Meaning and Grammar: An Introduction to Semantics

TLDR

The book offers a self‑contained introduction to natural language semantics, outlining the field’s major theoretical questions and highlighting recent research insights. Its purpose is to systematically study linguistic meaning through formal tools and applications, while also examining the semantics‑pragmatics interface and foundational questions related to cognition. The authors present a modular, formal framework that begins with propositional connectives and truth conditions, then progresses through quantification, binding, intensionality, tense, and other topics, requiring only minimal background in logic and linguistics. The new edition contains extensive new material, has been updated and redesigned throughout, and is presented in a more user‑friendly format.

Abstract

This self-contained introduction to natural language semantics addresses the major theoretical questions in the field. The authors introduce the systematic study of linguistic meaning through a sequence of formal tools and their linguistic applications. Starting with propositional connectives and truth conditions, the book moves to quantification and binding, intensionality and tense, and so on. To set their approach in a broader perspective, the authors also explore the interaction of meaning with context and use (the semantics-pragmatics interface) and address some of the foundational questions, especially in connection with cognition in general. They also introduce a few of the most accessible and interesting ideas from recent research to give the reader a bit of the flavor of current work in semantics. The organization of this new edition is modular; after the introductory chapters, the remaining material can be covered in flexible order. The book presupposes no background in formal logic (an appendix introduces the basic notions of set theory) and only a minimal acquaintance with linguistics. This edition includes a substantial amount of completely new material and has been not only updated but redesigned throughout to enhance its user-friendliness.