Ling 53: Semantics 1

Winter 2003

Bill Ladusaw

This course is an introduction to linguistic meaning and interpretation. It covers both semantics, the meaning of words and sentences, and pragmatics, the how language is used and understood.

The course investigates the nature of our intuitions about meaning, analyzing them in terms of the role they play in communication and inference through language.

The required written work consists of weekly problem sets, two of which will count as midterms, and a final exam.

The course is a requirement for students in Linguistics and Language Studies. It should also be of interest to students in Anthropology, Literature, Psychology and Philosophy, students bound for Law School, as well as Computer Science and Engineering students interested in natural language processing.

No previous work in linguistics is presupposed. The course carries the General Education Code IH.