1 Introduction 2 Speech Acts 3 Gricean Maxims References r, e, b, f b, f, g, a V’ V’ PP [watch a movie]V’ [with a superhero]PP V NP with a superhero watch a movie ELC 231: Introduction to Language and Linguistics Semantics & Pragmatics: Ambiguity and Meaning as USE vs TRUTH Dr. Meagan Louie M. Louie ELC 231: Language and Linguistics 1 / 112 1 Introduction 1.1 Compositionality and Structural Ambiguity 2 Speech Acts 1.2 Meaning as USE 3 Gricean Maxims 1.3 Investigating USE-CONDITIONS References Core Subdomains Linguistics: The study of Language Phonetics Phonology Morphology Syntax Semantics Pragmatics M. Louie ELC 231: Language and Linguistics 2 / 112 1 Introduction 1.1 Compositionality and Structural Ambiguity 2 Speech Acts 1.2 Meaning as USE 3 Gricean Maxims 1.3 Investigating USE-CONDITIONS References Core Subdomains: Last Week - Syntax and Semantics Linguistics: The study of Language Phonetics Phonology Morphology Syntax Semantics Pragmatics M. Louie ELC 231: Language and Linguistics 3 / 112 1 Introduction 1.1 Compositionality and Structural Ambiguity 2 Speech Acts 1.2 Meaning as USE 3 Gricean Maxims 1.3 Investigating USE-CONDITIONS References Core Subdomains: This Week - Semantics and Pragmatics Linguistics: The study of Language Phonetics Phonology Morphology Syntax Semantics Pragmatics M. Louie ELC 231: Language and Linguistics 4 / 112 1 Introduction 1.1 Compositionality and Structural Ambiguity 2 Speech Acts 1.2 Meaning as USE 3 Gricean Maxims 1.3 Investigating USE-CONDITIONS References Core Subdomains: Semantics • Semantics: The study of MEANING in language 1 Review: Meaning as Truth and reference 2 REVIEW: Compositionality 3 A Semantic Interpretation System for Language (i) The Model/Ontology (ii) Lexical Entries (iii) Compositional Rules (i.e., how to semantically interpret PSRs) M. Louie ELC 231: Language and Linguistics 5 / 112 1 Introduction 1.1 Compositionality and Structural Ambiguity 2 Speech Acts 1.2 Meaning as USE 3 Gricean Maxims 1.3 Investigating USE-CONDITIONS References The Principle of Compositionality . The Principle of Compositionality “...meaning of a complex expression is a function of the meaning of its parts and the way those parts are combined.” The meaning of a complex phrase or sentence is derived from (i) the meaning of its parts and (ii) the way those parts are combined (e.g., which PSRs are used) Gottlob Frege (1848-1925) M. Louie ELC 231: Language and Linguistics 6 / 112 1 Introduction 1.1 Compositionality and Structural Ambiguity 2 Speech Acts 1.2 Meaning as USE 3 Gricean Maxims 1.3 Investigating USE-CONDITIONS References The Principle of Compositionality . The Principle of Compositionality The meaning of a complex word or sentence is based on (i) the meaning of its parts and (ii) the way that the parts are combined. unlockable unlockable un- lockable unlock -able lock -able un- lock M. Louie ELC 231: Language and Linguistics 7 / 112 1 Introduction 1.1 Compositionality and Structural Ambiguity 2 Speech Acts 1.2 Meaning as USE 3 Gricean Maxims 1.3 Investigating USE-CONDITIONS References The Principle of Compositionality . AMBIGUITY When a word/phrase/sentence has more than one distinct meaning (i) Lexical Ambiguity: The different meanings are due to different lexical entries (ii) Structural Ambiguity: The different meanings are due to different structures unlockable unlockable un- lockable unlock -able lock -able un- lock M. Louie ELC 231: Language and Linguistics 8 / 112 1 Introduction 1.1 Compositionality and Structural Ambiguity 2 Speech Acts 1.2 Meaning as USE 3 Gricean Maxims 1.3 Investigating USE-CONDITIONS References The Principle of Compositionality . AMBIGUITY When a word/phrase/sentence has more than one distinct meaning (i) Lexical Ambiguity: The different meanings are due to different lexical entries (ii) Structural Ambiguity: The different meanings are due to different structures unlockable unlockable un- lockable unlock -able lock -able un- lock M. Louie ELC 231: Language and Linguistics 9 / 112 1 Introduction 1.1 Compositionality and Structural Ambiguity 2 Speech Acts 1.2 Meaning as USE 3 Gricean Maxims 1.3 Investigating USE-CONDITIONS References Structural Ambiguity . Structural Ambiguity: When a word/phrase/sentence has two meanings, due to two different structures (1) I was watching a movie with a superhero This sentence has two meanings - i.e., it is ambiguous What are the two meanings? Do our PSRs and compositional rules predict two meanings? M. Louie ELC 231: Language and Linguistics 10 / 112 1 Introduction 1.1 Compositionality and Structural Ambiguity 2 Speech Acts 1.2 Meaning as USE 3 Gricean Maxims 1.3 Investigating USE-CONDITIONS References Structural Ambiguity . Structural Ambiguity: When a word/phrase/sentence has two meanings, due to two different structures (2) I was watching a movie with a superhero V’ V’ V’ PP V NP V NP with a superhero watch a N’ watch a movie N’ PP N with a superhero movie M. Louie ELC 231: Language and Linguistics 11 / 112 1 Introduction 1.1 Compositionality and Structural Ambiguity 2 Speech Acts 1.2 Meaning as USE 3 Gricean Maxims 1.3 Investigating USE-CONDITIONS References Structural Ambiguity . ! In our semantic system, both N’ and V’ refer to sets of individuals movieN’ = {xjx is a movie} J K watching a movieV’ = {xj x is watching a movie} J K Figure : movie = {Silence of the Lambs, The Avengers, The Little Mermaid, The Dark Knight Rises, The Incredibles, ...