This course is an introduction to the formal semantics of natural language. We introduce central concepts and issues in semantics, and develop a basic formal compositional model of meaning, extending it as we go to accommodate a wider range of empirical phenomena.  An emphasis will be on students developing skills in semantic analysis and argumentation.

Topics – Week 1 (Stephanie Solt): Link to course material (password announced in class)

• Introduction and basic concepts (nature of meaning; meaning and truth; semantics vs. pragmatic; meaning relations)

• The formal representation of meaning (predicates and arguments; functions and sets; logical connectives; semantic types)

• Meaning composition (compositional rules; lambda abstraction; lambda conversion, modification)

•  Quantification (logical quantifiers; quantifier scope; generalized quantifiers and their properties)

Topics – Week 2 (Jeremy Kuhn): Link to course material

•  Pronouns and binding

• Intensionality, modality, and possible worlds

• Focus and alternatives 

Optional Reading

Kearns, Kate (2011). Semantics (2nd edition). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.