Living Words: Meaning Underdetermination and the Dynamic Lexicon

by Peter Ludlow

Book Overview

Peter Ludlow shows how word meanings are much more dynamic than we might have supposed, and explores how meanings are modulated (changed) even during the course of our everyday conversations. When we engage with communicative partners we build micro-languages on the fly--languages that may be fleeting, but which serve our joint interests. Sometimes we sync up on word meanings without reflection, but in many cases we debate the proper modulation of...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0198712057
• ISBN13: 9780198712053
• Release Date: July 2014
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Length: 204 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 0.9" x 10.6"