The Semantics of Dynamic Conjunction
Paul Dekker

 
In this paper we argue that a formal discourse- or dialogue-oriented theory
of interpretation does not presuppose a dynamic notion of meaning. For the
compositional interpretation of anaphorical or other rhetorical relations
in discourse, a richer notion of conjunction may be needed, but not a
dynamic notion of meaning. The dynamics of interpretation can be understood
to reside in the (classical) combination of the contents of various
sentences which are located at different positions in discourse. We also
argue that by shifting the focus towards the interaction between meaning
and context, the dynamics of merging information can be fruitfully studied
from a perspective more general than a strictly linear one.

To be published in: Logic, Language and Computation III, ed: Jerry Seligman 
and Patrick Blackburn, CSLI, Stanford, forthcoming.