Natural Language Semantics and Computability
This is an incremental theoretical analysis for researchers in computational linguistics and formal semantics, focusing on computational aspects without introducing new models or results.
The paper analyzes the computability of natural language semantics by examining existing logical models and algorithms, arguing that semantic representations can be computed for statements without possible world semantics, including lexical meaning, and discusses the algorithmic complexity involved.
This paper is a reflexion on the computability of natural language semantics. It does not contain a new model or new results in the formal semantics of natural language: it is rather a computational analysis of the logical models and algorithms currently used in natural language semantics, defined as the mapping of a statement to logical formulas - formulas, because a statement can be ambiguous. We argue that as long as possible world semantics is left out, one can compute the semantic representation(s) of a given statement, including aspects of lexical meaning. We also discuss the algorithmic complexity of this process.