Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix
Introduction xi
Prologue: Primate Meanings xxiii
1 Meaning in the Wild 1
Part I: The Building Blocks of Meaning 37
2 Visible Logic: Sign Language and Pronouns 39
3 Me, Me, Me! Perspectives in Language 69
4 Nouns and Verbs: Objects and Events 91
5 Beyond the Here and Now I: From Objects to Situations 111
6 Beyond the Here and Now II: Describing and Classifying Objects and Situations 127
Part II: Using Meaning 145
7 Logic Machine I: Predicate Logic 147
8 Logic Machine II: English as a Formal Language 157
9 Logic Machine III: The Expressive Power of Human Language 173
10 Not Quite Saying It: Focus and Implicatures 197
11 Not At Issue: Presuppositions, Supplements, and Expressives 225
Part III: Extending Meaning 245
12 Iconicity Revisited: Sign with Iconicity Versus Speech with Gestures 247
13 Grammar in Gestures 265
14 Meaning in Gestures 287
15 Meaning in Music 303
Epilogue: The Limits of Truth 339
16 The Limits of Truth I: The Riddle of Paradoxes 341
17 The Limits of Truth II: Solving the Riddle of Paradoxes 355
Conclusion 383
Appendix: Phonology, Morphology, and Syntax in Speech and in Sign 389
Glossary 405
Going Further 415
Notes 429
Illustration Sources 451
Index 455

About the Author

Philippe Schlenker is Senior Research Fellow at Centre national de la recherche scientifique (Institut Jean-Nicod, Paris) and Global Distinguished Professor at New York University. His work spans all aspects of meaning, from philosophical logic to formal semantics, in both spoken and signed languages.

Reviews

"It’s one of the best popular science books on linguistics I’ve ever read: a page-turner brimming with fascinating pieces of information, including Schlenker’s own theories."
–Marc van Oostendorp, Professor of Dutch and Academic Communication, Radboud University of Nijmegen