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.
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
- Aug 26, 28 Introduction, Chapter 1
- Sep 2, 4 Chapter 2
Module 2: Semantic Description, Chaps 3-8
- Sep 9, 11 Semantic Representations for the Computer
- Sep 16, 17, 23 Chapter 3
- Sep 25, 30, Oct 2 Chapter 4
- Oct 7, 9 Chapter 5
- Oct 14 Review
- Oct 16 Midterm
- Oct 21, 23 Chapter 6
- Oct 28, 30 Chapter 7
- Nov 4, 6 Chapter 8
Module 3: Theoretical Approaches, Chaps 9-11
- Nov 11, 13, 18 Chapter 9
- Nov 20 Chapter 10
- Nov 25, 27 Thanksgiving
- Dec 2 Finish Chapter 10
- Dec 4 Chapter 11
- Dec 9 Review
- Dec 11, Thursday, 12:30 - 1:45 Second Midterm, in class
Midterm after Chap 6 on Oct 23
Final after Chap 11, Dec 13, Saturday, 7:30 am
Syllabus Statements:
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