Re: DTD Notation raises a question

[Jonathan Borden <jborden@mediaone.net>]

John Cowan wrote:
>
> But CJD, JCD, and SSE really do mean the same thing (at least in
> humans).  As Jonathan Borden posted, they have different sociolinguistic
> implications.  But if you believe in semantics as distinct from
> pragmatics, they have identical semantics.
>

Ouch. Please define the terms "semantics" and "pragmatics" in a formal
manner such that I am able to apply a formal test to two terms to see if
they do have identical semantics... I am afraid the the only such answer you
will be able to reasonably come up with is: "they have identical semantics
because this particular document -defines- them as such" * and the only
reason to believe such a definition is a pragmatic one (e.g. we can't get
anything done if we don't speak the same language)

-Jonathan

*see Quine's 'Two Dogmas of Empiricism' if there is any question about this.