Synopsis

Abstract

This chapter provides an introduction into the key concepts and motivates the detailed analyses to come. Starting with the idea that languages are relations between form and meaning it is demonstrated that this leads directly to the bottom-up view of grammar as given by Montague. The Principle of Independence is formulated and shown to lead to two well-known concepts in linguistics: that of compositionality and that of the autonomy of syntax. The discussion then turns to the nature of languages as relations. As will be shown in subsequent chapters, languages are inherently many-to-many relations. In particular, expressions can have very many meanings with no possibility to unite them into a single one. Ambiguity is therefore inherent in natural languages.

Before I start with the technical discussion it is perhaps worthwhile to discuss the relevance of the concepts. I shall begin with some notes on the historical context and the current developments before I turn to the questions that I have tried to answer in this book.