哲學家多認為日常關于語意的陳述 (如:「單身漢」意即未婚男性)乃事實陳述，陳述語義事實。這些哲學家大都還認為語義事實有物理基礎。對此本文提出兩重反駁。首先，語義事實並無物理基礎，因此 (物理主義認為)根本不存在語義事實。其次，日常語義話語既不陳述語義事實，也不要求語義事實存在，而應理解為一種虛構。第一章論證第一點 (基于Kripke的論證，但据本文目的作了適當裁剪):任何具備表徵能力的物理系統皆等價於擁有某一獨特、確定功能的機器;若語義事實有物理基礎，則功能事實當有物理基礎，但功能事實並無物理基礎。第二章首先論證日常語義話語不要求語義事實存在 (因我們對其存在與否實無所謂)，其次論證虛構話語 (如「Crotone在意大利的足弓上」)乃理解日常語義話語的最佳模型。將語義話語理解為虛構，非但合理可信，且多有啟發。本文結論認為，自然主義本身雖毋庸置疑，尋求自然主義的意義/表徵理論卻是緣木求魚。 / Many philosophers believe that the folk talk of meaning (e.g. “ ‘Bachelor’ means unmarried man“) states facts about meaning, or semantic facts. Most of them further believe that these facts are grounded in the physical reality. I argue against both views: (1) there are no semantic facts, insofar as they must be physically grounded; (2) meaning-talk does not state semantic facts, is not committed to them, and should instead be understood as a kind of make-believe. Chapter 1 presents an argument for (1), rst expounded (I think) by Kripke and here modied for my purpose. The argument is that any physical system with any representational capacity at all can be regarded as having a unique, determinate function; thus if representation--hence meaning--is physically grounded, so must be the function; but no such function can be physically grounded. Chapter 2 argues, rst, that meaning-talk does not commit us to semantic facts because we are indifferent to their existence. Second, that make-believe utterances (e.g. “Crotone is on the arch of the Italian boot“) more than any other discourse provide a good model for meaning-talk. Construing meaning-talk as make-believe is plausible and illuminating. I conclude that, while naturalism (I believe) is true, the attempt to naturalise meaning and representation is misguided. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Shen, Jian. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2012. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 83-85). / Abstracts also in Chinese. / Abstract --- p.i / Acknowledgements --- p.iii / Table of Contents --- p.iv / Introduction --- p.1 / The First Thesis --- p.1 / The Second Thesis --- p.6 / Chapter 1 --- To Repudiate an Ontology --- p.9 / Chapter 1.1 --- Argument for Semantic Anti-Realism --- p.9 / Chapter 1.1.1 --- Premise One --- p.12 / Chapter 1.1.2 --- Premise Two --- p.14 / Chapter 1.2 --- Naturalisers’ Program --- p.19 / Chapter 1.2.1 --- Against Dretske --- p.24 / Chapter 1.2.2 --- Against Millikan --- p.28 / Chapter 1.2.3 --- Against Fodor --- p.35 / Chapter 1.3 --- An Exegetical Appendix --- p.39 / Chapter 2 --- While Enjoying Its Benefit --- p.43 / Chapter 2.1 --- Argument for Non-Commitment --- p.43 / Chapter 2.2 --- Another Argument for Non-Commitment --- p.44 / Chapter 2.2.1 --- Objections and Replies --- p.46 / Chapter 2.3 --- The Fictionalist Hypothesis --- p.60 / Chapter 2.3.1 --- Searching for a Model --- p.60 / Chapter 2.3.2 --- Why the Model Is Good --- p.65 / Chapter 2.3.3 --- Other Models --- p.71 / Chapter 2.3.4 --- Objections and Replies --- p.73 / Conclusion --- p.82 / Bibliography --- p.83

