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SUMMARY:Model Theory and the Semantics of Natural Languages - Stanley Pete
 rs\, Stanford University
DTSTART:20150515T110000Z
DTEND:20150515T120000Z
UID:TALK57725@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Tamara Polajnar
DESCRIPTION:Montague's original formalization about 1970 of English word a
 nd statement meanings in model theory led to a profusion of work by numero
 us linguists and logicians\, extending its coverage to many more grammatic
 al constructions and vocabulary classes and to other natural languages\, a
 s well as expanding its scope to questions and commands. A very substantia
 l range of linguistic phenomena have been semantically analyzed with good 
 effect in model theory during the decades since Montague's pioneering work
 . Throughout this period\, though\, model theory has been attacked by some
  philosophers of language and linguists as incapable in principle of expla
 ining meaning in natural languages.\n\nThis talk reviews attacks from diff
 erent bases by Davidson\, Kaplan\, Zimmerman\, and others\, and assesses t
 heir force. The nature of model theory and of models will be a focus\, and
  the relationship between model theory and meaning will be clarified. I ar
 gue that these attacks badly miss their mark: in this literature the falla
 cy of confusing models with what they model is rife. Suggestions will be o
 ffered for how model theory could be supplemented to fulfill additional de
 siderata for a theory of meaning.
LOCATION:FW26\, Computer Laboratory
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