Semantics
Master's Degree Programme Humanities Studies
Objectives and competences
• Students are introduced to classical and current theoretical achievements in the linguistic field of semantics;
• They are acquainted with major topics like compositionality, type theory, extensional and intensional meaning, etc.
Prerequisites
Formal Foundations of Linguistic Theory
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This course is a second-study-year course for the students of the Master's Degree Programme Humanities Studies.
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This course is a first-study-year course for the students of the Master's Degree Programme Humanities Studies - Double Degree.
Content
This course is intended not only as an overview of the modern field of semantics but also as a source for the acquisition of formal tools for semantic analysis. These tools allow us to compositionally interpret different syntactic structures available across languages.
Intended learning outcomes
Students acquire a basic overview of classical and current semantic theorizing on:
theories of meaning,
compositionality and the syntax-semantics interface,
relations and non-verbal predicates,
modification,
definiteness,
quantification, quantifier movement, restrictions on quantifier movement,
relative clauses,
deictic and anaphoric reference.
Readings
- Heim, I. and A. Kratzer. 1998. Semantics in generative grammar. Boston: Blackwell. Catalogue E-version
- Chierchia, G. and S. McConnell-Ginet. 1990. Meaning and grammar, MIT Press. Catalogue E-version
- de Swart, H. 1998. Introduction to natural language semantics, CSLI Publications. Catalogue E-version
- Članki iz znanstvenih revij, kot sta Natural language semantics E-version, Journal of Semantics Catalogue E-version, Linguistics and Philosophy E-version
Assessment
Class attendance and active participation during lectures and seminars, 2 homework assignments, • written or oral final examination.
Lecturer's references
SAUERLAND, Uli, STATEVA, Penka. Two types of vagueness. V: ÉGRÉ, Paul (ur.), KLINEDINST, Nathan (ur.). Vagueness and language use, (Palgrave studies in pragmatics, language and cognition). Hampshire; New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011, str. 121-145.
STEPANOV, Arthur, STATEVA, Penka. When QR disobeys superiority. Linguist. inq., 2009, vol. 40, no. 1, str. 176-185.
STEPANOV, Arthur, STATEVA, Penka. Successive cyclicity as residual wh-scope marking. Lingua. [Print ed.], dec. 2006, vol. 116, no. 12, str. 2107-2153.
STATEVA, Penka, How different are different degree expressions? MIT Working papers in Linguistics, 2002.