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Lesser-Known Quotes on Meaning

Th. R. Hofman

University of Ottawa

“Meaning is a birdsnest in a syntactic tree”
N. Chomsky, 1955, Qualifying Exam, U. Penn.
   (reported at Chgo Ling Soc 15.5)
 
“Meaning is a mare’s nest in a structural tree”
L. Bloomfield, nightmare on meeting Z. Harris
   (reconstructed from extant texts, L. Kelly)
 
“Meaning is the sap that gives life to a barren syntactic tree”
R. Montague, 1972, B.L.S. Party
 
“Syntactic trees are meaning, seen dimly through linguistic-splattered glasses”
Anonymous, Semantics Camp, 1979
 

Great Moments in Linguistic History
T-Shirt Logos—Peggy McCardle and Ruth Armentrout
Son of Lingua Pranca Contents