This thesis is an investigation of phenomena at the interface between syntax, semantics, and pragmatics, with the aim of arguing for a view of semantic interpretation as lexically driven yet contextually dependent. I examine regular, generative processes which operate over the lexicon to induce verbal sense shifts, and discuss the interaction of these processes with the linguistic or discourse context. I concentrate on phenomena where only an interaction between all three linguistic knowledge sources can explain the constraints on verb use: conventionalised lexical semantic knowledge constrains productive syntactic processes, while pragmatic reasoning is both constrained by and constrains the potential interpretations given to certain verbs. The phenomena which are closely examined are the behaviour of PP sentential modifiers (specifically dative and directional PPs) with respect to the lexical semantic representation of the verb phrases they modify, resultative constructions, and logical metonymy. The analysis is couched in terms of a lexical semantic representation drawing on Davis (1995), Jackendoff (1983, 1990), and Pustejovsky (1991, 1995) which aims to capture “linguistically relevant” components of meaning. The representation is shown to have utility for modeling of the interaction between the syntactic form of an utterance and its meaning. I introduce a formalisation of the representation within the framework of Head Driven Phrase Structure Grammar (Pollard and Sag 1994), and rely on the model of discourse coherence proposed by Lascarides and Asher (1992), Discourse in Commonsense Entailment. I furthermore discuss the implications of the contextual dependency of semantic interpretation for lexicon design and computational processing in Natural Language Understanding systems.

The aim of distributional semantics is to design computational techniques that can automatically learn the meanings of words from a body of text. The twin challenges are: how do we represent meaning, and how do we learn these representations? The current state of the art is to represent meanings as vectors - but vectors do not correspond to any traditional notion of meaning. In particular, there is no way to talk about 'truth', a crucial concept in logic and formal semantics. In this thesis, I develop a framework for distributional semantics which answers this challenge. The meaning of a word is not represented as a vector, but as a 'function', mapping entities (objects in the world) to probabilities of truth (the probability that the word is true of the entity). Such a function can be interpreted both in the machine learning sense of a classifier, and in the formal semantic sense of a truth-conditional function. This simultaneously allows both the use of machine learning techniques to exploit large datasets, and also the use of formal semantic techniques to manipulate the learnt representations. I define a probabilistic graphical model, which incorporates a probabilistic generalisation of model theory (allowing a strong connection with formal semantics), and which generates semantic dependency graphs (allowing it to be trained on a corpus). This graphical model provides a natural way to model logical inference, semantic composition, and context-dependent meanings, where Bayesian inference plays a crucial role. I demonstrate the feasibility of this approach by training a model on WikiWoods, a parsed version of the English Wikipedia, and evaluating it on three tasks. The results indicate that the model can learn information not captured by vector space models.

This thesis explores finite control in Korean. An overview of the previous studies of control shows that the mainstream literature on control has consistently argued that referential dependence between an overt matrix argument and an embedded null subject is characteristic of non-finite clauses which contain a PRO subject. Moreover, although some evidence for finite control involving pro in several languages has been presented, a PRO analysis of finite control has been firmly established in the literature. This thesis, however, argues that the currently established approach to Obligatory Control (OC), which is confined to PRO, cannot account for OC in Korean, and provides an empirical and theoretical analysis of finite control containing a pro subject in Korean. Although finite OC in Korean differs from non-finite OC in other languages in that the former can allow an overt NP coreferential with a matrix argument in the null subject position, finite OC in Korean displays the same properties of OC which are widely employed as the criteria for defining OC in non-finite clauses. This thesis adopts the formal approach to finiteness in which finiteness is defined as an ability of licensing nominative subjects. However, reviewing the cross-linguistic data in the literature reveals that the feature determining finiteness should not be restricted to just Tense and Agreement, as the formal approaches have argued, and that languages may vary in determining finiteness. It also explores the relevance of Mood and Modality as the manifestation of finiteness in Korean. Based on this, this thesis argues for the CP status of finite OC in Korean and a pro analysis of the null subject in the constructions. Through an investigation of six complementation types that have or have not been grouped under the types of control in the literature along with ninety matrix predicates which are classified into nine different categories based on their semantic class, this thesis further argues that OC in Korean cannot be explained by a solely syntax-based or semantically-based theory. OC in Korean is mainly the result of multiple semantic factors, but syntactic and pragmatic factors can also play a role in determining control.

