A Note on Interpretations for Federated Languages and the Use of Disquotation

Quotation and subsequent disquotation of propositional content sentences has been proposed for, and has some attractive features for, representing content sentences embedded in complex sentences by subordinating clauses. The meaning of and proper semantics for such representations, however, remain obscure, amid lurking worries that any such language will be inconsistent. This paper sketches an account of a semantics for quotation and disquotation. The key technical devices employed are (1) composing languages by federating two or more distinctly defined languages and (2) treating quotation as an invertible enumeration device, employed in the conventions governing use of the federated language.

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2005
• Where: ICAIL
• Authors: Steven Orla Kimbrough
• Keywords: Content Sentences, ICAIL 2005, Propositional Content Sentences, Quotation