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The foundational essence of formal semantics
Posted: Wed May 27, 2026 8:08 pm
by PL Olcott
Unlike the blurry mess of the analytic/synthetic distinction
This specifies an unequivocal dividing line:
(a) Some expressions of language are proven entirely true on the basis of other expressions of language.
(b) Other expressions of language are stipulated to be true.
The link between (a) and (b) is semantic entailment specified syntactically.
Re: The foundational essence of formal semantics
Posted: Fri May 29, 2026 8:42 pm
by PL Olcott
"...the meaning of a given linguistic unit is defined to be the set of (paradigmatic) relations that the unit in question contracts with other units of the language...” Structural Semantics John Lyons (1963:59)
Syntagmatic relations: These are the horizontal or linear relationships a word contracts with other words it appears within a sentence. {The Principle of Compositionality}
Paradigmatic relations: These are the vertical or associative relationships a word has with other words that could be substituted for it in the same context. {an Inheritance Hierarchy within Simple Type Theory}.
Re: The foundational essence of formal semantics
Posted: Sat May 30, 2026 12:04 am
by Ollie.ha
Some things aren’t proven or stipulated… they are as true as they are false
Re: The foundational essence of formal semantics
Posted: Sat May 30, 2026 4:10 pm
by PL Olcott
Ollie.ha wrote: ↑Sat May 30, 2026 12:04 am
Some things aren’t proven or stipulated… they are as true as they are false
Without a specific concrete example that seems to be baseless.
Re: The foundational essence of formal semantics
Posted: Sat May 30, 2026 9:57 pm
by Ollie.ha
PL Olcott wrote: ↑Sat May 30, 2026 4:10 pm
Ollie.ha wrote: ↑Sat May 30, 2026 12:04 am
Some things aren’t proven or stipulated… they are as true as they are false
Without a specific concrete example that seems to be baseless.
For an example “hello world” isn’t true or false, so it is as true as it is false, and those are null…
“The slot machine will dole out tons of coins” is possibly true or possibly false, therefore it is as true as it is false at somewhere around 50% once you’ve predicted it the best you can
Re: The foundational essence of formal semantics
Posted: Sat May 30, 2026 10:06 pm
by Ollie.ha
From what I see there are four types of reasoning you go through to find truth… congruence, contradiction, both, and no relationship at all…
Obviously these states contradict each other; you can’t have two in full in one thought.
So what causes the contradiction on either side?
It should look something like a decision being made.