I argue that to know that a proposition is true one must have justification for being certain that the proposition is true. That is, one must have infallible epistemic justification for believing the proposition. It is widely accepted among epistemologists that we rarely, if ever, have such strong justification for our beliefs. It follows that there is precious little that we know. That conclusion is unacceptable to many philosophers. I argue that the positions that lead to the skeptical conclusion are well-motivated and that the skeptical conclusion is implicitly accepted by ordinary speakers. My dissertation has three main components: a metaphilosophical position, an epistemological position, and an error theory. First, the metaphilosophical position. One very important part of philosophy is the analysis of our ordinary concepts. Analysis of our concepts begins with reflecting on what we are inclined to say about various actual and possible cases when considered under specific descriptions. This traditional method has recently come under attack, due in part to the rise of semantic externalism. I agree with externalists that if ‘meaning is reference’ then there is little reason to think reflecting on our concepts from the armchair will provide insight to the nature of the concepts we investigate. I defend a version of semantic internalism which grounds meaning in factors with which subjects are directly acquainted. That view supports the traditional methodology. Furthermore, as the goal of philosophical analysis is to accurately describe concepts of philosophical interest, the only kind of objection that could be decisive against a proposed analysis is that it does not correctly describe our concept. That opens the door to a skeptical analysis of knowledge. Second, the epistemological position. I argue that the unacceptability of sentences of the form “S knows that p but it is possible for S that not-p” is best explained by the hypothesis that our concept of knowledge requires having justification for being certain that what one believes is true. I offer as a criterion of justified certainty the idea that when one knows a proposition is true, one is in a position to decisively answer questions about one’s knowledge of that proposition. I survey a number of competing theories of knowledge and show that they allow for the possibility of knowledge when one fails my criterion of decisive answerability. Those views fail my criterion because according to those views there is nothing the subject is aware of that guarantees for the subject that the allegedly known proposition is true. On that basis, I contend that knowledge is direct awareness of the factors that constitute the truth of the proposition one believes. Third, the error theory. Of course, we rarely have direct awareness of the factors that constitute the truth of the propositions we believe. So, our knowledge attributions are generally false. Yet, they are overwhelmingly natural to make. I argue that competent speakers are often quick to recognize knowledge attributions as a kind of ‘loose talk’ akin to the way we loosely ascribe geometric properties to ordinary objects. We regularly call objects ‘square’ that are not even close to being square, and we are quick to recognize this when challenged. I argue that we do this because we are so accustomed to communicating using strict language to make false claims that we often do not attend to the literal falsity of what we are saying. While we accept very demanding standards for knowledge, the phenomenon of recognizing that our knowledge claims are regularly false is as pervasive as our use of loose speech.

No description available.

In this dissertation an attempt was made to uncover the source of verbal associations. The investigation focused on establishing the locus of representation for associative relationships in the cognitive system and whether this locus is different from that for semantic relationships. A picture naming task and an object decision task were used within the standard priming paradigm, in which the target is preceded by a prime. A dual-level model was proposed in which associative relatedness is represented at a lemma level that connects the lexical form representation of a word to its semantic information. According to this model an interaction between associative and categorical relatedness should occur in picture naming, but not in object decision, when primes and targets share both relationships, and this is what was observed. To investigate the mechanisms of associative priming, asymmetrically associated prime-target pairs were used to create two situations. In the forward priming condition the target was an associate of the prime (e.g., brick-house), and in the backward priming condition the prime was an associate of the target (e.g., babyrattle). Unexpectedly, facilitation was observed for backward priming at the short SOA in picture naming. Because no effect was observed for this condition in the object decision task, and given that forward priming produced facilitation in both tasks spreading activation was upheld as the mechanism for associative priming. In order to investigate whether the source of the relationship between associates might be in their latent semantic content, the impact of instrument relationships (e.g., grinder-coffee), script relationships (e.g., zoo-tiger), and proximity in multidimensional semantic space were also investigated in the picture naming task. Items that were close in semantic space, but did not share any semantic relationships, produced the same priming pattern as category co-ordinates in picture naming (i.e., interference), while instrumental and script relationships did not produce a priming pattern that matched either that observed for associative or categorical relatedness. These results were taken to indicate that the source of associative relationships is in the co-occurrence of words in the language, which further supported the main claim of a dual-level model where information about verbal associations is stored outside semantic memory.

