LING 3430: Semantics
Fall 2008


Time and Location: Tuesday/Thursday 12:30-1:45, ECON 13
Course Credit: 3 credit hours
Office Hours: Palmer: Tuesday 2-3 and Friday 2-3, Hellems 295; Hilger: Monday 1-2, Hellems 4-6
Instructors: Professor Martha Palmer and TA: Alison Hilger
Assessment:
  • Homework 35%
  • Class Participation: 10%
  • Midterm 1 27.5%
  • Midterm 2 27.5%
  • Homeworks are due at the beginning of class on the due date. A homework turned in 1 day late will receive 85% of the grade. Another 10% will be taken off the homework grade for each additional late day. A homework turned in up to 6 days late will receive 35% of the grade. Homeworks will not be accepted more than one week late.
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    Course Objectives

    To give the student access to some of central ideas in the field of semantics and an introduction to some of its most important writers.

    Prerequisites

    LING 2000 or equivalent.

    Text

    "Semantics" by John Saeed, (2003), Blackwell Publishing, ISBN:0631226931

    Exam

    There will be a midterm and a final exam or a second midterm.

    Homework

    There will be 12 homework assignments. The lowest 2 grades will be dropped, so 10 grades will be used for the homework average.

    Content

    Theoretical and practical study of meaning in natural language. Considers both semantic theories and semantic phenomena from diverse languages. Does not treat techniques for improving the use of language.

    Module 1: Preliminaries, Chaps 1-2
    Module 2: Semantic Description, Chaps 3-8
    Module 3: Theoretical Approaches, Chaps 9-11

    Midterm after Chap 6 on Oct 23
    Final after Chap 11, Dec 13, Saturday, 7:30 am

    Syllabus Statements:

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