Abstract
Many word forms in natural language are polysemous, but only some of them allow for co-predication, that is, they allow for simultaneous predications selecting for two different meanings or senses of a nominal in a sentence. In this paper, we try to explain (i) why some groups of senses allow co-predication and others do not, and (ii) how we interpret co-predicative sentences. The paper focuses on those groups of senses that allow co-predication in an especially robust and stable way. We argue, using these cases, but focusing particularly on the multiply polysemous word school, that the senses involved in co-predication form especially robust activation packages, which allow hearers and readers to access all the different senses in interpretation.
Highlights
Most open-class words that we use are polysemous, that is, most open-class word forms are associated with several related senses
It is true that these knowledge structures contain a good amount of world knowledge, but we think that such knowledge has to be incorporated in one way or another, into any explanation of “inherent” polysemy and co-predication
We have proposed a rich semantics account of a particular sort of systematic or regular polysemy
Summary
Most open-class words that we use are polysemous, that is, most open-class word forms are associated with several related senses. In the multiply polysemous word ‘school’, such knowledge includes information about the kind of entity a school is, as well as information about its physical and temporal realization or implementation, the kind of people that take part in it, and its organizational structure. The rationale for including these features is that such features do characterize the kinds and are typically available for being the objects of predication This holds for institutions and their different ways of being part of the world (as social organizations, as part of society, as physical entities, etc.), as well as for countries, informational contents, drinkables, and so on. School-institution spreads the activation downstream to the different nodes/aspects, but, as noted, aspects refer back to the institution and to each other
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