I have elsewhere argued (Ariel, 2002) against the assumption that we can identify one literal meaning per sentence. Instead, I have suggested that there are (at least) three types of minimal meanings, each differently motivated. One implicit motivation behind the classical definition of literal meaning (Grice’s ‘what is said’) is a wish to capture the core content of sentences. I here examine d...

â arabic seems to have borrowed the word amen ( אö¸×žöµ×Ÿ ) originally from hebrew and used it as a religious term in islamic discourse the same as jewish. although it has a clear meaning in hebrew, there is no explicit meaning for it in arabic dictionaries and sources. at the same time, some hebrew hypotheses about this word have had an effect on the comprehension of the arab philologists and...

The dissertation elaborates how a categorial-modal logical framework, Dependency Grammar Logic (DGL), can be used to provide a basic model of certain components underlying the Praguian conception of linguistic meaning. The components dealt with here are head/dependent-asymmetries, “semantic roles” or dependency relations, and information structure. We address the representation, realization, an...

Structural priming is a powerful method to inform linguistic theories. We argue that this method extends nicely beyond syntax to theories of meaning. Priming, however, should still be seen as only one of the tools available for linguistic data collection. Specifically, because priming can occur at different, potentially conflicting levels, it cannot detect every aspect of linguistic representat...