25 June 2013
Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona
The workshop aims at connecting two debates from two different disciplines: the debate over logical constants in philosophy of logic and the debate on the functional vs. lexical distinction in linguistics. It further aims at examining the notion of semantic invariance, both as used by logicians (namely, as a criterion for logicality) and by linguists and philosophers of language in discussions of semantics. One of the main goals of the workshop is to examine whether the distinction between logical vs. non-logical expressions maps onto the distinction between functional vs. lexical (or 'substantive') categories. More generally, one of the main goals is to reach some insight into the way in which grammar encodes logical properties and relations. The workshop is part of the project on Lexical Meaning and Logical inference, funded from European Commission's Marie Curie Actions and conducted by Isidora Stojanovic.
specific topics
The questions addressed in the workshop include, but are not limited to, the following ones:
Are functional categories (such as determiners and connectives) anyhow special from the point of view of logic?
Do only "content"-words contribute to semantic content? In what way does the semantic contribution of function words differ from that of content words?
What is the logical and/or semantic status of "actually"? of "here" and "now"? of personal pronouns?
What is the relationship between tense morphemes and temporal operators?
Do degree-modifiers, such as "very" or "almost", qualify for the status of logical constants?
How do prepositions fare with respect to the lexical/functional distinction? What is their logical status?
Etc.
call for papers
We invite papers for one hour sessions (40 min talks) that belong to, or are closely related to, the intersection between linguistics, logic and philosophy of language, and that address the above issues.
submission deadline: 13 April 2013
notification of acceptance: 27 April 2013
Submissions suitable for blind review may be made in any of the following formats:
- full-length paper (.pdf)
- long abstract (3-4 pages, .pdf)
- talk supporting material (handout and/or slides, .pdf) accompanied with an abstract
Submissions should be emailed to Isidora Stojanovic (isidora.stojanovic -that sign- upf.edu). The workshop funding comes from the Marie Curie project "Lexical Meaning ad Logical Inference" (PIEF-GA-2011-302596). We can cover two nights of accommodation. We cannot cover travel expenses.
For further information, please visit the workshop's website:
