Semantic Theory Research Articles

The true futures

In this paper various branching time semantics are compared with the aim of clarifying the role of true futures of counterfactual moments, that is, true futures of moments outside the true chronicle. First we give an account of Arthur Prior’s Ockhamistic semantics where truth of a formula is relative to a moment and a chronicle. We prove that this is equivalent to a version of a semantics put forward by Thomason and Gupta where truth is relative to a moment and what is called a chronicle function which assigns a chronicle to each moment. Later we discuss how a semantic theory considered by Belnap and Green may be formalised. It comes about by assuming a chronicle function to be given once and for all. However, this semantics invalidates an intuitively valid formula, so we present an alternative semantics where the formula in question is valid. Furthermore, we shall exhibit an intuitively invalid formula which is invalid in our alternative semantics, but which is valid in Prior’s Ockhamistic semantics. So we can conclude that Prior’s Ockhamistic validity does not imply validity in the alternative semantics. On the other hand, the converse implication does hold, as we shall prove. Summary of mathematical results: We have proved that Prior’s Ockhamistic semantics has the same valid formulas as Thomason and Gupta’s semantics, and we have proved that Prior’s Ockhamistic semantics has strictly more valid formulas than the alternative semantics.

Towards robotic deep spatiotemporal language understanding based on mental-image-directed semantic theory

Towards robotic deep spatiotemporal language understanding based on mental-image-directed semantic theory

Aquinas on The Distinction Between Esse and Esse: How the Name ‘Esse’ Can Signify Essence

AbstractIn a number of texts throughout his career, Thomas Aquinas identifies different senses of the term ‘esse’. Most notably, he notes that according to one sense, the term signifies the act of existence (actus essendi), which he famously holds is really distinct from essence in all beings other than God. Perhaps surprisingly, he also notes on a number of occasions that according to another sense, the term ‘esse’ can signify that very principle that he says is distinct from the act of existence, namely, essence. In light of Aquinas's semantic theory, this paper investigates how he coherently holds within his metaphysical system that this term ‘esse’ can signify in different ways both essence and the act of existence. More broadly, what it shows is how, for Aquinas, the metaphysician can look to the modes of signification (modi significandi) of terms and as well as their modes of predication (modi praedicandi) to draw careful conclusions about the modes of existence (modi essendi) of real beings. These considerations reveal that in Aquinas's view, although the grammarian and logician in their way are also concerned with these semantic modes, it is not their job to employ them to discern the various senses of the term ‘being’ or the fundamental modes of being. In the end, this is a task for the metaphysician.

Semantic Closure and Classicality

The semantic paradoxes show that semantic theories that internalize their semantic concepts, such as truth and validity, cannot validate all classical logic. That is, it is necessary to weaken some connective of the object language, taken as the guilty of the paradoxes, or give up some property of the consequence relation of the logical theory. Both strategies may distance us from classical logic, the logic commonly used in our current mathematical theories. So, a desirable solution to semantic paradoxes cannot distance us from classical logic. This paper analyzes two interesting proposals that aim to maintain classical logic as most as possible. The first strategy, the Barrio & Pailos & Szmuc-approach (2017) (BPS-approach), proposes the paraconsistent logic MSC that contains in its object language a connective capable of recovering classical inference whenever the sentences at issue are consistent. So, they show that it is possible to build a semantic theory over this logic that is immune to the semantic paradoxes. The second approach is based on the hierarchy STω of non-transitive systems STn, proposed by Pailos (2020a). This hierarchy recovers classical metainferences as many as possible in higher levels of the hierarchy. We argue in favor of the second approach by arguing that the first strategy must adopt weak self-referential procedures to avoid the paradoxes.

Cultural Meaning of the Change of Jaro Rajab Tradition Complex Saka Tunggal Mosque Cikakak Village

This research focuses on extracting data regarding the cultural meaning contained in traditional ceremonies in Cikakak Village, namely Change Jaro Rajab or Penjaroan. The research was conducted by collecting data through observation and interview techniques, and descriptive qualitative semantic cultural theory was used to examine the data. The cultural meaning of the jaro rajab dressing activity is illustrated in the offerings in the form of 7 young coconuts, Chicken gecok, Nasi Penggel, Terbangan, Pilgrimage and Tahlil traditions at the main tomb, and the presence of a locksmith. Change Jaro Rajab is one of the traditions that must be maintained in order for it to be introduced to future generations as a picture of grounded local wisdom and as a picture of people's lives who love their ancestors. This work is

Semantics of Gesture

Current formal semantic theories aim at capturing gestural semantic contributions and in particular their interplay with the semantics that stems from cooccurring speech. To grasp how gesture contributes meaning and interacts with speech, the information status of gesture is of prime importance. This article gives an overview of the different conceptions of the information status of gestures that have been put forth and discusses the empirical predictions and theoretical consequences that arise from the respective theories.

