Semantics: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 09:04, 11 January 2021

Expressions of natural languages can contain information about the world, i.e. they have meanings.
Speakers and listeners have (reliable) intuitions about this meaning relation:
- The meaning of the name "Angela Merkel" is the person Angela Merkel.
- The sentence "Angela Merkel is the first female chancellor of Germany." is true in the world.
- The sentence "Germany lies in Asia." is false in the world.

Speakers and listeners can infer information from the meanings of sentences:
- From "Lilly is a cat." it follows that "Lilly is an animal."
- From "Lilly is as old as Fido." it follows that "Fido is as old as Lilly."
- From "Lilly is asleep." it follows that "Someone is asleep."

But:

- From "Lilly is an animal." it does not follow that "Lilly is a cat."
- From "Lilly is older than Fido." it does not follow that "Fido is is older than as Lilly."
- From "Someone is asleep." does not follow that "Lilly is asleep."

@@ Line 6: / Line 6: @@
 ** The sentence "Angela Merkel is the first female chancellor of Germany." is true in the world.
 ** The sentence "Germany lies in Asia." is false in the world.
+* Speakers and listeners can infer information from the meanings of sentences:
+** From "Lilly is a cat." it follows that "Lilly is an animal."
+** From "Lilly is as old as Fido." it follows that "Fido is as old as Lilly."
+** From "Lilly is asleep." it follows that "Someone is asleep."
+But:
+** From "Lilly is an animal." it does '''not''' follow that "Lilly is a cat."
+** From "Lilly is older than Fido." it does '''not''' follow that "Fido is is older than as Lilly."
+** From "Someone is asleep." does '''not''' follow that "Lilly is asleep."