Parameterized monads in linguistics

Abstract

This dissertation follows the formal semantics approach to linguistics. It applies recent developments in computing theories to study theoretical linguistics in the area of the interaction between semantics and pragmatics and analyzes several natural language phenomena by parsing them in these theories. Specifically, this dissertation uses parameterized monads, a particular theoretical framework in category theory, as a dynamic semantic framework to reinterpret the compositional Discourse Representation Theory(cDRT), and to provide an analysis of donkey anaphora. Parameterized monads are also used in this dissertation to interpret information states as lists of presuppositions, and as dot types. Alternative interpretations for demonstratives and imperatives are produced, and the conventional implicature phenomenon in linguistics substantiated, using the framework. Interpreting donkey anaphora shows that parameterized monads is able to handle the sentential dependency. Therefore, this framework shows an expressive power equal to that of related frameworks such as the typed logical grammar and the dynamic predicate logic. Interpreting imperatives via parameterized monads also provides a compositional dynamic semantic analysis which is one of the main approaches to analysing imperatives.