2. Wrong about Meaning Kasia Jaszczolt Newnham College and Department of Theoretical and Applied Linguistics http://people.pwf.cam.ac.uk/kmj21 1

3. M. C. Escher, Still Life and Street, 1937 2

4. Linguistics Philosophy X Linguistic philosophy  Philosophy of language 3

5. Two concepts, one object: ‘Snowdon’, ‘Yr Wyddfa’ – the highest mountain in Wales. Two objects, one concept: ‘elm’ – elm, beech 4

6. Antoni Gaudí’s ‘Sagrada Família’ ‘The architect of this church must have been mad.’ 5

7. Antoni Gaudí’s ‘Sagrada Família’ ‘The architect of this church must have been mad.’ 6

8. Ambiguity and vagueness Every bottle is empty. 7

9. Ambiguity and vagueness Every bottle is empty. Every bottle at the party is empty. 8

10. Ambiguity and vagueness Every bottle is empty. Every bottle at the party is empty. The temperature fell below zero and the lake froze. 9

11. Ambiguity and vagueness Every bottle is empty. Every bottle at the party is empty. The temperature fell below zero and the lake froze. The temperature fell below zero and as a result the lake froze. 10

12. Ambiguity and vagueness Every bottle is empty. Every bottle at the party is empty. The temperature fell below zero and the lake froze. The temperature fell below zero and as a result the lake froze. Some dogs have fleas. 11

13. Ambiguity and vagueness Every bottle is empty. Every bottle at the party is empty. The temperature fell below zero and the lake froze. The temperature fell below zero and as a result the lake froze. Some dogs have fleas. Some but not all dogs have fleas. 12

14. Which meaning? Child to mother: Everybody has a bike. All of the child’s friends have bikes. Many/most of the child’s classmates have bikes. The mother should buy her son a bike. Cycling is a popular form of exercise among children. 13

15. Which meaning? Child to mother: Everybody has a bike. All of the child’s friends have bikes. Many/most of the child’s classmates have bikes. The mother should buy her son a bike. Cycling is a popular form of exercise among children. 14

16. Where does meaning come from? Two examples:  Speaking about time  Speaking about oneself 15

17. Example 1 Speaking about time

18. What is expressed by using words in one language may be expressed by grammar in another. 17

19. What is expressed by using words in one language may be expressed by grammar in another. What is expressed overtly in one language may be left out (and only implied) in another. 18

20. 19

21. Main questions  Is the human concept of time a universal concept? Yes  Can it be explained in terms of simpler concepts? Yes  How do linguistic expressions of time reflect it? Through interaction with other sources of information 20

22. A-series

23. B-series

24. St’àt’imcets (Lillooet Salish), British Columbia only future (kelh) – non-future distinction 23

25. Swahili: consecutive tense marker ka a.…wa-Ingereza wa-li-wa-chukuawa-lemaiti, 3Pl-British 3Pl-Past-3Pl-take3Pl-Demcorpses ‘…then the British took the corpses, b.wa-ka-wa-tiakatika baomoja, 3Pl-Cons-3Pl-put.ononboardone put them on a flat board, c.wa-ka-ya-telemeshamaji-nikwautaratibu w-ote… 3Pl-Cons-3Pl-lower water-Locwithorder 3Pl-all and lowered them steadily into the water…’ 24

26. Narration in English: Lidia played a sonata.The audience applauded. e 1  e 2 25

27. 26 Time in Thai m 3 ae:r 3 i: I kh 2 iann 3 iy 3 ai: Marywritenovel

28. 27 (a)Mary wrote a novel. (b)Mary was writing a novel. (c)Mary started writing a novel but did not finish it. (d)Mary has written a novel. (e)Mary has been writing a novel. (f)Mary writes novels. / Mary is a novelist. (g)Mary is writing a novel. (h)Mary will write a novel. (i)Mary will be writing a novel. from Srioutai (2006: 45)

29. 28 f 3 ont 1 ok rain fall (a)It is raining. (default meaning) (b)It was raining. (possible intended meaning)

30. Our commitment to the Past (1) Lidia went to a concert yesterday. (regular past) (2) This is what happened yesterday. Lidia goes to a concert, meets her school friend and tells her… (past of narration) (3) Lidia would have gone to a concert (then). (epistemic necessity past) (4) Lidia must have gone to a concert (yesterday). (epistemic necessity past) (5) Lidia may have gone to a concert (yesterday). ( epistemic possibility past) (6) Lidia might have gone to a concert (yesterday). (epistemic possibility past) 29

31. Degree of commitment for selected expressions with past-time reference

32.  K.M. Jaszczolt, 2005, Default Semantics: Foundations of a Compositional Theory of Acts of Communication, Oxford: Oxford University Press.  K. M. Jaszczolt, 2010. ‘Default Semantics’. In: B. Heine and H. Narrog (eds). The Oxford Handbook of Linguistic Analysis. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 215-246.  K. M. Jaszczolt, in progress, Interactive Semantics, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

