Iterating semantic automata

The semantic automata framework, developed originally in the 1980s, provides computational interpretations of generalized quantifiers. While recent experimental results have associated structural features of these automata with neuroanatomical demands in processing sentences with quantifiers, the th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Linguistics and philosophy 2013-04, Vol.36 (2), p.151-173
Main Authors: Steinert-Threlkeld, Shane, Icard, Thomas F.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alphabets
Automata
Descriptive studies and applied theories
Even numbers
Language
Lexical quantifiers
Linguistics
Mathematics and linguistics
Natural language
Philosophy
Philosophy of Language
Quantification
Quantifiers
Research Article
Semantics
Semantics and pragmatics
Social Sciences
Theoretical linguistics
Theory
Working memory
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Summary:The semantic automata framework, developed originally in the 1980s, provides computational interpretations of generalized quantifiers. While recent experimental results have associated structural features of these automata with neuroanatomical demands in processing sentences with quantifiers, the theoretical framework has remained largely unexplored. In this paper, after presenting some classic results on semantic automata in a modern style, we present the first application of semantic automata to polyadic quantification, exhibiting automata for iterated quantifiers. We also discuss the role of semantic automata in linguistic theory and offer new empirical predictions for sentence processing with embedded quantifiers.
ISSN:0165-0157
1573-0549
DOI:10.1007/s10988-013-9132-6