TTR for Natural Language Semantics 2

Robin Cooper (1) , Jonathan Ginzburg (2, 3)

1 GU - Göteborgs Universitet = University of Gothenburg
2 LabEx EFL - LabEx Empirical Foundations of Linguistics
3 CLILLAC-ARP (EA_3967) - Centre de Linguistique Inter-langues, de Lexicologie, de Linguistique Anglaise et de Corpus

In this paper we have presented a theory which encompasses both the analysis 1219 of dialogue structure and the traditional concerns of formal semantics. Our 1220 main claim is that the two should not be separated. We have used a rich type 1221 theory (TTR – type theory with records) in order to achieve this. The main 1222 advantages of TTR is that it presents a theory of types which are structured 1223 in a similar way to feature structures as employed in feature-based approaches 1224 to grammar while at the same time being a type theory including a theory 1225 of functions corresponding to the λ-calculus which can be used for a highly 1226 intensional theory of semantic interpretation. This type theory can be used to 1227 formulate both compositional semantics and the theory of dialogue structure 1228 embodied by KoS (Ginzburg, 2012). Among other things we have shown how 1229 these tools can be used to create a theory of events (both non-linguistic and 1230 linguistic) and thereby create a theory of grammar grounded in the percep- 1231 tion of speech events. We have shown how these tools enable us to give an 1232 account of the kind of abstract entities needed for semantic analysis, such as 1233 propositions and questions. We have also shown how the same tools can be 1234 used to given an account of dialogue gameboards and dialogic interaction.

Domaines: Linguistique; Informatique

Robin Cooper, Jonathan Ginzburg. TTR for Natural Language Semantics 2. Handbook of Contemporary Semantic Theory, second edition, 2015. ⟨hal-01138034⟩