Levels of communication and lexical semantics

Authors: Peter Gärdenfors

Publish Date: 2014/06/12

Volume: 195, Issue: 2, Pages: 549-569

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Abstract

The meanings of words are not permanent but change over time Some changes of meaning are quick such as when a pronoun changes its reference some are slower as when two speakers find out that they are using the same word in different senses and some are very slow such as when the meaning of a word changes over historical time A theory of semantics should account for these different time scales In order to describe these different types of meaning changes I present an analysis of three levels of communication instruction coordination of common ground and coordination of meaning My first aim is to show that these levels must be considered when discussing lexical semantics A second aim is to use the levels to identify the communicative roles of some of the main word classes in particular nouns adjectives verbs indexicals and quantifiers I argue that the existence of word classes can to a large extent be explained by the communicative needs that arise on the different levelsI want to thank the Swedish Research Council for support to the Linnaeus environment Thinking in Time Cognition Communication and Learning Parts of this article were written while I was a Fellow at the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study STIAS which provided a generous environment for research I am grateful to STIAS and to the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation for their support during this stay

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