formation branches to two distinct representational levels. Both levels deliver instructions for the systems of performance A/P and C/I. Linearization takes place on the syntactic surface of a sentence. The linearization of linguistic elements is manifest at the derivational point of Spell-out and also on the level of the phonological form (PF). This means that on the one hand, linearization is relevant to the phonetic aspect of linguistic expressions, and on the other hand, the interpretation of linguistic utterances is based on hierarchical structures. On the level of Logical Form (LF) all operations apply which don’t have any influence on the linear order in overt syntax. In addition they affect the generation of hierarchical structures. The structure obtained on LF is the representational format of the semantic form of a sentence.
This volume covers a broad spectrum of research into the role of events in grammar. It addresses event arguments and thematic argument structure, the role of events in verbal aspectual distinctions, events and the distinction between stage and individual level predicates, and the role of events in the analysis of plurality and scope relations. It is of interest to scholars and students of theoretical linguistics, philosophers of language, computational linguists, and computer scientists.
Gain a deeper understanding of essential research on the semantics of noun phrases and verb phrases. Clear explanations of significant recent research bring complex issues to life, with expert guidance on topics of debate within the field. The book gives readers valuable insights into topics such as definiteness, specificity, genericity aspect, aktionsart and mood. It also discusses directions for future research. Written by a world-class team of authors, these highly cited articles are here in paperback for the first time since their original publication. An essential reference for researchers in the area.
During the past 20 years the investigation into meaning of natural languages has emerged into one of the most active disciplines in theoretical linguistics. The different traditions of linguistics, philosophy of language and philosophical logic converged in the paradigm of truth conditional semantics, which now plays a central role in the cognitive sciences. From empirical research in particular languages more principal questions arise of how the speaker succeeds in expressing particular types of meaning by use of formal combination of signs. The theories developed to cope with the question assume that for a hearer, the meaning of a complex expression must be "computable", and therefore, modern theoretical semantics uses formal algebraic methods to construct the meaning compositionally in view of syntactic structur. Furthermore, meaning need to be "anchored" in the experience available to hearer. In order to deal with this, theoretical semantics extensivly uses the concept of truth conditions, which roughly explain how a world must be structured in order to be matched by certain linguistic expressions. Semantic analyses are complemented by context theory and the theory of speech acts. Thus, linguistic meaning must be related to human cognitive capacities, and therefore, theoretical semantics is tightly connected with philosophical logic as well as cognitive sciences in general. The aim of this handbook is to represent the body of theoretical knowledge which has evolved in the international research of the last two decades. Some of the theories can now be termed "classical" in that they belong to the commonly accepted base of theoretical semantics. Other theories are still disputed, and there areproblems still to be solved - as normal in a more developed science. The authors, who are leading experts in the field of semantics, try to balance the accepted and the questionable results. It goes without saying that each author hold a particular position in this respect. Some articles are written in English, some in German. Since semantics is considered to be a subfield of linguistics, the articles are arranged due to linguistic points of view. In the first 5 chapters (comprising 15 articles) the common principles of semantics are presented: ontological foundations of semantics, composition of meaning, problems of use (context, speech acts, and lexical base of meaning. The next 5 chapters (comprising 25 articles) are concerned with semantic phenomena, theories and problems which are specific for a particular class of linguistic expressions. These are arranged according to parts of speech: nouns, functional categories, verbs, adjectives and so on.This division does not reflect a theoretical position by itself, however it allows one to recognize problems connected with one another. Some more general questions are discussed in more than one article, in different perspective and vicinity. The Handbook is complemented by a service article on formal methods in semantics, followed by a comprehensive bibliography including about 1700 entries, and both a subject and a name index. This handbook is indispensable for all research in linguistics and neighboring disciplines (philosophy of language, cognitive sciences). Some of the articles can serve as basic literature for classes of advanced students.