| DAY | DATE
| TOPIC | READINGS AND ASSIGNMENTS
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| M | Aug 23
| Introduction. Organizational issues. What is meaning? Narrowing
the focus of study to what semanticists mean by
'meaning'. Representations: linguistic representations (e.g. words,
sentences), other semiotic
representations (e.g. traffic lights and other non-linguistic
signals/symbols), and perceptual, non-semiotic or partially semiotic
representations (pictures, movies, dance, music).
| No reading.
|
| W | Aug 25
| What is meaning? The semiotic triangle: Name/label; concept;
referent.
Basic concepts and distinctions in Semantics: Expression meaning
(non-contextualized), utterance meaning (contextualized), and
communicative meaning (contextualized, with inferences). Lexical meaning vs sentential meaning. Exploring the meaning
of a word (assassinate) via semantic intuitions.
| Riemer 13-21; Löbner 3-11)
|
| F | Aug 27
| Meaning triangle reviewed. Background for the logical theory of
meaning. The 'referential theory'
of meaning. Is meaning just reference? Problems.
Introducing "Sense": an important component of
meaning lying outside reference to things in the world. (Where? In our
minds? in the community? there are different views.) Sense vs. reference.
| Riemer and Löbner readings above cont.; Riemer 87-98
|
| M | Aug 30
| Background for the logical approach to meaning cont.
Sense and Reference cont. Referentiality. Referential and
non-referential expressions. Reference and predication.
| Riemer 87-98 cont; Cruse 19-26.
|
| W | Sept 1
| Denotation vs. Reference. Propositions. Compositionality. Issues
in Compositionality. Idioms; Collocations; Cliches.
| Cruse
19-26; Cruse 67-77.
Assignment 1, change in plan as of Sept 1 12:00pm: In class I told
students assignment 1 would be posted on this date. However,
we will not have Assignment 1 yet. We are going to wait until Sept. 13.
|
| F | Sept 3
| Meaning as Logic.
| Note: We discovered most students in the class have not had any
logic at all. I assigned Saeed 305-354 for Sept 3, and we covered some
simple representations in propositional logic in class. But we can
take a step back and start with the groundwork contained in the
readings by Riemer and Lobner in the Resources under Formal Semantics.
Riemer 173-178; Lobner 57-62.
|
| M | Sept 6
| Labor Day - no class.
| Read Riemer and Lobner as above; can preview Saeed reading which
we will cover in more detail later.)
|
| W | Sept 8
| Meaning and truth. Prepositional logic and truth-functional
connectives. Meaning in logic and meaning in natural language.
| Riemer 173-178 as background. Riemer 179-189 and Lobner 57-62. (Saeed can be previewed)
|
| F | Sept 10
| Basic predicate logic. Translating English into a logical
metalanguage; solving some problems in logical representation of
language. Ambiguity; quantifiers.
| Riemer 189-201. Saeed 305-315
|
| M | Sept 13 | Formal Semantics: The
Semantics of the Logical Metalanguage (Saeed 315-322). How formal
semantics deals with lexical meaning: meaning postulates (Saeed
323-325). | Saeed 315-325; (useful extra: Larson 1-25, a summary on
Formal Semantics). Problem Assignment #1 posted.
|
| W | Sept 15
|
| Saeed 325-337; graduate students also Saeed 340-438 (on anaphora and
quantifiers); Riemer 215-216; Frawley 29-33
|
| F | Sept 17
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| M | Sept 20
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| W | Sept 22
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| F | Sept 24
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Problem Assignment #1 due before class. Grace
period until 5:00 p.m.
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| M | Sept 27
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| W | Sept 29
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| F | Oct 1
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| M | Oct 4
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| W | Oct 6
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| F | Oct 8
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| M | Oct 11
| Midterm Break: No Class
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| W | Oct 13
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| F | Oct 15
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| M | Oct 18
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| W | Oct 20
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| F | Oct 22
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| M | Oct 25
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| W | Oct 27
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| F | Oct 29
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| M | Nov 1
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| W | Nov 3
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| F | Nov 5
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| M | Nov 8
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| W | Nov 10
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| F | Nov 12
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| M | Nov 15
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| W | Nov 17
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| F | Nov 19
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| M | Nov 22
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| W | Nov 24
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| F | Nov 26
| Thanksgiving holiday, no class
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| M | Nov 29
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| W | Dec 1
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| F | Dec 3
| Conclusion
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