Abstract:

This contribution to the volume Semantics and Discourse surveys the main versions of Discourse Representation Theory (DRT), focussing on the treatment of anaphora à la Kamp (1981) or Heim (1982) which originally motivated the theory. Especially the version developed by Hans Kamp and his followers has now achieved a much broader linguistic coverage, but nevertheless it seems important that the DRT research programme be considered in terms of its original motivations and assumptions, because they are questioned by recent trends in 'dynamic' logical semantics (see, e.g., Groenendijk and Stokhof 1991, or Chierchia 1992). While a more detailed discussion of such logical alternatives to DRT is the subject of another article – by Helen de Hoop – in the same volume, the present author argues that DRT itself is a flexible concept within the range of variation compatible with some shared basic assumptions about binding and quantification in natural language. Two different systems for a cognitively oriented representation of multisentential discourse (as well as their possible interactions with other frameworks, like Situation Theory) are indeed described, compared and critically evaluated in the article under consideration here:

• Discourse Representation Structure (in the sense of Kamp), whose popularity in neighbouring fields of computational linguistics, artificial intelligence and cognitive science owes a lot to the appeal of its perspicuous notation;
• Irene Heim's File Change Semantics, which achieves 'dynamic' interpretation effects through pragmatic (rather than purely logical) conditions, resulting in an original account of definiteness vs. indefiniteness.

Some of the references this article is based on:

Ø   A.W. Black (1992) "Embedding DRT in a Situation Theoretic Framework", in: Coling '92, Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Computational Linguistics, Nantes.
Ø   C. Castelfranchi and D. Parisi (1980) Linguaggio, conoscenze e scopi. Il Mulino, Bologna.
Ø   G. Chierchia (1992) "Anaphora and dynamic binding", Linguistics and Philosophy, 15, pp. 111-183.
Ø   P. Gärdenfors (ed.) (1987) Generalized Quantifiers. Linguistic and Logical Approaches. Reidel, Dordrecht.
Ø   J. Groenendijk and M. Stokhof (1991) "Dynamic Predicate Logic", Linguistics and Philosophy, 14, pp. 39-100.
Ø   I. Heim (1982) The semantics of definite and indefinite noun phrases. PhD Thesis, University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
Ø   I. Heim (1990) "E-Type Pronouns and Donkey Anaphora", Linguistics and Philosophy, 13, pp. 137-178.
Ø   M. Johnson and E. Klein (1986) "Discourse, anaphora and parsing", in: Coling '86, Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Computational Linguistics, Bonn.
Ø   H. Kamp (1981) "A theory of truth and semantic representation", in: J. Groenendijk et al. (eds.) Formal Methods in the Study of Language. Mathematical Centre, Amsterdam.
Ø   H. Kamp and U. Reyle (1993) From discourse to logic. Kluwer, Dordrecht.
Ø   F. Van Eynde (ed.) (1994) Formal Semantics for Discourse – Final Report of the European Project ET10/61, University of Leuven.