Possible worlds semantics for pictures

Abstract

Prepublication version of handbook article.Possible worlds semantics for pictures is reviewed. Pictures are mapped to propositional semantic values by a geometric method. On this basis, an account of the temporal interpretation of pictorial narratives is constructed. Another pragmatic aspect of pictorial narratives is anaphora or indexing across pictures in a sequence. An argument based on sentences that describe pictures indicates that the semantics for pictures should represent a distinguished viewpoint. There is an analogy between ambiguity in language and ambiguous pictures. Perceptual semantics for pictures considers the effect of pictures on viewers