}J K M. Louie ELC 231: Language and Linguistics 12 / 112 1 Introduction 1.1 Compositionality and Structural Ambiguity 2 Speech Acts 1.2 Meaning as USE 3 Gricean Maxims 1.3 Investigating USE-CONDITIONS References Structural Ambiguity . ! In our semantic system, both N’ and V’ refer to sets of individuals movieN’ = {xjx is a movie} J K watching a movieV’ = {xj x is watching a movie} J K Figure : watch a movie = {s, j + Deadpool + m, Tom + Summer, ... } J M.K Louie ELC 231: Language and Linguistics 13 / 112 1 Introduction 1.1 Compositionality and Structural Ambiguity 2 Speech Acts 1.2 Meaning as USE 3 Gricean Maxims 1.3 Investigating USE-CONDITIONS References Structural Ambiguity . ! Let’s assume that a PP also refers to sets of individuals with a superhero PP = {xjx is with a superhero} J K Figure : with a superhero = { j + Deadpool + m, The Avengers, Captain America + Bucky Barnes, The Dark Knight Rises,J The Incredibles, ...K} M. Louie ELC 231: Language and Linguistics 14 / 112 1 Introduction 1.1 Compositionality and Structural Ambiguity 2 Speech Acts 1.2 Meaning as USE 3 Gricean Maxims 1.3 Investigating USE-CONDITIONS References Structural Ambiguity . ! Let’s also assume that a PP combines with N’ and V’ constituents semantically using the modification rule c, g g, b, f red-haired Adj girl N c g b, f The set denoted by red-haired girl N’ M. Louie g ELC 231: Language and Linguistics 15 / 112 The individual denoted by the red-haired girl NP 1 Introduction 1.1 Compositionality and Structural Ambiguity 2 Speech Acts 1.2 Meaning as USE 3 Gricean Maxims 1.3 Investigating USE-CONDITIONS References Structural Ambiguity . V’ V’ V’ PP V NP V NP with a superhero watch a N’ watch a movie N’ PP N with a superhero movie M. Louie ELC 231: Language and Linguistics 16 / 112 1 Introduction 1.1 Compositionality and Structural Ambiguity 2 Speech Acts 1.2 Meaning as USE 3 Gricean Maxims 1.3 Investigating USE-CONDITIONS References Structural Ambiguity . V’ V’ V’ PP V NP V NP with a superhero watch a N’ watch a movie N’ PP N with a superhero movie M. Louie ELC 231: Language and Linguistics 17 / 112 1 Introduction 1.1 Compositionality and Structural Ambiguity 2 Speech Acts 1.2 Meaning as USE 3 Gricean Maxims 1.3 Investigating USE-CONDITIONS References Structural Ambiguity . movie with a superhero J K J K Silence of the Lambs j+Deadpool+m the Avengers The Avengers The Little Mermaid Captain America + Bucky The Dark Knight Rises The Dark Knight Rises The Incredibles The Incredibles ... ... [movie][with a superhero] J K = {The Avengers, The Dark Knight Rises, The Incredibles, ...} Reading 1: You were watching a movie; the movie has a superhero as some part of it. M. Louie ELC 231: Language and Linguistics 18 / 112 1 Introduction 1.1 Compositionality and Structural Ambiguity 2 Speech Acts 1.2 Meaning as USE 3 Gricean Maxims 1.3 Investigating USE-CONDITIONS References Structural Ambiguity . c, g, a g, a, b, f V’ V NP [movie]N’ [with a superhero]PP watch a N’ N’ PP c, g, a b, f N with a superhero movie The set denoted by [movie with a superhero]N’ M. Louie ELC 231: Language and Linguistics 19 / 112 1 Introduction 1.1 Compositionality and Structural Ambiguity 2 Speech Acts 1.2 Meaning as USE 3 Gricean Maxims 1.3 Investigating USE-CONDITIONS References Structural Ambiguity . V’ V’ V’ PP V NP V NP with a superhero watch a N’ watch a movie N’ PP N with a superhero movie M. Louie ELC 231: Language and Linguistics 20 / 112 1 Introduction 1.1 Compositionality and Structural Ambiguity 2 Speech Acts 1.2 Meaning as USE 3 Gricean Maxims 1.3 Investigating USE-CONDITIONS References Structural Ambiguity . V’ V’ V’ PP V NP V NP with a superhero watch a N’ watch a movie N’ PP N with a superhero movie M. Louie ELC 231: Language and Linguistics 21 / 112 1 Introduction 1.1 Compositionality and Structural Ambiguity 2 Speech Acts 1.2 Meaning as USE 3 Gricean Maxims 1.3 Investigating USE-CONDITIONS References Structural Ambiguity watch a movie with a superhero J KJ K s j+Deadpool+m j+Deadpool+m The Avengers . Tom + Summer Captain America + Bucky ..