G61.1340 Semantics I
Spring 2001
Monday 2:00 -- 4:45
This course presupposes Allwood et al., Logic in Linguistics, Chs 1-5 (set
theory, propositional and predicate logics). It has three components:
(1) Why semantics? Some fundamental insights, presented with little formal
technology.
Fromkin, ed., Linguistics (Blackwell, 2000). Semantics: Compositionality,
Scope, Crosscategorial parallelisms, Acquisition of meaning.
Stalnaker: Assertion
Keenan: Two kinds of presupposition in natural language
Keenan: The semantics of determiners
Beghelli--Ben-Shalom--Szabolcsi, Variation, distributivity, and the
illusion of branching, Part I
Szabolcsi: Background notions in lattice theory and generalized quantifiers
Lahiri: Focus and negative polarity in Hindi (excerpts)
Lewis: Adverbs of quantification
(2) Basic formal techniques using lambdas and quantification that are
necessary to even begin to read the formal semantic literature.
Szabolcsi's lecture notes + text to be announced
(3) Start doing some research of your own, in tighter or looser
collaboration with your classmates.
Szabolcsi, Positive polarity from a cross-linguistic perspective
Last Modified: January 17, 2001
