Advanced Semantic Theory

Module Code: PLIN0020

About

In this module you will learn about advanced theoretical topics in Natural Language Semantics, by conducting original research on a linguistic phenomenon that concerns 'meaning' in a language that you do not speak natively, preferably a language that is understudied in the theoretical literature (so, avoid English, French, German, Mandarin Chinese, etc.). The lectures are meant to help you identify a topic to work on. All the course materials (slides, lecture notes, references, etc.) will be uploaded on this webpage.

Assessment

It is necessary to find an informant that you can consult with throughout the semester with whom you will arrange regular data elicitation sessions. Your primary task in this module is to identify an interesting semantic phenomenon in that language, and give an presentation at the end of the module. The final mark is based on an in-class presentation on 12 December 2020 (20%) and a final essay (2500 words, 80%, due on 16 January 2020) that summarises your findings and their theoretical implications.

You can write about any aspect of your language, as long as 'meaning' is involved. It can be semantic or pragmatic. It can be about the syntax-semantics interface, morphology and pragmatics, etc.

You should desribe what you have noticed in your language (description) and then try to discuss it from a theoretical perfective. The theoretical discussion can be about language universals and diversity (e.g. whether or not honorifics in Japanese pose an issue for effability) or it can be specific to the phenomenon you are looking at (e.g. what is the semantics and pragmatics of dual in Slovenian, in light of the markedness among number cateogries).

Please consult the Moodle site (https://moodle.ucl.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=9026) for more information about the assessment.

Schedule and Lecture Notes

Week 1 (3 Oct): Universals and variation in natural language semantics

Week 2 (10 Oct): Number marking

The teaching material for this week is Chapters 1 and 2 (and maybe Chapter 6) of the lecture notes here.

Week 3 (17 Oct): Gender

Slides (pdf)

Week 4 (24 Oct): Tense and Aspect

Slides (pdf)

Week 5 (31 Oct): Comparatives and other degree constructions

Slides (pdf)

Week 6 (14 Nov): Indexicals and Perspectival Items

Slides (pdf)

Week 7 (21 Nov): Politeness and Discourse Particles

Slides (pdf)

Week 8 (28 Nov): No class (strike)

Week 9 (5 Dec): No class

Week 10 (12 Dec): Student presentations

Essay Topics

Supplementary Readings

Here are some additional readings on semantic fieldwork:

If you want to know more about the basics of formal semantics, there's a number of introductory textbooks (no need to all, obviously; they overlap a lot):