Full Idea
Truth is the essential semantic concept with which to begin a top-down analysis of sentences, since truth, or lack of it, is the most obvious semantic property of sentences, and provides the clearest explanation of judging and conveying information.
Gist of Idea
Top-down semantic analysis must begin with truth, as it is obvious, and explains linguistic usage
Source
Donald Davidson (Truth and Predication [2005], Intro)
Book Reference
Davidson,Donald: 'Truth and Predication' [Belknap Harvard 2005], p.2
A Reaction
[a bit compressed] Presumably this goes with giving sentences semantic priority. The alternative approach is compositional, and is likely to give reference of terms priority over truth of the sentence. But accurate reference is a sort of truth.
Related Idea
Idea 19131 We recognise sentences at once as linguistic units; we then figure out their parts [Davidson]