Short Definite Descriptions and Referent Activation

2021 ◽  
pp. 284-292
Author(s):  
Dmitry A. Zalmanov ◽  
Andrej A. Kibrik
Keyword(s):  
Definite Descriptions

scholarly journals A Puzzle about Logical Analysis

Philosophia ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Rinner
Keyword(s):  
Complete Solution ◽  
Definite Descriptions ◽  
Logical Analysis ◽  
Frege’S Puzzle ◽  
Main Thesis ◽  
Frege's Puzzle ◽  
Belief Ascriptions

AbstractIn this paper, I will present a puzzle for logical analyses, such as Russell’s analysis of definite descriptions and Recanati’s analysis of ‘that’-clauses. I will argue that together with Kripke’s disquotational principles connecting sincere assent and belief such non-trivial logical analyses lead to contradictions. Following this, I will compare the puzzle about logical analysis with Frege’s puzzle about belief ascriptions. We will see that although the two puzzles do have similarities, the solutions to Frege’s puzzle cannot be applied mutatis mutandis to the puzzle about logical analysis. Hence, to say it with Kripke, the main thesis of this paper is that the puzzle is a puzzle. A complete solution to the puzzle promises a better understanding of both logical analyses and belief ascriptions.

Asymmetries between uniqueness and familiarity in the semantics of definite descriptions

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 ◽  
pp. 694
Author(s):  
Sadhwi Srinivas ◽  
Kyle Rawlins ◽  
Daphna Heller
Keyword(s):  
Definite Descriptions ◽  
Definite Article ◽  
Two Factors ◽  
Future Work

In over a century of research into the English definite article "the", two main theoretical factors have been identified as relevant to its meaning: namely, (i) uniqueness and (ii) familiarity. The identification of these factors has led to an extensive debate in semantics about which of them is more fundamental to the meaning of "the". In this paper, we contribute to this debate by introducing novel data obtained through two controlled psycholinguistic experiments. We manipulated uniqueness and familiarity of potential referents, examining how these factors affect the comprehension and production of English definite descriptions. The behavioral results reveal an asymmetry between these two factors, with familiarity being a weaker cue than uniqueness – a pattern that is unexpected under any existing theory of definiteness. We close with a discussion of possible extensions to existing theories in light of this result, as well as avenues for future work.

scholarly journals Definiteness

Linguistics ◽  
2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Klaus von Heusinger
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Science ◽  
Computational Linguistics ◽  
Proper Names ◽  
Analytic Philosophy ◽  
Noun Phrases ◽  
Definite Descriptions ◽  
Definite Article ◽  
Personal Pronouns ◽  
Linguistic Structure ◽  
Definite Expressions

Definiteness is a semantic-pragmatic notion that is closely associated with the use of the definite article (or determiner) in languages like English, Hungarian, Hebrew, and Lakhota. The definite article can be used in different conditions: deictic, anaphoric, unique, and certain indirect uses, often also called “bridging uses.” Accordingly, there are different semantic theories of definiteness, such as the salience theory, the familiarity or identifiability theory, and the uniqueness or inclusiveness theory. Definite expressions cover personal pronouns, proper names, demonstratives, definite noun phrases, and universally quantified expressions. Noun phrases with the definite article, known as “definite descriptions,” are a key issue in semantics and analytic philosophy with respect to the interaction of reference and description in identifying an object. The research and analysis of definiteness is of great importance not only for the linguistic structure of languages but also for our understanding of reference and referring in philosophy, cognitive science, computational linguistics, and communication science.

scholarly journals The same (as what?)

2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (23) ◽  
pp. 197
Author(s):  
Thorstein Fretheim
Keyword(s):  
Head Noun ◽  
Definite Descriptions ◽  
English Expression ◽  
Comprehension Test ◽  
Contextualist Approach

This paper adopts a radical contextualist approach to the reference of definite descriptions that contain the English expression the same, either without a complement or with a complement in the form of a head noun and/or a comparison phrase of the type as X. It is argued that definite descriptions which contain the same do not refer to a unique entity, despite the fact that the result of a comprehension test carried out seems to give some support to the belief that such descriptions may serve the function of a directly referring term.

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