scholarly journals The Semantics of Plurals

2021 ◽  
pp. 122-150
Author(s):  
Salvatore Florio ◽  
Øystein Linnebo
Keyword(s):  
Natural Language ◽  
Detailed Comparison ◽  
Simple Solution ◽  
Plural Logic ◽  
Plural Reference

Plural logic provides an appealing framework for the regimentation of natural language plurals. However, the choice of a regimenting language leaves wide open the semantic question of how this language should be interpreted. One option is to interpret a plural term as denoting a non-empty set. Another is to embrace plurals in the metalanguage and take a plural term to have plural reference. A detailed comparison of the options reveals that there is no simple solution to the problem of choosing among them.

scholarly journals On the Innocence and Determinacy of Plural Quantification

2021 ◽  
pp. 150-173
Author(s):  
Salvatore Florio ◽  
Øystein Linnebo
Keyword(s):  
Ontological Commitment ◽  
Plural Logic ◽  
Plural Quantification ◽  
Plural Reference

Plural logic is widely assumed to have two important virtues: ontological innocence and determinacy. Both assumptions are problematic, as is shown by providing a Henkin-style semantics for plural logic that does not resort to sets but takes a plural term to have plural reference. This semantics gives rise to a generalized notion of ontological commitment, which is used to develop some ideas of earlier critics of the alleged ontological innocence of plural logic.

scholarly journals Contentual approach to negation1

2018 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-60
Author(s):  
Piotr Ł Łukowski
Keyword(s):  
Natural Language ◽  
Propositional Logic ◽  
Algebraic Approach ◽  
Simple Solution ◽  
Know How

Abstract Interpretations of logics with only truth-functional connectives create a number of problems regarding the understanding of interpreted sentences. A particular problem is caused by the understanding of a sentence that is the negation of another. What is the meaning of sentence ¬p, for a particular sentence p? Even when we know what the semantic correlate of the sentence p is, we still do not know how to understand the semantic correlate of the sentence ¬p. The standard algebraic approach does not explain much. The problem is still open, because it is still unclear how to understand the element of algebra −v(p). The propositional logic with the connective of the content implication, as it is a non-Fregean logic, proposes a simple solution to this problem. The key to understanding the content of the sentence ¬p is to understand the content of the sentence p. Because, the content of the natural language sentence usually has a partial understanding, so it can be understood differently. Therefore, the negation ¬p is here understood adequately to the current and partial understanding of the sentence p. It seems that the proposed approach is consistent with our daily thinking.

Plurals

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barry Schein
Keyword(s):  
Natural Language ◽  
Plural Reference ◽  
Logical Language

Extension of the logical language to deliver plural reference and the logical relations that constitute knowledge of the singular and plural acquires empirical bite just in case it conforms with increasing precision to the syntax of the natural language and affords explanation of what speakers know about the distribution and meaning of plural expressions in their language. As for the syntax of natural language, this discussion, being none too precise, is guided throughout by just two considerations and their immediate consequences, which is discussed at greater length in this article. The first, morpheme univocality, is that a morpheme despite its various syntactic and morphological contexts has a single meaning that supports all its occurrences.

scholarly journals Plurals and Mereology

2021 ◽  
pp. 75-103
Author(s):  
Salvatore Florio ◽  
Øystein Linnebo
Keyword(s):  
Natural Language ◽  
The Other ◽  
Plural Logic ◽  
Systematic Comparison ◽  
Two Systems

This chapter provides a systematic comparison of plural logic and an atomistic version of classical mereology. Since these two systems are mutually interpretable, it is formally possible to eliminate one in favor of the other. However, reasons are offered to retain both systems. In particular, mereology is a useful tool for the analysis of plurals in natural language.

An Attack on the Contamination Problem in the Electron Microscope

1967 ◽  
Vol 25 ◽  
pp. 368-368
Author(s):  
J. J. Kelsch ◽  
A. Holtz
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscope ◽  
Pressure Gradient ◽  
Ionization Potential ◽  
Simple Solution ◽  
Specimen Surface ◽  
Contamination Rate ◽  
Local Pressure ◽  
High Ionization ◽  
Hydrocarbon Molecules ◽  
Contamination Problem

A simple solution to the serious problem of specimen contamination in the electron microscope is presented. This is accomplished by the introduction of clean helium into the vacuum exactly at the specimen position. The local pressure gradient thus established inhibits the migration of hydrocarbon molecules to the specimen surface. The high ionization potential of He permits the use of relatively large volumes of the gas, without interfering with gun stability. The contamination rate is reduced on metal samples by a factor of 10.

Interpreting Natural Language

1987 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-34
Author(s):  
Greg N. Carlson
Keyword(s):  
Natural Language
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