The algebraic semantics of interrogative NPs (Q5931131)

The aim of the paper is to outline a new semantic interpretation of interrogative noun phrases (INPs), based on a novel algebraic theory of the semantics of questions. The INPs are interpreted as entities derived from the type t of propositions. The proposed extensional theory of question meanings interprets the type t of propositions as a billatice with five truth values, three indicative values (``known-to-be-false'', ``known-to-be-true'', ``unknown''), and two interrogative values (``unresolved'', ``resolved''). Section 2 of the paper introduces the basic elements of the new INP semantics. Section 4 discusses the meaning of INPs and the compositional construction of the wh-question meanings based on the proposed framework. Section 4 shows how the INP coordination can be handled in a straightforward manner, including the coordination that combines indicative and interrogative NPs. Section 5 investigates the properties of INPs in the context of generalized quantifier theory.