The Japanese language has a colour term, 'ao' (or 'aoi'), which is usually referred to in bilingual dictionaries as being the equivalent of English 'blue'. Very often, however, it is used to describe things which English speakers would describe as being green. Granny Smith apples are 'ao', so are all Westerners' eyes, regardless of whether they would be described as being 'blue' or 'green' in English. The sky and the sea are prototypically 'ao', but this term is also used to describe lawns, forests, traffic lights and unripe tomatoes. What, then, do Japanese native speakers (henceforth JNS) understand by this term? How do its semantic boundaries relate to those of the term 'midori' (`green')? What is the JNS understanding of the foreign loan words 'guriin' (green) and 'buruu' (blue)? This study pursues these questions seeking to delineate the semantic boundaries of the colour term 'ao'.

The significance of wine to the residents of ancient Palestine is demonstrated by the large number of archaeological sites where a wine making installation has been identified and the role wine plays in the Hebrew Bible, the major work of literature to survive from ancient Palestine. The role of wine in the Hebrew Bible has generated a large volume of material, although this has been partly driven by the ongoing temperance debate. Despite this there has been little or no thorough research as to which words and thus passages should be investigated to comprehensively examine wine in the Hebrew Bible. In addition those studies which do exist do not demonstrate any in-depth knowledge of wine production and its implications in translating and interpreting the Hebrew Bible. This work aims to address these two issues. The origin of wine demonstrates that wine was known in Palestine during the Biblical period. Agriculture and Diet provide information as to the value and context of wine production. Semantic tools detail the linguistic information for examination of the ancient Hebrew words related to wine. The styles and production methods of wine and other alcoholic beverages in the ancient world set limits for the identification of beverages. All other information must be considered in the light of these four areas. The core of this work is an examination of the key words related to wine: the likely members of the ancient Hebrew semantic field of wine the key words for grape, vine and vineyard and three words identified as installations used in wine production. It is only after such detailed examination that any in-depth study of wine in the Hebrew Bible should be considered.

Parkinson�s disease is a neurodegenerative disorder, which is typically characterised in terms of its debilitating effects on motor function. However, ubiquitous neuropsychological deficits are also an integral feature of the progression of this disease. This thesis investigated these cognitive deficits as they manifest in language, with the overarching goal being to elucidate the word-finding problems that are associated with Parkinson�s disease. Making semantic judgements and identifying semantic relations are two processes that are particularly germane to word-finding. Therefore, the present thesis examined: 1) the ability of people with Parkinson�s disease to make judgements about semantic categories, and 2) the integrity of associative semantic networks in Parkinson�s disease. In the first series of studies, Cups and Bowls, a novel semantic categorisation task was used to investigate the ability of people with Parkinson�s disease to consistently categorise common kitchen items across a number of trials. The Parkinson�s group was impaired relative to an age-matched control group on this task. This inconsistent categorisation was particularly apparent for the less typical category exemplars at the category boundaries, suggesting that the Parkinson�s group had less salient or less elaborated semantic categories, which particularly compromised categorisation of the less typical category exemplars. This finding is discussed in terms of selective attention deficits and inappropriate weightings of semantic features. In the second series of studies, Verbal Memory, the structure of the semantic network and access to the semantic system were further investigated using a verbal memory task, which required participants to recall word lists. These word lists consisted of semantically associated words and were designed to elicit false recall of another, non-presented, close semantic associate (the critical lure). The results of this second series of studies, particularly the fact that the Parkinson�s group recalled more of the false critical lures than the control group, suggested an intact semantic network in Parkinson�s disease and normal saliency of semantic categories. The potentiated false recall effect in the Parkinson�s group is discussed in terms of poor modulation of attention in Parkinson�s disease, both as the result of an executive deficit leading to poor controlled processing and in terms of a dopamine-modulated decrease in the signal-to-noise ratio leading to impaired automatic processing. Taken together, the results reported in the present thesis suggest that basal ganglia pathology and striatofrontal deafferentation in Parkinson�s disease do not diminish the integrity of semantic memory, but do compromise operation of semantic memory due to impaired modulation of activation/inhibition mechanisms. This finding of a selective attention deficit has implications for word-finding, suggesting that the word-finding difficulties associated with Parkinson�s disease are the result of impaired lexical access. In particular, retrieval of specific lexical items from semantic memory is impeded because of failure to modulate activation/inhibition mechanisms effectively for the target word to be distinguished from close semantic associates. An intact semantic checking mechanism in anterior language cortex prevents the production of semantic paraphasias, and results in the tip-of-the-tongue word-finding problems displayed by some people with Parkinson�s disease.