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24.903

Language and Its Structure III: Semantics and Pragmatics

3-0-9 units. HASS-S · Undergraduate

Introduction to fundamental concepts in semantic and pragmatic theory. Basic issues of form and meaning in natural languages. Ambiguities of structure and of meaning. Compositionality. Word meaning. Quantification and logical form. Contexts: indexicality, discourse, presupposition and conversational implicature. Students taking graduate version complete different assignments.

Spring 2005

Topics

  • Review Session 1
  • Gricean Story about “or” again
  • Supplementing Material Conditional Truth-Conditions for “if” with Pragmatic Inferences
  • Quantifiers
  • Review Session 2
  • More on the Past Tense and whether it is Referential or involves Existential Quantification (Contextually Restricted)
  • Modals
  • Review Session 3

Readings

  • Portner, Paul H. What is Meaning? Fundamentals of Formal Semantics . Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2005. ISBN: 1405109181. (Paperback)
    Listed reading
  • von Fintel, Kai. “If” – Semantics, Pragmatics, and One Little Word . Draft, MIT. (In progress) (Note: Not available to OCW users)
    Listed reading
  • Many of the readings are from the text book: Portner, Paul H. What is Meaning? Fundamentals of Formal Semantics . Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2005. ISBN: 1405109181. (Paperback)
    Listed reading
  • Required Reading
    Listed reading
  • Optional Reading
    Listed reading
  • Grice, H. P. “Meaning.” The Philosophical Review 66, no. 3 (1957): 377-388.
    Listed reading
  • Partee, Barbara H., Alice ter Meulen, and Robert E. Wall. “Statement Logic.” In Mathematical Methods on Linguistics . Boston, MA: Kluwer, 1987, chapter 6, sections 6.1-6.4, pp. 97-112. ISBN: 9027722447.
    Listed reading
  • Partee, Barbara H., Alice ter Meulen, and Robert E. Wall. “Basic Concepts of Logic and Formal Systems.” In Mathematical Methods on Linguistics . Boston, MA: Kluwer, 1987, chapter 5, sections 6.5 and 6.6. ISBN: 9027722447.
    Listed reading
  • Read the article on disjunction by R. E. Jennings in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy . Read especially carefully the section on “ The Myth of Vel and Aut .” ↗
    Listed reading
  • Partee, Barbara H., Alice ter Meulen, and Robert E. Wall. Mathematical Methods on Linguistics . Boston, MA: Kluwer, 1987, chapters 1 and 2 (Sets, Relations, Functions). ISBN: 9027722447.
    Listed reading
  • Heim, Irene, and Angelika Kratzer. “Relative Clauses, Variables, Variable Binding.” In Semantics in Generative Grammar . Malden, MA: Blackwell, 1998, pp. 86-105. ISBN: 0631197125.
    Listed reading

Prerequisites & course information

Subject meets with 24.933 Prereq: 24.900 or 24.9000 U (Spring) 3-0-9 units. HASS-S

Sources