Alternative semantics (or Hamblin semantics) is a framework in
formal semantics and
logic
Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the study of deductively valid inferences or logical truths. It examines how conclusions follow from premises based on the structure o ...
. In alternative semantics, expressions
denote ''alternative sets'', understood as sets of objects of the same
semantic type. For instance, while the word "Lena" might denote Lena herself in a classical semantics, it would denote the singleton set containing Lena in alternative semantics. The framework was introduced by
Charles Leonard Hamblin in 1973 as a way of extending
Montague grammar to provide an analysis for
questions
A question is an utterance which serves as a request for information. Questions are sometimes distinguished from interrogatives, which are the grammar, grammatical forms, typically used to express them. Rhetorical questions, for instance, are i ...
. In this framework, a question denotes the set of its possible answers. Thus, if
and
are
proposition
A proposition is a statement that can be either true or false. It is a central concept in the philosophy of language, semantics, logic, and related fields. Propositions are the object s denoted by declarative sentences; for example, "The sky ...
s, then
is the denotation of the question whether
or
is true. Since the 1970s, it has been extended and adapted to analyze phenomena including
focus,
scope,
disjunction
In logic, disjunction (also known as logical disjunction, logical or, logical addition, or inclusive disjunction) is a logical connective typically notated as \lor and read aloud as "or". For instance, the English language sentence "it is ...
,
NPIs,
presupposition, and
implicature.
See also
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References
Semantics
Non-classical logic
Systems of formal logic
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