Introduction Adam Sennet (SEP) Readings [Citing the Oxford English Dictionary] (Some Reflections) The term “Ambiguous” is ambiguous Paul Dekker between Being Doubtful and Having Multiple Meanings . ILLC/Department of Philosophy, Amsterdam [Even if Ambiguous means Ambiguous , it is still Ambiguous .] Workshop Ambiguity: Perspectives on Representation and Resolution [Adam Sennet, 2016, “Ambiguity”, in: Edward N. Zalta (ed.), August 6–10, 2018 The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy , Stanford.] ESSLLI18 Ambiguity Workshop Readings Paul Dekker 1 / 26 ESSLLI18 Ambiguity Workshop Readings Paul Dekker 2 / 26 Introduction Introduction Gottlob Frege Timm & Christian & Lucia Linguistics symbols can, and usually have, two or more (. . . ) The term “Meaning” is ambiguous between Sinn und Bedeutung . interpretations from which the hearer has to choose a specific one without being explicitly told to do so. (Between Meaning and Meaning , that is.) [That makes three readings, actually.] (a) Do the symbols have these interpretations? (From what?) (b) Does a hearer have to choose? (For what?) [Google translates: meaning and meaning (English), betekenis en betekenis What is it that needs representing and what needs resolving? (Dutch), significado y significado (Spanish), significato e significato (Italian), sens et signification (French), smysl i znacheniye (Russian).] (i) What are the things that are ambiguous? (ii) What are they ambiguous between? [Michael Beaney: { Sense, Meaning } and { Reference, Meaning, Denotation, Significance, Indication, Nominatum, Bedeutung } .] (iii) How do you individuate these things? (iv) For what purpose do you do that? [Timm Lichte and Christian Wurm, 2018, “Ambiguity: Perspectives on [Michael Beaney, 1997, The Frege Reader , Blackwell, Oxford.] Representation and resolution”, ESSLLI , Sofia.] [Lucia Gomez Alvarez, 2018, “Ambiguity”, ESSLLI , Sofia.] ESSLLI18 Ambiguity Workshop Readings Paul Dekker 3 / 26 ESSLLI18 Ambiguity Workshop Readings Paul Dekker 4 / 26
Introduction Introduction Ludwig Wittgenstein Assumptions There is no such thing as the meaning of a sentence ( / word). We are able to recognize the occurrence of sentences ( / words). We interpret these occurrences in their context and relative to a theory of interpretation. duck Every interpretation is unique and constitutes a reading. rabbit neither We ignore or disqualify ‘impossible’ readings, and identify and both distinguish among the rest. [Ludwig Wittgenstein, 1953, Philosophische Untersuchungen II, Blackwell, § xi.] [Paul Dekker, 2017, “Live Meanings”, in: Kata Balogh and Wiebke Petersen (eds.), Bridging Formal and Conceptual Semantics , D¨ usseldorf UP, pp. 13–37.] ESSLLI18 Ambiguity Workshop Readings Paul Dekker 5 / 26 ESSLLI18 Ambiguity Workshop Readings Paul Dekker 6 / 26 Samples Samples Names and Predicates (Apresjan/Bezuidenhout) Reference (Kripke) ron x i , STUDENT Y J Ron is a student. Smith’s murderer is insane. Y [ x ] Jones is raking the leaves. Cases of “homonymy” and “regular polysemy”. Their “Water” is not H 2 O . Can be contextually resolved, and can remain unresolved. . . . • pragmatic ambiguity (Donnellan) • theoretical iden- This apple is red. tification (Putnam) • intuitive expectations (Kripke) Y [ i x ] i • more economical theory (Fodor and Sag) • Alternative ways in which a predicate is applied to a subject may jones x RAKE Y i K constitute alternative readings. Y [ x ] On a real occasion of use, the “ambiguities” are resolved. If not, and if relevant, just ask. ESSLLI18 Ambiguity Workshop Readings Paul Dekker 7 / 26 ESSLLI18 Ambiguity Workshop Readings Paul Dekker 8 / 26
Samples Samples Existence (Wikipedia) Mr. Multi-Famous and Mr. Nobody (Russell) vulcan i Vulcan does not exist. ¬ Ofitin ‚g∞ p‘maton Ídomai metÄ oŸc ·tàroisin , toÃc d' ällouc prÏsjen; Possible objects? The Vulcanizer? Scope? Nobody will I eat last, the others first. (Book 9, line 369–70) “ ‘Vulcan’ may refer to: I . . . There is only one way of making sense of this, in the Odyssee. I the god of fire I a fictional race in Star Trek Ofit–c me kte–nei dÏl˙ oŒd‡ b–hfin . I a gay pornography magazine Nobody is slaying me by guile, not by force. (Book 9, line 408) I a hypothetical planet I . . . ” The are two ways of making sense of this, in the Odyssee. . . . , exist, subsist, be there, . . . No Bedeutung , a specific Sinn , many tentative