Work Unit:
Kisii University, Kenya; Kisii University, Kenya
Issue:
Vol.9 No.2 (Serial No.15) 2021
Page:
68-94
Date:
2021-12-31
Abstract:
The paper examines some doctrines of the Davidsonian Programme of truth conditional Semantics that relates truth to meaning using Tarski’s T-Convention, in relation to its efficacy in a semantic valuation of the EkeGusii proverb: Nda ’indongi ereta morogi ereta moibi which exemplifies a kind of complex sentence that a given system of Semantics is meant to account for. The coverage of Davidsonian truth-conditional notion of T-convention and that of compositionality are considered to have only a partial reach in accounting for the meaning of the proverb by not incorporating pragmatic aspects. The failure of T-convention is not alleviated by the adoption of radical interpretation as posited by Davidson but is extended to consider aspects of pragmatic enrichment and dynamic Semantics.
Key Words:
truth-conditions, pragmatics, axiomatic truth-conditional semantics, compositionality, radical interpretation
DOI:
doi: 10.26478/ja2021.9.15.4
References:
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