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Probability in Semantics
Author(s) -
Cohen Ariel
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
language and linguistics compass
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.619
H-Index - 44
ISSN - 1749-818X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1749-818x.2008.00097.x
Subject(s) - vagueness , probabilistic logic , semantics (computer science) , conditional probability , computer science , natural language processing , natural language , artificial intelligence , linguistics , probability theory , truth value , mathematics , programming language , philosophy , statistics , fuzzy logic
In truth‐conditional theories of the semantics of natural language, the main tool used is logic. There are, however, cases where a probabilistic account is attractive. The role of probability can vary from complementing a truth‐conditional account to replacing it. In this article, I discuss three test cases of the use of probability in semantics: generics and frequency adverbs, vagueness, and conditionals. For each case, I examine the motivation for using probability and the role it plays in the theory.