Semantics

Macmillan Modern Linguistics

by Kate Kearns

Assuming no prior experience, this core textbook introduces formal semantics in an accessible and engaging way and provides students with a solid understanding of a range of semantic phenomena. It explores a wealth of topics, including generalized quantifier theory, referential opacity, aktionsarten , thematic roles and lexical conceptual structure, tense and aspect and event semantics. Chapters are illustrated with numerous examples to contextualise the theory, and practical exercises encourage students to engage with the text and develop their problem-solving skills.

This is an essential text for undergraduates and postgraduates involved in the study of semantics. It is an ideal text for a wide range of modules on the philosophy of language, linguistic meaning and formal semantics.

New to this
- Fully revised and updated, with new material on type theory, the lambda calculus, semantic composition, reference to times in a narrative and discourse representation theory
- Exercises now graded according to level of difficulty, from beginner to very advanced level

Genres: Linguistics, Language, Nonfiction, Philosophy

288 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2000

About the author

Kate Kearns is Senior Lecturer in Linguistics at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand.

Reviews

[Lara Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am very honored by the person who recommended this book to me. They must have thought I had a herculean intellect. This is most definitely a textbook and not one for undergraduates either. In the introduction, it states to not read this book without a college professor. Since I have a college professor at home who has studied linguistics, I thought I would be fine.

Boy, was I wrong! I am pretty sure my brain popped somewhere around chapter six.

This book dives right into the hard stuff and never lets up. I personally feel like if you need someone to explain your book, no matter how advanced, then you didn't write it well. There were even a few sections my college professor husband couldn't make out. He had to explain the concept to me from his own knowledge.

I did gather a few gold nuggets from my effort, but I could write out all I learned on perhaps two pages. I hope this writer has made some major revision since this was published.

Updated on 10/17/2018:

I had to increase my review of this book by two stars after months of reflection. The book was extremely difficult to read, but the information I had gleaned from this book has been incredibly helpful in my writing. I constantly think back to the lessons on semantic fields which has improved the way I choose words in my writing. Choosing the right word has power and impact. I use a thesaurus during the editing stage of my writing process t make sure I am using the best words I can for what I am describing. I am also not afraid to use common word when it is just the best word to use. I honestly feel like my writing is much better because of my effort in understanding the concepts in this book. It's remarkable how much one learns without realizing it!

[Jonathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Used this book for my intro to Semantics class; for the most part, she explains things clearly, though the book is missing a much needed "why study semantics?" chapter somewhere towards the beginning in my opinion. It'd also work better if there were more examples and answers to the exercises. Still, after plodding my way through this book, I'd say I have a reasonable working knowledge of the core concepts.

[K M Laume · Rating 1 out of 5]

Semantics is very complicated - and I fear, a little bit wooly.

[Jacob Bornheimer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read for a Semantics class at Carleton University. Not the most intuitive text, but gets the job done. I feel like it could make a better case for this kind of analysis being biologically plausible, but then again, that's a problem with many linguistic theories.

[Minaeliza · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bought this book for a class. Easy to read/comprehend concepts. Was a great supplement to the course content. Definitely for introductory courses/beginners.

[Stanley · Rating 3 out of 5]

We used it for a textbook for graduate semantics course, alongside with other textbooks on formal semantics. I am not sure but the textbook seems to be targeting undergraduate introductory semantics. But it was way too hard for undergraduates i guess. It tries to cover almost every topics in contemporary formal semantics (and some topics in lexical semantics), and at the same time it tries to cover them in depth.

There were some typos, but the composition of the book was beautifully set. For those who were frustrated reading some of Barbara Partee's books, it would be a good read.

[Adam Blackburn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I used this book as a textbook for an intermediate logic class. It was somewhat useful but there were mistakes in the 2nd edition that made learning the material that much harder (and it was hard to begin with). Also, it would have been useful to have access to at least some of the answers to the questions provided in the book.
Overall, pretty good textbook for a challenging subject - especially if later editions have been corrected and updated.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book as part of a course in formal semantics. I disagree with one of the main assumptions of the theoretical background of the book, but I thought it was an excellent textbook, and one could probably learn a lot from it even without taking a class.

[Rosanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

As far as textbooks go, this was slightly more interesting than most. What would have been extremely helpful would have been to have had at least some of the solutions to the exercises included or available to students.