Semantics in Generative Grammar

Blackwell Textbooks in Linguistics

by Irene Heim, Angelika Kratzer

Written by two of the leading figures in the field, this is a lucid and systematic introduction to formal semantics.

Genres: Linguistics, Nonfiction, Philosophy, Language, Reference, Science

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 9, 1997

Reviews

[adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

outdated! pleaseeeee create an updated version! it was a somewhat okay intro to formal semantics but honestly i found the class work in my module more helpful than this

[Hanna Abi Akl · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent introduction to formal semantics.

[Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

good book

[Kaidi Pan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Classic.

[King Haddock · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel like a 3.5 would be a more accurate rating. There are some areas of the textbook where the explanations are nice, smooth, straightforward, and incredibly helpful. The content is strong and provides information on many important areas of semantic study.

There are other areas of the text that leave out gaps of important information - for instance, by leaving it up to the readers to actually calculate the semantics of many of the examples. It does often make doing one's own semantic work difficult because there are not as many straightforward, start-to-end examples in the book as I feel there could be.