The Strategy of Translating Indonesian Texts With Cultural Nuances Into English

This research discussed the strategies for translating Indonesian cultural texts into English. This research aims to 1) to describe the types of translation found in the process of translating Indonesian culture into English, and 2) to analyze the obstacle in translating Indonesian cultural terms into English. The data were collected from two novels, each written by Pramoedia Ananta Toer entitled Bumi Manusia, translated by Max Lane with the title This Earth of Mankind, and Ahmad Tohari with Ronggeng Dukuh Paruk, translated as The Dancer by Rene T.A. Lysloff. Data analysis techniques were carried out through descriptions after receiving respondents' responses. Thus, this research applies reception theory and cultural semantic theory. The application of this theory has led this research to answer the three objectives of this research. The results of the study indicate that the translation of culturally nuanced Indonesian texts into English has complex forms and variations due to the adjustment of the Indonesian cultural context into other cultural contexts in English.

More is not necessarily better: How different aspects of sensorimotor experience affect recognition memory for words.

Semantic richness theory predicts that words with richer, more distinctive semantic representations should facilitate performance in a word recognition memory task. We investigated the contribution of multiple aspects of sensorimotor experience-those relating to the body, communication, food, and objects-to word recognition memory, by analyzing megastudy data in a series of hierarchical linear regressions. We found that different forms of sensorimotor experience produced different effects on memory. While stronger grounding in object- and food-related experience facilitated word memory performance as expected for semantic richness, experience relating to communication did not. Critically, sensorimotor experience relating to the body impaired rather than facilitated recognition memory by inflating false alarms, which was not consistent with the idea that semantically richer representations are more memorable. Additionally, we found that pure imageability (i.e., consciously generating mental imagery, distinct from sensorimotor experience) contributes to semantic richness effects on word memory but with much smaller effect sizes than previously reported, once sensorimotor grounding was taken into account. These results suggest that word recognition memory is often but not consistently facilitated by rich semantic representations and that it is essential to separately consider distinct forms of sensorimotor experience rather than assuming more information is always better. The findings have implications for the use of semantic variables in memory research. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Emotional content and sharing on Facebook: A theory cage match.

While emotional content predicts social media post sharing, competing theories of emotion imply different predictions about how emotional content will influence the virality of social media posts. We tested and compared these theoretical frameworks. Teams of annotators assessed more than 4000 multimedia posts from Polish and Lithuanian Facebook for more than 20 emotions. We found that, drawing on semantic space theory, modeling discrete emotions independently was superior to models examining valence (positive or negative), activation/arousal (high or low), or clusters of emotions and was on par with but had more explanatory power than a seven basic emotion model. Certain discrete emotions were associated with post sharing, including both positive and negative and relatively lower and higher activation/arousal emotions (e.g., amusement, cute/kama muta, anger, and sadness) even when controlling for number of followers, time up, topic, and Facebook angry reactions. These results provide key insights into better understanding of social media post virality.

An Analysis of Contextual Meaning in Olivia Rodrigo's Songs

Contextual meaning is meaning that refers to context, or a sentence that can support the clarity of a meaning. This research was conducted to find the types of contextual meaning and changes in meaning in Olivia Rodridgo's songs entitled "drivers license", "deja vu", "good 4 u", "happier" and "traitor". This research used contextual meaning theory by from Pateda (2010) and semantic change theory by Chaer (2013). The method of this research was descriptive qualitative. The results showed that there were five out of 10 types of contextual meaning in the five songs, which context of person, context of situation, context of whether or not a formal conversation, context of speaker’s mood or listener’s mood and context of object with a total of 27 result, which contain nine words and 18 phrases. Also, three out of five types of meaning changes were found in words and phrases containing contextual meaning, which are widening, totally changed, and dysphemism with a total data of 17 out of 27 data, which contain of nine words and eight phrases. This research found that words or phrases that cannot be interpreted just by looking at the definitions in the dictionary, but also must be understood the context of their use.

