%0 Journal Article
%T Descriptive Metaphysics, Natural Language Metaphysics, Sapir-Whorf, and All That Stuff: Evidence from the Mass-Count Distinction
%A Francis Jeffry Pelletier
%J The Baltic International Yearbook of Cognition, Logic and Communication
%D 2010
%I New Prairie Press
%R 10.4148/biyclc.v6i0.1570
%X Strawson (1959) described ＆descriptive metaphysics＊, Bach (1986a) described ＆natural language metaphysics＊, Sapir (1929) and Whorf (1940a,b, 1941) describe, well, Sapir-Whor anism. And there are other views concerning the relation between correct semantic analysis of linguistic phenomena and the ※reality§ that is supposed to be thereby described. I think some considerations from the analyses of the mass-count distinction can shed some light on that very dark topic. References Bach, Emmon. 1986a. ＆Natural Language Metaphysics＊. In Ruth Barcan Marcus, G.J.W. Dorn & Paul Weingartner (eds.) ＆Logic, Methodology, and Philosophy of Science, VII＊, 573每595. Amsterdam: North Holland. Bach, Emmon. 1986b. ＆The Algebra of Events＊. Linguistics and Philosophy 9: 5每16. Berger, Peter & Luckmann, Thomas. 1966. The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge. New York: Doubleday. Boroditsky, Lera, Schmidt, Lauren & Phillips, Webb. 2003. ＆Sex, Syntax, and Semantics＊. In Dedre Gentner & Susan Goldin-Meadow (eds.) ＆Language in Mind: Advances in the Study of Language and Cognition＊, 59每80. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Cheng, L. & Sybesma, R. 1999. ＆Bare and Not-So-Bare Nouns and the structure of NP＊. Linguistic Inquiry 30: 509每542. http://dx.doi.org/10.1162/002438999554192 Chierchia, Gennaro. 1998a. ＆Reference to Kinds across Languages＊. Natural Language Semantics 6: 339每405. http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1008324218506 Chierchia, Gennaro. 1998b. ＆Plurality of Mass Nouns and the Notion of ＆Semantic Parameter＊ ＊. In S. Rothstein (ed.) ＆Events and Grammar＊, 53每103. Dordrecht: Kluwer. Chierchia, Gennaro. 2010. ＆Mass Nouns, Vagueness and Semantic Variation＊. Synth豕se 174: 99每149. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11229-009-9686-6 Doetjes, Jenny. 1997. Quantifiers and Selection: On the Distribution of Quantifying Expressions in French, Dutch and English. Ph.D. thesis, University of Leiden, Holland Institute of Generative Linguistics. Chapter 2: ※Mass and Count Properties of Nouns and Verbs§. D lling, Johannes. 1993. ＆Commonsense Ontology and Semantics of Natural Language＊. Sprachtypologie und Universalienforschung 46: 133每141. Durst, Uwe. 2003. ＆The Natural Semantic Metalanguage Approach to Linguistic Meaning＊. Theoretical Linguistics 29: 157每200. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/thli.29.3.157 Goddard, Cliff. 1994. ＆Semantic Theory and Semantic Universals＊. In ＆Semantic and Lexical Universals＊, 7每29. Philadelphia: J. Benjamins. Goddard, Cliff. 1998. Semantic Analysis: A Practical Introduction. Oxford: Oxford UP. Goddard, Cliff. 2002. ＆The Search for the Shared Semantic Cor
%U http://dx.doi.org/10.4148/biyclc.v6i0.1570