Semantics
K Allan
8 points
* 3 hours per week
* First semester
* Clayton
Objectives Upon completion of this subject students should be able to evaluate formal and informal methods in semantic analysis; gain a sufficient mastery of set theory, propositional and predicate calculus, and model theory to enable their use in semantic analysis and also prepare the student for an advanced course in formal semantics; be familiar with lexical, realist, conceptual, and cognitive semantics; understand how language expressions correlate with things and ideas, things that exist and things that don't; make semantic analyses of texts and formally represent the semantic relations between language expressions in them.
Synopsis The subject introduces linguistic semantics to students of linguistics and those in areas of psychology, philosophy, anthropology, sociology, communications, language studies and education. It reviews theories about meaning in natural languages, and methodologies for investigating semantics, with a view to providing the basis for further critical studies of semantics and pragmatics. The scope of semantics is outlined, relating semantics to dictionary structure, syntax, prosody and semiotics. We see how the meaning of a language expression relates to worlds and to other language expressions. Semantic relations between language expressions from words to sentences to discourses are examined in the light of decompositional and cognitive semantics, empirical semantics and model theoretic semantics. Formal semantics is introduced via set theory, propositional and predicate logic, possible worlds semantics and model theory. Finally we look at regional, cultural and social aspects of meaning.
Assessment second year Class exercises (1000 words): 15%
* Two
assignments (2500 words each): 40% each
* Class participation: 5%
Assessment third year Class exercises (1000 words): 15%
* Two
assignments (2500 words each): 40% each
* Class participation: 5%
*
Third-year students will be given additional questions on the take-home
tests.
Prescribed texts
Allan K Natural language semantics Blackwell, 1997
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