Rethinking the semantics of complex nominals

Abstract

Complex Nominais (CNs) have simple syntactic structure that conceals non-trivial semantic characteristics. While speakers of natural languages combine noun(s)/adjective(s) with a head noun to indicate existing or novel concepts with ease, formalizing such a semantic process, however, has proven to be a daunting task. In this paper, we present a unified semantic approach for constructions involving a head-noun and modifier(s), i.e., adjective(s)/noun(s). Based on a rigorous typing system, this approach uses set intersection as the only underlying semantic rule. We argue that this novel approach is compositional and warrants consistent inferences. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2007.