New answers tagged nouns
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Denotation of common nouns
The typical assumption is that common nouns denote a set of individuals, namely all those which satisfy the predicate in the given situation. E.g. the denotation of "king" in the real world ...
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Do uncountabe (mass) nouns act as 'indefinite descriptions'?
Converted from a comment:
Yes, in English a DP can consist of only a mass noun, and that DP can then denote an entity in the real world.
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Using 'is' after non-denoting phrases
First, as Draconis's answer implies, the issue is not confined to predicates with is: you could ask the same question about sentences like A computer can't understand English.
The assumption in your ...
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Using 'is' after non-denoting phrases
This is called a gnomic sentence, expressing a universal truth about a relationship between predicates rather than a fact about a specific entity.
Similarly, consider the sentence "water freezes ...
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