Frame Semantics and Verb Constructions
Instructor(s): Myriam Bouveret and Eve Sweetser
Description:
This course will explore generalizations about mappings between semantic frames and syntactic valence of verbs. We will give students an overview of how current construction-based approaches can bring together a cognitively based frame semantics and verb-argument constructions to give a more unified account of semantic-syntactic mappings. Students will actively develop corpus-based inquiries on the syntax-semantics interface, culminating in a short research proposal with initial supporting results. The first week will lay out the basic models of frames and constructions, applying them to verbs of separation (breaking and cutting) as a central example. In the second week, we will delve further into models of event structure and understandings of constructional as well as lexical polysemy. The third week will discuss implemented computational versions of frame/construction interaction such as FrameNet, and broaden the coverage to a range of different semantic domains. In the fourth week, student projects will be discussed, and added comparative work between semantic domains and between languages will be presented.
Prerequisites:
Basic course in syntax/semantics.
LING7800-018
Days/Times:
Tue & Fri 8:30-10:15
Classroom: STAD 112
Areas of Linguistics:
Syntax and Morphology
Semantics, Pragmatics and Discourse