Context change potential - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

In formal semantics

Semantics

Semantics is the study of meaning. It focuses on the relation between signifiers, such as words, phrases, signs and symbols, and what they stand for, their denotata....

, context change potential (CCP) is the way new information reshapes existing understanding. It is a real feature of natural language

Natural language

In the philosophy of language, a natural language is any language which arises in an unpremeditated fashion as the result of the innate facility for language possessed by the human intellect. A natural language is typically used for communication, and may be spoken, signed, or written...

observed, modeled and predicted by researchers. As speakers use natural language, they offer and interpret new contributions in the context

Context

Context may refer to:* Context , the relevant constraints of the communicative situation that influence language use, language variation, and discourse summary...

of what has already passed in their discourse

Discourse

Discourse generally refers to "written or spoken communication". The following are three more specific definitions:...

(1a) A: You didn't get to yesterday's out-of-town meeting. [context]

(1b) B: So far.

(2a) A: It's a lovely day. [context]

(2b) B: So far.

In the example dialogue fragments, although the same phrase

Phrase

In everyday speech, a phrase may refer to any group of words. In linguistics, a phrase is a group of words which form a constituent and so function as a single unit in the syntax of a sentence. A phrase is lower on the grammatical hierarchy than a clause....

so far is offered in both replies, the prior contexts establish different analyses of the meanings of the phrase. In the first example, the reply (1b) modifies the prior context (1a) by providing an explanation: B did not make the meeting because it was too far to travel. In the second example, the reply (2b) also modifies the prior context (2a): B agrees with A that the day has been lovely up to this point, but appears to implicate concern about the future. In either case, after B has contributed a reply, there is now a new, different context against which future contributions to the dialogue must be analysed to establish their meaning.

(1a) A: You didn't get to yesterday's out-of-town meeting. [context]

(1b) B: So far. [context]

(1c) A: It started early. [you slept in?]

(1d) B: No car. [no]

As a discourse progresses, the "picture" provided by the context is "filled in". Sometimes parts of the picture are "erased" then "redrawn" in alternative ways. The insight of CCP analysis of discourse

Discourse analysis

Discourse analysis , or discourse studies, is a general term for a number of approaches to analyzing written, spoken, signed language use or any significant semiotic event....

is that language use doesn't simply function to denote

Denotation

This word has distinct meanings in other fields: see denotation . For the opposite of Denotation see Connotation.*In logic, linguistics and semiotics, the denotation of a word or phrase is a part of its meaning; however, the part referred to varies by context:** In grammar and literary theory, the...

reference

Reference

Reference is derived from Middle English referren, from Middle French rèférer, from Latin referre, "to carry back", formed from the prefix re- and ferre, "to bear"...

to the objective

Objectivity (philosophy)

Objectivity is a central philosophical concept which has been variously defined by sources. A proposition is generally considered to be objectively true when its truth conditions are met and are "mind-independent"—that is, not met by the judgment of a conscious entity or subject.- Objectivism...

world directly, significantly it also functions by constructing and modifying a context shared by discourse participants.

CCP is the foundation of dynamic semantics, giving rise to the slogan "meaning is context change potential". Earlier work in semantics attempted to show how the meaning of many sentences could be directly represented by logical

Philosophical logic

Philosophical logic is a term introduced by Bertrand Russell to represent his idea that the workings of natural language and thought can only be adequately represented by an artificial language; essentially it was his formalization program for the natural language...

models

Model theory

In mathematics, model theory is the study of mathematical structures using tools from mathematical logic....

of the objective world. Finding a way of representing the meaning of difficult sentences led to seeing the need for accounting for CCP. Discourse Representation Theory

Discourse representation theory

Discourse Representation Theory is a framework for exploring meaning under a formal semantics approach. One of the main differences between DRT-style approaches and traditional Montagovian approaches is that DRT-style approaches include a level of abstract mental representations within its...

(DRT) did this by viewing successive contributions to discourse as dynamically modifying a model of the world—the changing context.

See also