Tag: Semantics

Free Download Algebraic Approaches to Program Semantics by Ernest G. Manes , Michael A. Arbib
English | PDF | 1986 | 358 Pages | ISBN : 1461293774 | 23.4 MB
In the 1930s, mathematical logicians studied the notion of "effective comput ability" using such notions as recursive functions, A-calculus, and Turing machines. The 1940s saw the construction of the first electronic computers, and the next 20 years saw the evolution of higher-level programming languages in which programs could be written in a convenient fashion independent (thanks to compilers and interpreters) of the architecture of any specific machine. The development of such languages led in turn to the general analysis of questions of syntax, structuring strings of symbols which could count as legal programs, and semantics, determining the "meaning" of a program, for example, as the function it computes in transforming input data to output results. An important approach to semantics, pioneered by Floyd, Hoare, and Wirth, is called assertion semantics: given a specification of which assertions (preconditions) on input data should guarantee that the results satisfy desired assertions (postconditions) on output data, one seeks a logical proof that the program satisfies its specification. An alternative approach, pioneered by Scott and Strachey, is called denotational semantics: it offers algebraic techniques for characterizing the denotation of (i. e. , the function computed by) a program-the properties of the program can then be checked by direct comparison of the denotation with the specification. This book is an introduction to denotational semantics. More specifically, we introduce the reader to two approaches to denotational semantics: the order semantics of Scott and Strachey and our own partially additive semantics.

Free Download Eleonora Orlando, "Slurs and Expressivity: Semantics and Beyond "
English | ISBN: 1793614369 | 2021 | 228 pages | EPUB, PDF | 4 MB + 2 MB
Slurs and Expressivity: Semantics and Beyond, edited by Eleonora Orlando and Andres Saab,focuses on the analysis of the expressive aspects of slur-words, namely, those words prima facie related to the conveyance of contemptuous or derogatory feelings for the members of a certain group of people identified in terms of their ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, political ideology, and other personal qualities. In as far as they are used to express emotional attitudes, slurs are, thus, a kind of expressive words. This collection provides different hypotheses regarding the way in which the expressive import of slurs and other related expressive words is semantically encoded in the grammar and how their meaning impacts other aspects related to their use in different practices of linguistic communication. These linguistic practices are usually, but not always, related to segregation and discrimination of particular human groups. Therefore, any contribution to the theory of slur meaning is, directly or indirectly, also a contribution to a better understanding of those practices and to finding the best way to eradicate them.

Free Download Pedro J. Chamizo-Domínguez, "Semantics and Pragmatics of False Friends "
English | ISBN: 0415957206 | 2007 | 200 pages | EPUB, PDF | 1242 KB + 2 MB
This book approaches the topic of false friends from a theoretical perspective, arguing that false friends carry out a positive role as a cognitive device, mainly in literature and jokes, and suggesting some pragmatic strategies in order to restore the original sense of a text/utterance when a given translator (or a foreign speaker) falls victim to false friends. This theoretical account is successively verified by appealing to texts from the fields of literature, science, philosophy, journalism, and everyday speech.

Free Download Tamar Sovran, "Relational Semantics and the Anatomy of Abstraction "
English | ISBN: 0415703344 | 2013 | 188 pages | EPUB | 3 MB
This book presents a study of meaning relations, linking the philosophical tradition of conceptual analysis with recent theories and methodologies in cognitive semantics. Its main concern is the extent to which analyzing meaning relations between cognate words reveal the infrastructure of the actual and mental lexicon, assuming that language mirrors thought. Sovran aims to elucidate their infrastructure and the metaphorical and perceptual models that constitute abstract concepts, dealing finally with the role of abstraction in poetic metaphors. Overall, this volume addresses major contemporary issues in the philosophy of language and theoretical semantics.

Free Download Jim Feist, "Significance in Language: A Theory of Semantics "
English | ISBN: 1032194774 | 2022 | 330 pages | EPUB, PDF | 3 MB + 21 MB
This book offers a unique perspective on meaning in language, broadening the scope of existing understanding of meaning by introducing a comprehensive and cohesive account of meaning that draws on a wide range of linguistic approaches.

Free Download Gyula Klima and Alexander W. Hall, "Medieval Metaphysics, or is it "Just Semantics"? "
English | ISBN: 1443833754 | 2011 | 105 pages | PDF | 621 KB
Medieval semantic theories develop out of Aristotle s On Interpretation, in which he notes that Spoken sounds are symbols of affections in the soul, and written marks symbols of spoken sounds (tr. J. L. Ackrill, OUP 1984). The medieval commentary tradition elaborates on Aristotle s theory in light of various epistemological and metaphysical commitments, including those entailed by the doctrine of the transcendentals that emerges from the tradition in the writings of Philip the Chancellor (d. 1236). Transcendental attributes such as unity, truth and goodness (properties that figure into most if not all accounts of the transcendentals) characterize every being as such, and hence the doctrine of the transcendentals promised some knowledge of God. This hope, together with the general medieval consensus that the cognitive acts by which we grasp extra-mental entities are veridical (i.e., in most cases, these acts represent what the cognizing subject takes them to represent) encouraged medieval thinkers to devote considerable effort to discerning how concepts latch onto reality. Medieval Metaphysics, or Is It Just Semantics ? follows these attempts as concerns the signification of theological discourse in general and Trinitarian semantics in particular, the proper object of the intellect, and what is signified through quidditative or essential definition.

Free Download Theodore Hailperin, "Logic with a Probability Semantics: including solutions to some philosophical problems"
English | 2010 | pages: 124 | ISBN: 1611460107 | PDF | 1,1 mb
The present study is an extension of the topic introduced in Dr. Hailperin’s Sentential Probability Logic, where the usual true-false semantics for logic is replaced with one based more on probability, and where values ranging from 0 to 1 are subject to probability axioms. Moreover, as the word "sentential" in the title of that work indicates, the language there under consideration was limited to sentences constructed from atomic (not inner logical components) sentences, by use of sentential connectives ("no," "and," "or," etc.) but not including quantifiers ("for all," "there is").

Free Download An Illustrative Dictionary of Semantics
by Mohammad Forouzani
English | 2023 | ISBN: 1685623085 | 604 pages | True EPUB | 41.78 MB

Free Download Statistical Semantics Fundamentals and Applications
English | 2023 | ISBN: 6610000475827 | 116 Pages | PDF EPUB | 1.2 MB
In the field of linguistics, statistical semantics is the application of statistical approaches to the problem of determining the meaning of words or phrases, ideally by unsupervised learning. The goal is to achieve a degree of precision at least sufficient for the purpose of information retrieval.

Free Download Paul Portner, "Modality (Oxford Surveys in Semantics and Pragmatics)"
English | 2009 | pages: 301 | ISBN: 0199292434, 0199292426 | PDF | 10,6 mb
This is a book about semantic theories of modality. Its main goal is to explain and evaluate important contemporary theories within linguistics and to discuss a wide range of linguistic phenomena from the perspective of these theories. The introduction describes the variety of grammatical phenomena associated with modality, explaining why modal verbs, adjectives, and adverbs represent the core phenomena. Chapters are then devoted to the possible worlds semantics for modality developed in modal logic; current theories of modal semantics within linguistics; and the most important empirical areas of research. The author concludes by discussing the relation between modality and other topics, especially tense, aspect, mood, and discourse meaning.