33. Sources of information for  (i) world knowledge (WK) (ii) word meaning and sentence structure (WS) (iii) situation of discourse (SD) (iv) properties of the human inferential system (IS) (v) stereotypes and presumptions about society and culture (SC) 32

34. World knowledge: The temperature fell below zero and the lake froze. The temperature fell below zero and as a result the lake froze. 33

36. sources of information types of processes 35

38. Some meanings automatically ‘click in’, others take time and effort: 37

39. 38 A:So, is this your first film? B:No, it’s my twenty second. A:Any favourites among the twenty two? B:Working with Leonardo. A: da Vinci? B: DiCaprio. A:Of course. And is he your favourite Italian director? (Richard Curtiss, Notting Hill, 1999)

40. 39 A:So, is this your first film? B:No, it’s my twenty second. A:Any favourites among the twenty two? B:Working with Leonardo. A: da Vinci? B: DiCaprio. A:Of course. And is he your favourite Italian director? (Richard Curtiss, Notting Hill, 1999)

41.  for Thai ‘Mary wrote a novel’ (regular past)  40

42. Example 2 Speaking about oneself

43. The scenario: The person who agreed to organise the drinks is to blame. I am to blame. I completely forgot I was put in charge. 42

44. The difference? The person who agreed to organise the drinks is to blame. = I am to blame. 43

45. Self-awareness: x common nouns, descriptions, proper names  pronouns 44

46. Sammy wants a biscuit. Mummy will be with you in a moment. 45

47. Honorifics:  Japanese, Thai, Burmese, Javanese, Khmer, Korean, Malay, or Vietnamese The word for ‘I’ has the characteristics of both a pronoun (‘I’) and a noun (‘the presenter’). ‘slave’, ‘servant’, royal slave’, ‘lord’s servant’, ‘Buddha’s servant’ Thai: ‘mouse’  Thai: 27 expressions of first person  Japanese: 51 expressions 46

48.  Acoma (New Mexico), Wari’ (Brazil): no personal pronouns 47

49. Referring to oneself ‘to some extent’ One can hear the wolves from the veranda. It is scary to hear the wolves from the veranda. ‘detached self-reference’ 48

50. If I were you I would wait a couple of days before issuing a complaint. Wait a couple of days before issuing a complaint. 49

51. ‘this’, ‘here’  Thai phŏm 1 nii 2 ( ‘one male this’);  Japanese kotira, Korean yeogi, and Vietnamese hây (‘here’) 50

52. ‘I’  I I’m the only one around here who can take care of my children. Only I admitted what I did wrong. 51

53. Tylko ja jeden przyznałem się do błędu. only 1Sg soleSgMNom admit1SgPastM Refl to mistakeSgMGen Tylko ja jedna tutaj potrafięzajmowaćsię Only 1Sg soleSgFNom here can1SgPres careInf Refl swoimi dziećmi. ReflPronPl Instr childPl Instr 52

54. Conscious awareness is present to different degrees: (1)I put this book back on the shelf. (2)I remember putting this book back on the shelf. (3)I remember I put this book back on the shelf. (4)I think I remember putting this book back on the shelf. (5)I think I put this book back on the shelf. 53

55. ‘I t1+t2 believe I should have prepared the drinks party. In a way I t1 also believed that I t1+t2 should have done it when I t1 walked into the room. The fact is, the person appointed by the Faculty Board should have done it and as I t1 later realised I t1+t2 was this person.’ 54

56. Wiem t1+t2, że to ja t1+t2 powinnam była t1+t2 know 1SgPres thatDemI Nom should 1SgFPast przygotować te drinki. W pewnym sensie, prepare Inf this AccPl drink PlMAcc In certain SgMInstr senseS gMInstr wtedy też wiedziałam t1, ponieważ miała je thenalsoknow 1SgFPast because be-to SgFPast they NMAcc przygotować osoba wybranaprzez Radę Wydziału, prepare Inf person SgFNom selectedby Board SgFAcc Faculty SgMGen a to ja t1+t2 byłam tą osobą. and DemI Nom be SgFPast Dem SgFInstr person SgFInstr 55

57. Alice wants what Lidia wants. underlying ‘I’-thought But: Lidia’s mother wants what Lidia wants and that’s why she is buying her lots of scientific books. no underlying ‘I’-thought 56

58. Do sentences convey self-awareness? 57

59. ‘I believed, in a sense, I was to blame.’ (marked reading) 58

60. Wrong about meaning X Formal, precise methods of explaining meaning in language concern sentences and their strings. 59

61. Right about meaning  Formal, precise methods of explaining meaning in language model linguistic interaction (speaker’s meaning, addressee’s meaning). 60

62. Guesswork or algorithms? 61

63. Thank you! 62