Course description

We speak, sign, or write to convey meaning, and we usually understand the speech we hear, the signs we see, or the texts we read. Speaking, signing, writing, listening, and reading takes place in a rich and ever-changing non-linguistic context. In this course, we will look at the complexity of linguistic utterances with an analytic mind. We will try to unravel the different cognitive abilities that allow us to deduce their meaning. The course has a theoretical and an applied part. The theoretical part introduces you to the basic ideas of formal semantics and pragmatics. In the applied part, we will do semantic fieldwork, design mini-experiments, and may make connections with legal reasoning, language acquisition, communication disorders, philosophy of language, literary theory, or education. This class is for you if you are interested in linguistic meaning, have an analytic mind, enjoy theory building, and are curious about how highly abstract theories connect with everyday situations. Prerequisite: Ling 201, Ling 401.

Readings

All readings will be made available for download from the course UDrive. You can access them with your UMail user name and password.

Lab

During the lab sessions, you practice technical skills, design and test fieldwork questionnaires or experimental materials, or think some more about a theoretical issue.

Course requirements

There will be 4 individual take-home exams related to the lectures and the lab sessions, as well as additional opportunities for earning extra credit bonus points You will also work on a small project throughout the semester in several stages. We will work out a suitable project with you individually at the beginning of the semester. Projects may involve fieldwork on a language other than Standard English or could be a psycholinguistics project related to semantics. At fixed dates, you will present (1) an outline of your project , (2) a draft for a poster, (3) a poster presentation, and (4) a final paper (at least 5 pages, typed and double spaced). The UMass Academic Honesty Policy applies. Since what is happening in class is important, you will not do well in this class if you don't attend. If you absolutely have to miss a class, make sure you work through the slides or handouts, which you can download from this website. We are also most willing to help you catch up.

Grading        

You have to do all four take-home exams and all four stages of the project work to qualify for a grade. We do not accept late or electronic submissions of written work. If you qualify for a grade, it will be computed as follows: Take-home exams: 60% (15% each). Project: Planning 10%. Poster and poster presentation: 10%. Final paper: 20%.

Contact info for Angelika Kratzer

http://people.umass.edu/kratzer/

last_name@linguist.umass.edu

Office hours: Tuesday, 3:00 - 5:00. Friday, 11:00 AM - 12::00.

South College 309.

Contact Info for Jesse Harris

http://people.umass.edu/harris/

last_name@linguist.umass.edu

Office hours:

Lab blog: http://blogs.umass.edu/linguist510-harris/