First published in 1997, this book focuses on the semantics of definite and indefinite descriptions taking the presuppositional theory of definiteness and indefiniteness proposed by Heim as a starting point. It seeks to show that there exists a special type of indefinites that have an interpretation commonly associated with definites. It further argues that the felicity conditions associated with indefinite NPs can vary and develops a more fine-grained theory of novelty within the framework of File Change Semantics. More generally, this work can be seen as providing an empirical argument in favour of a dynamic theory of meaning and against the more traditional truth-conditional theory.
Preface; Introduction; 2 Bare Plurals and Genericity; 1 Introduction 2
Genericity and the Readings of Bare Plurals 2.1 Genericity 2.2 Bare Plurals 3
The Kind Analysis 3.1 Basic Outline 3.2 Arguments for a Unified Treatment
3.2.1 Bare Plurals Are Unambiguous 3.2.2 Bare Plurals and Indefinite NPs
3.2.3 A Generic Operator and Bare Plurals 3.3 Limits and Limitations of
Uniformity 3.4 Summary 4 The Indefiniteness Analysis 4.1 Basic Outline 4.2
Individual-Level and Stage-Level Predicates 4.3 The Generic Operator 4.3.1
Implicit Domain Restrictions 4.3.2 Modal Dimension 4.4 Conclusion Appendix
Notes; 3 Functional Reading of Bare Plurals; 1 Introduction 2 The Functional
Reading of Bare Plurals 2.1 Initial Observations 2.2 Functional Reading with
Individual-Level Predicates 2.2.1 Genericity and the Functional Reading 2.2.2
Contextual Restrictions 2.3 Functional Reading with Stage-Level Predicates
2.4 Other Indefinites 2.5 Excluding a Purely Pragmatic Account 2.5.1 The
Implicature 2.5.2 The Referentiality Approach 2.6 Functional Reading in
Quantified Contexts 2.6.1 Dependent Functional Reading 2.6.2 Quantificational
and Modal Subordination 2.7 The Presupposition of Existence 2.7.1 Simple
Cases 2.7.2 Projection of the Existential Presupposition 2.7.3 Functional
Reading with Adverbs of Quality 2.8 Overview 3 An Operator Analysis 3.1
Degenerative Genericity 3.2 Degenerative Genericity and the Functional
Reading 3.2.1 Implicit Contextual Restrictions 3.2.2 Implication of Existence
3.2.3 Scopal Interaction 3.3 Stage-Level 3.4 Positive Contextual Sensitivity
3.5 Summary 4 Conclusion Notes; 4 Strong and Weak Novelty; 1 Introduction 2
The Dynamic View on Meaning 2.1 Assertions and Contextual Update 2.2
Presuppositions and Contextual Admittance 3 The Novelty-Familiarity Theory of
Definiteness 3.1 Files as Information States 3.2 Informativeness of Files 3.3
The Felicity Conditions of Definites and Indefinintes 3.4 The Truth
Conditions for Definites and Indefinintes 4 The Functional reading 4.1 Weakly
and Strongly Novel NPs 4.2 Contextually Salient Functions 4.3 Negative
Contextual Sensitivity 4.4 Strong and Weak Novelty and NP Strength 4.5
Existential Force and Strong vs. Weak Novelty 4.6 Maximality 4.7 Consequences
of the Existential Presupposition 4.7.1 Positive Contextual Sensitivity 4.7.2
Dependent Functional Reading 5 Conclusion Notes; Bibliography; Index
Cleo A. Condoravdi
