Students workload: ECTS: 4; 1h lectures + 1h seminar (30 h) + 60 h of preparation and seminar papers

Transcription

1 University of Zadar English Department COURSE SYLLABUS Course: Semantics Year: 3 rd Semester: 5 th Course prerequisites: Introduction to the Study of English Language and Linguistics Lecturer: Jadranka Ančić, prof. Sanja Škifić, prof. Office hours: Wednesday, 15:30-17:30 h or by appointment (room no. 1510) sskific@unizd.hr Students workload: ECTS: 4; 1h lectures + 1h seminar (30 h) + 60 h of preparation and seminar papers Aim and the structure of the course: The course aims to introduce the fundamental notions and key terms of the linguistic science of semantics. Students are introduced to the complex issues of meaning relations. These issues will be presented as to cover three major semantic areas: 1. meaning of isolated lexemes 2. sense relations on the paradigmatic level (vocabulary structure) 3. meaning and the interrelationship of semantics and syntax (syntagmatic level) Week Topic SYLLABUS (2009/10) 1. L: Introduction to Semantics as a Scientific Discipline S: Basic Ideas in Semantics: Sentences, Utterances, and Propositions; Reference and Sense 2. L: Nature and Types of Linguistic Meaning

2 S: Speaker Meaning vs. Sentence (Word) Meaning 3. L: Linguistic Sign (de Saussure, Ogden and Richards) S: Components of Word Meaning 4. L: Reference and Sense S: Referring Expressions, Predicates, Universe of Discourse, Deixis and Definiteness 5. L: Sense relations 1: Synonymy and Antonymy S: Absolute Synonymy; Levels of Oppositeness 6. L: Sense relations 2: Homonymy, Polysemy, and Hyponymy S: Similarities and Differences between Homonymy and Polysemy 7. Mid-term test 8. L: Lexeme meaning- Componential Analysis S: Decomposition of Lexeme Meaning Using Different Models 9. L: Semantic (Lexical) Fields; Collocations and Idioms S: Types of Semantic Fields 10. L: Figurative Speech: Metaphor and Metonymy S: Traditional vs. Cognitive Approach to Non-literal Meaning 11. L: Cognitive Semantics 1: Prototype Theory and Categorization S: Words and Things: Extensions and Prototypes 12. L: Cognitive Semantics 2: Scenes and Frames; Schemas S: Traditional vs. Cognitive Approach to Word Meaning 13. L: Semantics and Syntax; Semantics and Pragmatics S: Speech acts, Perlocutions and Illocutions; Felicity Conditions; Propositions and Illocutions; Conversational Implicatures 14. End-term test

3 Course requirements: Students are required to attend lectures regularly (minimum 70% of lectures) and participate actively in seminar discussions. Students are also required to write a seminar paper individually or in groups. Seminar topics are to be discussed with the course lecturer during office hours or by . Seminar papers should be handed in by 11 January Students who do not hand in their seminar papers in time will not be allowed to take the final exam. Assessment: Final grade depends on the following factors: final exam grade (40%), mid-term and end-term exam results (40%), attendance (10%), active participation in seminar discussions (10%). All exams are written. Mid-term test: 25 November 2009 at 18:00, room nb. 131 End-term test: 27 January 2010 at 18:00, room nb. 131 Exam terms: 5 February 2010 at 12:00, room nb February at 12:00, room nb September at 12:00, room nb September at 12:00, room nb. 131 Literature: Cruse, D. A Meaning in Language. Oxford University Press. Cruse, D.A Lexical Semantics. Cambridge University Press. Hurford, James R., Heasley, B., Smith, Michael B (2 nd ed.) Semantics- A Course Book. Cambridge University Press. Leech, G.N Semantics. Penguin. Lyons, J Semantics (Vol I and Vol II). Cambridge University Press. Palmer, F.R Semantics- A New Outline. Cambridge University Press.

4 INTRODUCTION TO SEMANTICS The terms semantics and meaning Semantics and linguistics Historical semantics Semantics and other disciplines REFERENCE AND SENSE Naming

5 Concepts Sense and reference The word The sentence INTRODUCTION TO LEXICAL SEMANTICS (what is a word?; approaches to lexical semantics.)cruse SENSE AND REFERENCE Linguistic relativity The exclusion of context Context of situation Behaviourism Context, culture and style METHODS OF SEMANTIC ANALYSIS: TRADITIONAL AND CONTEMPORARY APPROACHES TO COMPONENTIAL ANALYSIS LEXICAL SEMANTICS: FIELDS AND COLLOCATION Paradigmatic and syntagmatic Semantic fields Colour systems Collocation

6 Idioms SEMANTICALLY RELATED LEXEMES (PARADIGMATIC LEVEL): SEMANTIC OR LEXICAL FIELDS ANTONYMY LEXICAL SEMANTICS: SENSE RELATIONS (I) Some simple logic Hyponymy Synonymy Antonymy Relational opposites LEXICAL SEMANTICS: SENSE RELATIONS (II) Polysemy and homonymy Components The problem of universals Review I Mid-of-term test

7 UTTERANCE MEANING The spoken language Topic and comment Performatives and speech acts Presupposition Implicatures INTRODUCTION TO COGNITIVE SEMANTICS: PROTOTYPE THEORY FIGURATIVE SPEECH Metaphor Metonymy Synecdoche TRADITIONAL AND CONTEMPORARY APPROACHES TO METAPHOR AND METONYMY THE POWER OF WORD Connotation Denotation Euphemisms Word association

8 KNOWLEDGE OF LANGUAGE AND KNOWLEDGE OF THE WORLD: SCENES AND FRAMES; CATEGORIES (PROTOTYPES AND SCHEMAS) SEMANTICS AND GRAMMAR; SEMANTICS AND PRAGMATICS Components and the sentence Predicates and arguments Case grammar Sentence types and modality SEMANTICS AND LOGIC Logic and language Propositional logic Predicate logic Intension and extension Truth-conditional semantics Truth conditions and linguistics Review II End-of-term test

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