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arXiv cs/0001006cs.CLcs.LO
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组合性、同义性与意义的系统表征

Compositionality, Synonymy, and the Systematic Representation of Meaning

Shalom Lappin, Wlodek Zadrozny

摘要:

在最近一期的《语言学与哲学》(Linguistics and Philosophy)中,Kasmi和Pelletier(1998)(K&P),以及Westerstahl(1998)批评了Zadrozny(1994)关于任何语义都可以用组合来表示的论点。这个论点是基于Zadrozny定理,即每个意义函数m都可以由函数μ编码,使得(i)对于指定语言L的任何表达式E,m(E)都可以从μ(E)中恢复,并且(ii)μ是从L的句法结构到L的解释的同态。在这两种情况下,反对扎德罗兹尼论点的主要动机是认为他对原始意义功能的编码没有正确反映为语言设定的同义关系。在本文中,我们认为,这些技术的批评不通过。特别地,我们证明了μ正确地编码了同义关系,即如果两个表达式是同义的,那么它们的组合意义是相同的。这纠正了一些关于函数μ的误解,例如Janssen(1997)。我们认为,语义学家之所以急于将组合性作为对语义理论的一个重要约束来加以维护,是因为它被错误地视为一个条件,任何一种理论,只要它能维持一个表达式的意义与其各部分的意义之间的系统联系,就必须满足这个条件。形式语义学和计算语义学的最新发展表明,意义的系统理论不需要是组合的。

英文摘要:

In a recent issue of Linguistics and Philosophy Kasmi and Pelletier (1998) (K&P), and Westerstahl (1998) criticize Zadrozny's (1994) argument that any semantics can be represented compositionally. The argument is based upon Zadrozny's theorem that every meaning function m can be encoded by a function μsuch that (i) for any expression E of a specified language L, m(E) can be recovered from μ(E), and (ii) μis a homomorphism from the syntactic structures of L to interpretations of L. In both cases, the primary motivation for the objections brought against Zadrozny's argument is the view that his encoding of the original meaning function does not properly reflect the synonymy relations posited for the language. In this paper, we argue that these technical criticisms do not go through. In particular, we prove that μproperly encodes synonymy relations, i.e. if two expressions are synonymous, then their compositional meanings are identical. This corrects some misconceptions about the function μ, e.g. Janssen (1997). We suggest that the reason that semanticists have been anxious to preserve compositionality as a significant constraint on semantic theory is that it has been mistakenly regarded as a condition that must be satisfied by any theory that sustains a systematic connection between the meaning of an expression and the meanings of its parts. Recent developments in formal and computational semantics show that systematic theories of meanings need not be compositional.

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