Semantics and Discourse Representation

Presented is a survey of discourse representation (DR) theory, a semantic theory for natural lang developed by Hans Kamp (eg, "Events, Instants, and Temporal Reference" in Semantics from Different Points of View, Bauerle, R. et al [Eds], Berlin: Springer, 1979) & others. DR theory proposes that a complex representation of the world is built up as discourse is processed, & the discourse is true if the representation can be mapped appropriately onto the real world. The content of this claim is given by a detailed description of the construction of these representations, together with a model theoretic account of their truth conditions. Recent work on pronominal anaphora, singular reference, propositional attitudes, & tense is surveyed. 37 References. Modified AA