construals , yet fairly unambiguous. [Outside of linguistic-philosophical circles.] ESSLLI18 Ambiguity Workshop Readings Paul Dekker 9 / 26 ESSLLI18 Ambiguity Workshop Readings Paul Dekker 10 / 26 Samples Samples Sinn (Aloni) Relativity (McFarlane) The cake is tasty. Ralph believes that Ortcutt is a spy. This music is country. Pierre believes that London is pretty. Marcus is a communist. x Henri¨ ette is an expert. z x . . . S : B r : z = ortcutt MAN WITH HAT [ x ] SPY [ z ] The inference is valid. . . . The solar system hosts nine planets. We may on occasion negotiate an ambiguity in the Sinn of a An extremely regular source of ambiguity, which is equally name, but preferably we don’t have to. (Frege 1892) regularly resolved or dismissed. ESSLLI18 Ambiguity Workshop Readings Paul Dekker 11 / 26 ESSLLI18 Ambiguity Workshop Readings Paul Dekker 12 / 26
Samples Samples Modifiers (Lambek) Construal (Gillon) superfluous hair remover (Sennet) ordinary language philosophy (Austin) A und B oder C huge gay fan (Friends) It’s in France and in Toulon or in Paris. Onder het omstreden vonnis in de rechtszaak over de peperdure grond rond Schiphol ligt de schijn van ordinaire vriendjespolitiek. (Endt) A and ( then / but ) B or ( excl ) C Another systematic source of (structural, potential) ambiguity. Barwise and Groenendijk or Stokhof proved the theorem first. Not necessarily distinct, neither necessarily syntactic: Groenendijk and Stokhof or Barwise proved the theorem first. N/N N N \ N N [ huge • [ gay • fan ]] huge gay fan ⇒ The context may indicate how the ambiguity has to be resolved, or huge gay fan fan(huge(gay)) even if it has to. N N \ N ( N/N ) \ N because : [ gay • fan ] gay fan ⇒ gay fan λ h fan( h (gay)) ESSLLI18 Ambiguity Workshop Readings Paul Dekker 13 / 26 ESSLLI18 Ambiguity Workshop Readings Paul Dekker 14 / 26 Samples Samples Scope (Pietroski & Hornstein) Cumulativity and Collectivity (Scha/Bratman) Five boys wrote seven poems. Does Every Sentence Like This Exhibit a Scope Ambiguity? The roads cross the lines. The answer is informed by what we know about our (minimalist) The Leitches and the Latches hate each other. grammar. It has to be negative for theoretical reasons. The question of whether (1) [Every girl pushed some truck] (. . . ) is The Romans wanted to rule the world. structurally ambiguous in a way that supports a truth-conditional ambiguity depends on a host of considerations: the intuitions of native The Greek inspired / educated the Romans. speakers about a range of constructions, the constraints imposed by our best theories of syntax, and the particular kind of event analysis that is We have been deluding ourselves. best overall, etc. (p. 23) The most obvious readings are surely not designed or defined for the intricate models developed to distinguish among subtle linguistic analyses. ESSLLI18 Ambiguity Workshop Readings Paul Dekker 15 / 26 ESSLLI18 Ambiguity Workshop Readings Paul Dekker 16 / 26
Samples Samples Indexicality (Sennet) Exhaustivity (Zeevat) I am stupid, He is cute and she is smart. I will tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. No i man blamed his ∅ ,i,j boss. One can tell the truth without telling the whole truth? If a student corrects a professor she should reward him . One can tell the truth while including something which is not. One can distinguish and identify many readings. Supreme court overrules the language system. “[W]hether this is a semantic, syntactic or pragmatic ambiguity has been the source of heated debate.” (p. 10) ESSLLI18 Ambiguity Workshop Readings Paul Dekker 17 / 26 ESSLLI18 Ambiguity Workshop Readings Paul Dekker 18 / 26 Samples Conclusion Performativity (Eckardt) On Meanings (If Any) Meanings, if anything, are types of interpretation I will be there at nine. of occurrences of types of expressions. A : You promised! B : No, I expected! We can use them to characterize readings and distinguish them, not to define or identify them. I promise I will be there. I didn’t break a promise! I told a lie! The above investigations suggest that: I every meaning can be ambiguous. I every ambiguity can be spurious. Acceptability of readings depends on an established practice, a culture. [Cf, also, Sandra, Vicente and Falkum.] ESSLLI18 Ambiguity Workshop Readings Paul Dekker 19 / 26 ESSLLI18 Ambiguity Workshop Readings Paul Dekker 20 / 26
Recommend
More recommend
