What does our ability to use words--that is, our lexical                  competence--consist of? What is the difference between a system that can be said to                  understand language and one that cannot? Most approaches to word meaning fail to                  account for an essential aspect of our linguistic competence, namely, our ability to                  apply words to the world. This monograph proposes a dual picture of human lexical                  competence in which inferential and referential abilities are separate--a proposal                  confirmed by neuropsychological research on brain- damaged persons. According to the                  author, artificial systems for natural-language understanding could come much closer                  to achieving their goal if they conformed to this dual picture of competence. Topics                  discussed include classical issues in the philosophy of language and the philosophy                  of mind such as the analytic/synthetic dichotomy, semantic holism, causal theories                  of reference, dual-factor theories, publicness, verificationism, and Searle's                  Chinese room.Language, Speech, Communication series

Lexical Competence (Language, Speech, and Communication) PDF

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