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Grammatical determinants for concepts of entities: The importance of being (a) kind
Publié le 13 septembre 2017 – Mis à jour le 30 octobre 2017
le 26 octobre 2017
14 h
Salle D30Paolo Acquaviva, Dublin - Séminaire CLLE ERSS
This talk presents empirical and conceptual arguments for thinking that language substantially constrains the range of what can thought as the content of a word (here, a noun). I will outline a theory of nouns as grammatical constructs, based on the idea that nouns are fundamentally names for abstract categories (like 'the bear' as a kind). Grammar turns these into expressions that refer over a domain with a part structure, creating the linguistic mass-count distinction, and allowing reference to concrete particulars. This template for possible meanings makes for a predictive theory of possible nouns disallowing, for instance, nouns meaning "round square" or "non-red thing". Evidence that conceptualization is rooted in perception and action (embodied cognition) is not alternative to this mentalistic approach, but provides the necessary bridge between mind-internal content and external reality.
The first part of the presentation will make the case for giving the linguistic ability a role in shaping and constraining what can be "thought-as-a-word. The second part will detail the proposed structure, and the new data it can explain; for instance, the fact that 'bears' can refer to a kind ('bears are extinct') but the seemingly synonymous 'bear specimens' cannot; while when a mass noun like 'water' allows a plural 'waters' with mass reading, it is only the singular that can refer to the kind.
The first part of the presentation will make the case for giving the linguistic ability a role in shaping and constraining what can be "thought-as-a-word. The second part will detail the proposed structure, and the new data it can explain; for instance, the fact that 'bears' can refer to a kind ('bears are extinct') but the seemingly synonymous 'bear specimens' cannot; while when a mass noun like 'water' allows a plural 'waters' with mass reading, it is only the singular that can refer to the kind.