Work

Polysemy and roots: Deep versus shallow fetching

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: The paper argues for a model of polysemy based on the blueprint offered by Paul Pietroski whereby the meaning of a lexical item is an instruction to fetch a concept from an address. We show that the bare idea of fetching admits of a deep construal, where a concept is fetched, and a shallow construal, where the instruction merely links a lexical item to an address without automatically retrieving anything from the address; retrieval only occurs when the item is embedded within a syntactic structure. We offer considerations in favour of the shallow construal, which is consistent with a root conception of lexical items.

Source: Mind & Language

DOI: 10.1111/mila.12539

Authors: John Collins, Tamara Dobler

Institutions: University of the Basque Country, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

Language: English

Topic: Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation

Subfield: Language and Linguistics

Field: Arts and Humanities

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $4,150

Funders: Leverhulme Trust, Ikerbasque, Basque Foundation for Science