Description:
What is Meaning? Fundamentals of Formal Semantics is a concise introduction to the field of semantics as it is actually practiced. Through simple examples, pictures, and metaphors, Paul Portner presents the field's key ideas about how language works.
- Explains the fundamental ideas and some of the most significant results of modern semantic theory
- Combines foundational discussion with simplified analyses of complex phenomena to provide readers with a sense of the fascination to be found in the details of the human language
- Includes exercises and thought-provoking questions to facilitate learning
Review Quotes: "An excellent book for advanced undergraduates and beginning graduate students. Portner's approachable, yet serious, presentation gives the reader a firm understanding of the breadth and depth of the science of natural language meaning." Kai von Fintel, Massachusetts Institute of Technology