Linguistics 5430: Semantics and Pragmatics
Spring 2007


Time
 TR 11:00-12:30
Place
 Humanities 190
Instructor
 Laura Michaelis
Office hours
 TR 2:00-3:15
Office
 Hellems 292
Voicemail
 303.492.1990
Email
 laura.michaelis AT colorado.edu

Class Schedule, Presentation Teams and Notes

  • Click here for the class schedule, including the schedule of presentations.
  • Click here for the latest list of presentation teams.
  • Note: The term paper proposal will now be due by Monday, April 2. Download Term Paper Guidelines below for information about proposal format and the term paper itself. 
  • Note: The term paper is due on Monday, May 7, at 5pm in hard copy in my office (if I'm not there, slide it under the door or put it in my departmental mailbox). This date supersedes that on the downloadable syllabus.
  • Note: Please print the term paper single-sided and aim for a length of no greater than 20 pages and no fewer than 10 pages. Single spacing is fine, as long as you format for wide (1.5-inch) margins.
Course Description

In this class, we will explore the cognitive faculties that enable people to interpret language in context and use language appropriately. Our exploration will require us to look closely and critically at a wide variety of theories that have been used to describe these faculties. These theories fall into two general, intersecting categories:  theories that ask what kinds of categories words and constructions denote (semantic theories) and  theories that ask how linguistic form is related to conversational context (pragmatic theories). During this exploration, we will learn to use linguistic data (language deployed in context) to make our own generalizations about the nature of the linguistic blueprint that we use to construct meaning. We will consider questions like the following:
  • Why do speakers make the linguistic choices that they do?
  • What is the best representational system for capturing the syntax-semantics interface?
  • Do grammatical differences among languages entail differences among conceptual systems?
  • Can linguistic meaning be represented in logical formalism?
  • What does meaning have to do with human construal, e.g., ‘folk’ analogical models?
  • How do people perform actions through language?
  • In what ways are word meanings enriched in context?
  • Is meaning change random or are there tendencies in meaning change?
Readings

We will use a basic text (the Saeed book) and more advanced readings, both from the other required books and from the reserve readings. The advanced readings will elaborate on concepts introduced in the basic text.

Croft, William and D.A. Cruse. 2004. Cognitive Linguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Electronic reserves. See Readings for the Semester handout below.
Lakoff, George. 1987.  Women, Fire and Dangerous Things. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Levinson, Stephen. 1983.  Pragmatics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Saeed, John I. 2003. Semantics, Second Edition. Oxford: Blackwell.

Downloads

Here you will be able to download homework assignment sheets, handouts, study sheets and Powerpoint presentations that I will give in class. Handouts and presentations will be posted at least one day prior to the date on which they will be used; homeworks and study sheets will be posted as least a week prior to their due date.
Communication

As of Thursday, January 18th, you can subscribe to the class list serve. This list will enable you to receive updates from the instructor and also post questions and comments to the instructor and other class members. Subscribe by sending an email to listproc@lists.colorado.edu containing the following command:

subscribe ling5430_07 Yourfirstname Yourlastname

For example, class member Bertrand Russell would place the following content in his email:

subscribe ling5430_07 Bertrand Russell