LIN241H1 Lecture 7: Quantifiers
Document Summary
Two types of arguments discussed so far: proper names (denotes individuals): john smokes, quantifiers (express relations between sets): some boy smokes. Personal pronouns differ from one another according to the value of several features: number: singular or plural, person: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, gender: masculine, feminine, neuter. I, you, he, she all pronouns that refer to individuals. Therefore, we should be able to combine them with verbs using the same semantic rule as for proper names: [[ [s np vp] ]] v = 1 iff [[np]]v [[vp]]v. [[ [vp v np] ]] v = { x : [[v]]v : e. g. , [[ he smokes]]v = 1 iff [[he]]v [[smokes]]v. The problem is to figure out how to interpret the pronouns themselves: 1st person pronouns refers to the speaker. 2nd person pronouns refers to the addressee: may be several addressees, the person/people who the speaker is talking to.
