BACKGROUND: The series Explorations in Semantics rounds off our list of series in theoretical linguistics, joining the Generative Syntax series and the Phonological Theory series. These series are aimed at a more advanced audience, and include books by prominent authors which, while research oriented, have a tutorial component so they will have some course uptake.
The books in Explorations in Semantics will additionally emphasize topics which would be of interest not only to semanticists but also to scholars in adjacent fields such as syntax, philosophy of language, and computational linguistics, to broaden the potential market.
The books published in this series will be characterized by the following properties:
- Important new research in a topic or topics central to semantics, including, but not restricted to dynamic semantics, aspect, focus, anaphora, and type-shifting.
- A 'tutorial' component which will consist of an introductory or overview chapter, introducing the particular area being treated and situating the new research in the context of the field and of previous research.
- A presentational style which, while not compromising the presentation of the research, will be careful to make the material as accessible as possible to beginning scholars in the field, and also to researchers in adjacent fields such as syntax, philosophy of language, etc.
As a result, the books published in the series will become appropriate course material for graduate linguistics courses.
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Sales of related books:
Heim & Kratzer, Semantics in Generative Grammar (pub. 11/97)
UK: 491 (Life), 37 (MAT)
Export: 1640 (Life), 82 (MAT)
US: 2118 (Life), 345 (MAT)
Total Life: 4,249; Total MAT: 464
Kadmon, Formal Pragmatics (pub. 1/01)
UK: 181 (Life), 60 (MAT)
Export: 457 (Life), 160 (MAT)
US: 295 (Life), 81 (MAT)
Total Life: 933; Total MAT: 301
Lappin, Handbook of Contemporary Semantic Theory (NIP 1997; POD now)
UK: 396 (Life)
Export: 816 (Life)
US: 641 (Life)
Total Life: 1853
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MAIN BLURB:
Genericity and (In)definiteness will focus on the interpretation of generic noun phrases, such as "dogs" in the sentence "Dogs bark when they are hungry." It will do so in a number of typologically unrelated languages, making crucial use of number distinctions and definiteness marking to draw attention to distinctions between different types of noun phrases. The book will use these differences to present a comprehensive picture of the expressions of genericity in natural language.
Written without assuming a knowledge of the semantic issues involved, Genericity and (In)definiteness will serve as a guide to those studying noun phrase constructions by providing an accessible introduction to concepts relevant to their study, and will thus be appropriate for courses in semantics and the syntax-semantics interface at the advanced undergraduate or graduate level.
