Explaining gaps in the logical lexicon of natural languages

A decision-theoretic perspective on the square of Aristotle

Bibliographic Data

ID19543959
AuthorsÉmile Enguehard (École Normale Supérieure), Bert Spector (0000-0003-0468-5986, École Normale Supérieure), Benjamin Spector
Year2021
Volume14
Issue5
Pages1-31
Publication date2021-06-04
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSemantics and Pragmatics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1937-8912 • E-ISSN: 1937-8912
PublisherLinguistic Society of America (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.3765/sp.14.5
OpenAlexW3172947260
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited13

Across languages, certain logically natural concepts are not lexicalized, even though they can be expressed by complex expressions. This is for instance the case for the quantifier not all. In this paper, we propose an explanation for this fact based on the following idea: the logical lexicon of languages is partly shaped by a tradeoff between informativity and cost, and the inventory of logical expressions tends to maximize average informativity and minimize average cost. The account we propose is based on a decision-theoretic model of how speakers choose their messages in various situations (a version of the Rational Speech Act model). EARLY ACCESS

Algorithm · Lexicon · Linguistics · Logical conjunction · Logical consequence · Logical form · Natural language · Natural language processing · Programming language · Truth table · Computer Science · Game Theory and Voting Systems · Philosophy · Artificial Intelligence

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