Associative Meaning of the Word <i>Life</i> in the Udmurt, Tatar, and Bashkir Languages: An Interlanguage Comparative Study

The research featured experimental material obtained from Udmurt, Bashkir, and Tatar respondents as part of a psycholinguistic approach to the study of lexical meaning by its associative field. This approach is connected with the knowledge representation in the linguistic consciousness of native speakers and the specifics of ethnic stereotypes. The study owes its scientific novelty to the fact that it is a first of its kind comparative psycholinguistic study of the word semantics that involves the speakers of Udmurt, Bashkir, and Tatar. The study identified the semantic content and structure of the associative fields of the lexeme life in the abovementioned languages. It relied on the associative reactions received from the native speakers of Udmurt, Bashkir, and Tatar. The results of the psycholinguistic associative experiments served as the basic linguistic material for further cross-cultural research. The associative fields included the correlates of the lexeme life in the three languages: ulon (Udmurt), gumer (Bashkir), and gomer (Tatar). The quantitative and qualitative parameters allowed the author to identify universal and distinctive components in the content of the associative structures. The responses of Bashkir and Tatar speakers were mostly stereotypical in the core of the associative field. Paradigmatic reactions prevailed over syntagmatic ones in all associative fields. The qualitative interpretation of cognitive strategies appeared to be universal for the Udmurts, Bashkirs, and Tatars. The identification process was based on a specific mental image of a subject or object, as well as on emotionally-colored and evaluative signs as part of a semanteme. Unlike the Udmurt speakers, the Bashkirs and Tatars gave lengthy and explanatory reactions to the stimulus. The results can be used in teaching these national languages or as an effective tool for the formation of a multilingual personality through the study of associative lexical fields. In linguistic theories of semantics, an associative field can be used as a structured model for analyzing semantic representations of a word. The obtained results contribute to solving a certain range of theoretical issues related to the problem of mental vocabulary and human speech activity.

Цветовая кодировка кубитных состояний

Difficulties in algorithmic simulation of natural thinking point to the inadequacy of information encodings used to this end. The promising approach to this problem represents information by the qubit states of quantum theory, structurally aligned with major theories of cognitive semantics. The paper develops this idea by linking qubit states with color as fundamental carrier of affective meaning. The approach builds on geometric affinity of Hilbert space of qubit states and color solids, used to establish precise one-to-one mapping between them. This is enabled by original decomposition of qubit in three non-orthogonal basis vectors corresponding to red, green, and blue colors. Real-valued coefficients of such decomposition are identical to the tomograms of the qubit state in the corresponding directions, related to ordinary Stokes parameters by rotational transform. Classical compositions of black, white and six main colors (red, green, blue, yellow, magenta and cyan) are then mapped to analogous superposition of the qubit states. Pure and mixed colors intuitively map to pure and mixed qubit states on the surface and in the volume of the Bloch ball, while grayscale is mapped to the diameter of the Bloch sphere. Herewith, the lightness of color corresponds to the probability of the qubit’s basis state «1», while saturation and hue encode coherence and phase of the qubit, respectively. The developed code identifies color as a bridge between quantum-theoretic formalism and qualitative regularities of the natural mind. This opens prospects for deeper integration of quantum informatics in semantic analysis of data, image processing, and the development of nature-like computational architectures.

What Makes a Joke Bad: Enthymemes and the Pragmatics of Humor

Abstract Bad jokes are not simply non-humorous texts. They are texts that are humorous for someone––their author at least––but not for their audience. Bad jokes thus involve a contextual––pragmatic––dimension that is neglected in the semantic theories of humor. In this paper, we propose an approach to humor based on the Aristotelian notion of surprising enthymemes. Jokes are analyzed as kinds of arguments, whose tacit dimension can be retrieved and justified by considering the “logic” on which it is based. However, jokes are based on specific pragmatic conditions: they are regarded as arguments grounded on a generalization that is at the same time uncommon, retrievable, and acceptable or plausible for the audience. This perspective integrates the “local logic” of jokes within a broader rhetorical theory that ultimately rests on the communicative notion of common ground.

