Introduction to Semantics

Spring 2014

Instructor: Adriana Todea

atodea@yahoo.com
Office hours: Thursday 2-3 p.m.
Alpha Centre room

World and time coordinates

Tense (and temporal adverbials)
is encoded in semantics in time coordinates
Present= t1 time of utterance
Past= t2,
t2<t1
Future= t3, t1<t3
Mood: indicative vs. conditional/ subjunctive
The indicative mood is used to signal that the message should be
interpreted as factual.
The subjunctive/ conditional mood is used to signal that the
message should be interpreted as non-factual.
The factual or non-factual framing of utterances is encoded in
semantics in the concept of possible worlds.
w0= actual world (factual possible world)
w1/2/n = (non-factual) possible world

Rigid and non-rigid designators

Rigid designators are referring expressions with a continuous
manifestation across world and time coordinates. (always designate
the same entity)
Proper names that designate entities that have referents in the actual
world are rigid designators.
Fictional proper names have incomplete descriptions and lack
reference in at least one possible world, which is the actual world,
therefore they have a discontinuous manifestation across world
coordinates: we call them non-rigid designators.
Names of substances, or natural phenomena are rigid designators.

Which of the underlined items are rigid, and, respectively, nonrigid designators? Explain why.
1. Camelot knights searched for the Holy Grail.
2. The moon is the natural satellite of the Earth.
3. The Earth is the third rock from the Sun.
4. My mother is happy.
5. Luciano Pavarotti was an Italian opera singer.
6. This ring is made of gold.
7. Sherlock Holms is a better detective than Tom Sawyer.
8. James Bond talked to Sophia Loren.
9. ?Sophia Loren talked to James Bond.

Which of the underlined items are rigid, and, respectively, nonrigid designators? Explain why.
1. The sun sets in the west.
2. Water is H2O.
3. The girl George met yesterday is Susan.
4. The morning star is the evening star.
5. My uncle is pregnant again.
6. Snow is white.
7. Caesar was stabbed by Brutus.

The reference of sentences is their truth value (T/F).

Across world and time coordinates some sentences have a
continuous manifestation (necessarily true/ necessarily false
sentences) or a discontinuous manifestation (contingently
true/false sentences)
Necessarily true/ necessarily false sentences:
--a priori necessarily true/ false (logically true/false, no evaluation
necessary)
--a posteriori necessarily true/ false (after evaluation)
--analytically true (as a result of a definition)
1. The president of US is Barack Obama.

contingently true

2. Water is H2O. a posteriori necessarily true sentence

3. A wug is a wug. a priori necessarily true sentence

State the type of the following sentences:

analytically false sentence

1. The sun rises in the west.

2. The girl George met yesterday is Susan. contingently true sentence

4. The morning star is the evening star. a posteriori necessarily true
sentence
5. My aunt is pregnant again. contingently true
6. My uncle is pregnant again.
7. Hitler won the war.

analytically false

contingently false

8. Caesar was stabbed by Brutus. contingently true

9. All women are female.

analytically true.

State the type of the following sentences:

10. All black doors are black.

a priori necessarily true.

11. Marys flashlight is either on or off. a priori necessarily true.

12. Maria is both awake and sleeping.

a priori necessarily false

13. A bachelor is an unmarried man.

analytically true.

How do you interpret sentences such as:

1. A man is a man.
a priori necessarily true ?
2. My mother is my mother.

analytically true?

3. Business is business.

contingently true?