Meaning postulate explained

In formal semantics and philosophy of language, a meaning postulate is a way of stipulating a relationship between the meanings of two or more words. They were introduced by Rudolf Carnap as a way of approaching the analytic/synthetic distinction.[1] Subsequently, Richard Montague made heavy use of meaning postulates in the development of Montague grammar, and they have features prominently in formal semantics following in Montague's footsteps.[2]

Examples

Meaning Postulate is a formula to express an aspect of the sense of a predicate. The formula is expressed with - so-called - connectives.The used connectives are: paraphrase ≡ "if and only if" entailment → "if" binary antonomy ~ "not"

Following examples will simplify this:

1. "If and only if X is a man, then X is a human being." In meaning postulate this would look like this: x MAN ≡ x HUMAN BEING

2. "If X is a girl, then X is female." In meaning postulate this would look like this: x GIRL → x FEMALE

3. "X is not awake, therefore X is asleep." In meaning postulate this would look like this: x ASLEEP → ~x AWAKE

See also

Notes and References

  1. Carnap. Rudolf. October 1952. Meaning postulates. Philosophical Studies. en. 3. 5. 65–73. 10.1007/BF02350366. 189787462 . 0031-8116.
  2. Partee. Barbara. 2014. A Brief History of the Syntax-Semantics Interface in Western Formal Linguistics. Syntax-Semantics Interface. 1. 1–21.