Study of Forms and Meanings Simalungun Folk Song Urdo-Urdo in Bahapal Raya Village

This study aims to determine the origins of Urdo-urdo chants, to know the study of Urdo-urdo chants, to find out the forms of Urdo-urdo chants, to find out the meaning contained in Urdo-urdo chants, and to find out the characteristics of Urdo-urdo chants in Bahapal Raya Village, Pematang Raya District, Simalungun Regency. The theoretical basis used in this study is the theory of study which explains the meaning of study, namely or describes a detailed matter so that it conducts a study; music theory, namely music is a cultural activity that is very familiar with human life, form theory, namely form is a scheme or arrangement that intact from several phrases, the theory of meaning that uses semiotic theory and semantic theory, the theory of Urdo-urdo songs, namely those that function as lullabies and songs to calm crying children. The research method used in this study is a qualitative descriptive method. Based on the results of the research conducted, it can be seen that the origin of Urdo-urdo singing is an ethnic song passed down from the ancestors of the Simalungun people to their generation orally. The hallmark of Urdo-urdo singing is using Iggou Simalungun. The Urdo-urdo singing form consists of four forms: A, B, C, and D. The meaning contained in the Urdo-urdo singing presented by the resource person is a lullaby for children, which contains advice..

Personal Identity and Uncertainty in the Everett Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics

The deterministic nature of EQM (the Everett Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics) seems to be inconsistent with the use of probability in EQM, giving rise to what is known as the “incoherence problem”. In this paper, I explore approaches to solve the incoherence problem of EQM via pre-measurement uncertainty. Previous discussions on the validity of pre-measurement uncertainty have leaned heavily on intricate aspects of the theory of semantics and reference, the embrace of either four-dimensionalism or three-dimensionalism of personhood, or the ontology of EQM. In this paper, I argue that, regardless of the adoption of three-dimensionalism or four-dimensionalism of personhood, the overlapping view or the divergence view of the ontology of EQM, the pre-measurement uncertainty approach to the incoherence problem of EQM can only achive success while contradicting fundamental principles of physicalism. I also use the divergence view of EQM as an example to illustrate my analyses.

The representation of emotional experience from imagined scenarios.

One of the key unresolved issues in affective science is understanding how the subjective experience of emotion is structured. Semantic space theory has shed new light on this debate by applying computational methods to high-dimensional data sets containing self-report ratings of emotional responses to visual and auditory stimuli. We extend this approach here to the emotional experience induced by imagined scenarios. Participants chose at least one emotion category label among 34 options or provided ratings on 14 affective dimensions while imagining two-sentence hypothetical scenarios. A total of 883 scenarios were rated by at least 11 different raters on categorical or dimensional qualities, with a total of 796 participants contributing to the final normed stimulus set. Principal component analysis reduced the categorical data to 24 distinct varieties of reported experience, while cluster visualization indicated a blended, rather than discrete, distribution of the corresponding emotion space. Canonical correlation analysis between the categorical and dimensional data further indicated that category endorsement accounted for more variance in dimensional ratings than vice versa, with 10 canonical variates unifying change in category loadings with affective dimensions such as valence, arousal, safety, and commitment. These findings indicate that self-reported emotional responses to imaginative experiences exhibit a clustered structure, although clusters are separated by fuzzy boundaries, and variable dimensional properties associate with smooth gradients of change in categorical judgments. The resultant structure supports the tenets of semantic space theory and demonstrates some consistency with prior work using different emotional stimuli. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

인도 사상의 언어학적 전회

The theory of sphoṭa (burst of sound) appears in Mahābhārata and Aṣṭādhyayī, but it was first systematized in Patañjali's Mahābhāṣya. In grammar, sphoṭa is a unit of meaning that is possessed by utterance. There are phoneme (varṇa) sphoṭa, word(pada) sphoṭa, and sentence (vākya) sphoṭa etc. Bhartṛhari just only acknowledged sentence sphoṭa which holds that the sentence is the final unit of meaning conveyed by the speaker. In other words, when a speaker speaks a particular sentence, it is due to the sphoṭa of that sentence. When a listener hears that sentence, the sphoṭa of that sentence arises in her or his mind. Therefore, sentence sphoṭa is a permanent and universal concept for the meaning of speech that is not limited by the speakers, listeners, time, or space.
 This paper examines the relationship between speech, meaning, and object, and notes that in āstika, sphoṭa is interpreted as a concept of the power of Brahman. Furthermore, in Bhartṛhari's theory of semantics on sphoṭa, the paper examines his view that a word denoting a universal (jātiśabda) can be applied to individual reality in some verses of Vākyapadīya. On the other hand, Dignāga’s exclusion of other referents (anyāpoha) theory, which can be seen as a counterpart to the concept of sphoṭa, examines the argument that denies the universality of sound (arthasāmānya) and meaning (śabdasāmānya) in the early part of Pramāṇasamuccayavṛtti V.
 As this study analyzes and compares the semantics surrounding universals between Bhartṛhari's sphoṭa and Dignāga's apoha, it concludes by presenting the possibility that the two interpretations of the meaning of language could lead to conflicting understandings on the relationship between substance and phenomenon in Indian thought. Therefore, the transformation from sphoṭa to apoha on the conception of unversal could be considered the linguistic turn of Indian philosophy.

