The Logic of Anaphora Resolution

This paper concerns the semantics/pragmatics interface for natural language, and in particular the question of how anaphora resolution should be orchestrated in a dynamic semantics. Previous dynamic systems such as DPL have relied on preindexation of anaphors and antecedents. It is argued that this represents a serious inadequacy. A dynamic semantic system, RPL, is proposed which eliminates the need for preindexation, by combining an “Amsterdam-style” dynamic semantics with a pragmatic module. The semantics uses a novel extension of DMPL information states, in which ambiguity of anaphors is represented using multiple referent systems. It is argued that the resulting system not only provides a marked empirical improvement over dynamic predecessors, but also provides a quite general approach to the semantics/pragmatics interface.