The algebraic semantics of interrogative NPs

DOI10.1023/A:1009965410477MaRDI QIDQ5931131zbMATH OpenFDO

Authors Rani Nelken, Nissim Francez

Publication date 19 August 2001

Published in Grammars (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1009965410477

zbMATH Keywords

bilattice semanticsextensional theory of interrogativesgeneralized quantifiernatural language representationnatural language semanticssemantic interpretation of interrogative noun phrasessemantics of questions

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Logic of natural languages (03B65) Natural language processing (68T50)

Review text

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.

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• Algebraic foundations for the semantic treatment of inquisitive content
• A uniform semantics for embedded interrogatives: \textit{an} answer, not necessarily \textit{the} answer
• On Karttunen’s “The Syntax and Semantics of Questions”
• Post-suppositions and uninterpretable questions
• A structured witness approach to pair-list answers of \textit{wh}-questions with plural definites
• A modal interpretation of the logic of interrogation

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