Struktur Pembentuk Nomina Tempat dalam Bahasa Jepang pada Novel Berjudul Fune wo Amu Karya Shion Miura

"The Structure of Forming Nouns of Place in Japanese in a Novel Entitled Fune Wo Amu by Shion Miura" is the title of this study. The purpose of this research is to learn more about the structure of the formation of place nouns in Japanese which is found in a novel entitled Fune Wo Amu by Shion Miura. Descriptive qualitative method is the method used in this research. Japanese Morphological Theory and the Semantic Theory by Tsujimura (2014) are the theory used in this research. Based on the result of this research, it can be concluded that noun place marker suffixes can be attached to bound morphemes, nouns, verbal nouns, and root verbs (ren'y?kei). The kango type of word is the type of word that is most often attached by place marking suffixes in Japanese. In addition, when compared to other types of place noun-forming suffixes such as ~? (-ba, -jo?), ~? (-dokoro, -sho, -jo), ~? (-kan), ~? (-ya), ~? (-chi), ~? (-ten), ~? (-in), and ~? (-do?), the suffix ~? (-shitsu) produces the most place nouns.

Semantic Coherence Analysis of English Texts Based on Sentence Semantic Graphs

With the reform of China's education industry, more and more universities are using computers to conduct examinations. For the automatic correction of essays as subjective questions, existing automatic English text scoring systems suffer from insufficient extraction of coherence information and low accuracy when analysing text coherence. Therefore, this paper proposes an unsupervised semantic coherence analysis model for English texts based on sentence semantic graphs, taking Chinese students' English compositions as the research context. Guided by the semantic coherence theory, the English text is represented as a sentence semantic graph, and an improved VF2 subgraph matching algorithm is used to mine the frequently occurring subgraph patterns in the sentence semantic graph. After that, the set of frequent subgraphs is generated by filtering the subgraph patterns according to their frequencies, and the subgraph frequency of each frequent subgraph is calculated separately. Finally, the distribution characteristics of frequent subgraphs and the semantic values of subgraphs in the sentence semantic graphs are extracted to quantify the overall coherence quality of English texts. The experimental results show that the model proposed in this paper has higher accuracy and practical value compared with the current methods of coherence analysis.

Norm conflicts and epistemic modals

Statements containing epistemic modals (e.g., “by spring 2023 most European countries may have the Covid-19 pandemic under control”) are common expressions of epistemic uncertainty. In this paper, previous published findings (Knobe & Yalcin, 2014; Khoo & Phillips, 2018) on the opposition between Contextualism and Relativism for epistemic modals are re-examined. It is found that these findings contain a substantial degree of individual variation. To investigate whether participants differ in their interpretations of epistemic modals, an experiment with multiple phases and sessions is conducted to classify participants according to the three semantic theories of Relativism, Contextualism, and Objectivism. Through this study, some of the first empirical evidence for the kind of truth-value shifts postulated by semantic Relativism is presented. It is furthermore found that participants’ disagreement judgments match their truth evaluations and that participants are capable of distinguishing between truth and justification. In a second experimental session, it is investigated whether participants thus classified follow the norm of retraction which Relativism uses to account for argumentation with epistemic modals. Here the results are less favorable for Relativism. In a second experiment, these results are replicated and the normative beliefs of participants concerning the norm of retraction are investigated following work on measuring norms by Bicchieri (2017). Again, it is found that on average participants show no strong preferences concerning the norm of retraction for epistemic modals. Yet, it was found that participants who had committed to Objectivism and had training in logic applied the norm of retraction to might-statements. These results present a substantial challenge to the account of argumentation with epistemic modals presented in MacFarlane (2014), as discussed.