What is Meaning? Fundamentals of Formal Semantics is a concise introduction to the field of semantics as it
is actually practiced. The book explains the fundamental ideas and some of the most significant results of modern
semantic theory in an intuitive, engaging manner without relying on formalization or getting bogged down in technical
skills. Through simple examples, pictures, and metaphors, Paul Portner presents the field's key ideas about how
language works.
Table of Contents
1. The fundamental question
2. Putting a meaning together from pieces
3. More about predicates
4. Modifiers
5. Complexities of referring expressions
6. Quantifiers
7. Extensional vs. intensional contexts
8. Tense, aspect, and modality
9. Propositional attitudes
10. The pragmatics of what's given
11. The pragmatics of inference
12. Formal semantics today
App Answers to selected exercises
