How to Glue a Donkey to an F-Structure: Porting a ‘Dynamic’ Meaning Representation Language into LFG’s Linear Logic Glue-Language Semantics

Abstract

In the present chapter we port a ‘dynamic’¹ meaning representation language (Muskens, 1994b; Muskens, 1994a; Muskens, 1996) into the meaning representation slots in the linear logic based glue language semantics developed by (Dalrymple et al., 1993b; Dalrymple et al., 1993a; Dalrymple et al., 1995b; Dalrymple et al., 1997; Dalrymple et al, 1996). In the original proposals the meaning representation language slots are occupied by expressions in a standard, static higher order logic with generalized quantifiers. The revised approach extends the original approach to discourse phenomena and can be combined with the approach to underspecification developed in (Crouch & Genabith, 1996). On the other hand it makes available linear logic based approaches to quantifier scope and underspecification to dynamic semantics. The chapter is structured as follows: first, we give brief introductions to the original LFG glue language semantics and the new ‘dynamic’ meaning representation language CDRT; we then port the latter into the former; finally we compare the results with some approaches discussed in the literature and sketch QLF (Alshawi & Crouch, 1992) and UDRS (Reyle, 1995) style interpretations for sets of linear logic premises obtained.