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24.954

Pragmatics in Linguistic Theory

3-0-9 units · Graduate

Formal theories of context-dependency, presupposition, implicature, context-change, focus and topic. Special emphasis on the division of labor between semantics and pragmatics. Applications to the analysis of quantification, definiteness, presupposition projection, conditionals and modality, anaphora, questions and answers.

Spring 2010

This course is the third and final part of our graduate introduction to semantics. The other two classes are _24.970 Introduction to Semantics_ and _24.973 Advanced Semantics_. The semester will be divided into somewhat independent units. One unit will be devoted to conversational implicatures (mainly scalar implicatures) and another to presupposition. In each unit, we will discuss basic concepts and technical tools and then devote some time to recent work which illustrates their application.

Readings

Fall 2006

The course introduces formal theories of context-dependency, presupposition, implicature, context-change, focus and topic. Special emphasis is on the division of labor between semantics and pragmatics. It also covers applications to the analysis of quantification, definiteness, presupposition projection, conditionals and modality, anaphora, questions and answers.

Readings

  • Gamut, L. T. F. Logic, Language, and Meaning . Vol. 1, Introduction to Logic . Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1990, chapter 6, 6.1-6.8. ISBN: 978022628085.
    Listed reading
  • Grice, H. P. “Logic and Conversations.” William James Lectures , Harvard University, 1967. Typescript.
    Listed reading
  • Fox, Danny. “Free Choice Disjunction and the Theory of Scalar Implicatures.” Manuscript, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2006.
    Listed reading
  • Sauerland, Uli. “Scalar Implicatures in Complex Sentences.” Linguistics and Philosophy 27, no. 3 (2004): 367-391.
    Listed reading
  • Magri, Giorgio. “Individual Level Predicates and Blind Scalar Implicatures.” Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2006, chapter 1.
    Listed reading
  • Groenendijk, Jeroen, and Martin Stokhof. “Semantic Analysis of Wh -Complements.” Linguistics and Philosophy 5 (1982): 175-233.
    Listed reading
  • Heim, Irene. “Interrogative Semantics and Karttunen’s Semantics for Know.” Edited by Buchalla, Rhonna, and Anita Mitwoch. Proceedings of the IATL 9th Annual Conference, 1994, pp. 128-144.
    Listed reading
  • Hagstrom, Paul. “What Questions Mean.” Glot International 7, no. 7/8 (September/October 2003): 188-201. ( PDF ) ↗
    Listed reading
  • Beck, Sigrid, and Hotze Rullman. “A Flexible Approach to Exhaustivity in Questions.” Natural Language Semantics 7 (1999): 249-298.
    Listed reading
  • Sharvit, Yael. “Embedded Questions and ‘De Dicto’ Readings.” Natural Language Semantics 10 (2002): 97-123.
    Listed reading
  • Guerzoni, Elena, and Yael Sharvit. “A Question of Strength: On NPIs in Interrogative Clauses.” Linguistics and Philosophy (2006). Forthcoming.
    Listed reading
  • Fox, Danny, and Martin Hackl. “The Universal Density of Measurement.” Linguistics and Philosophy 29, no. 5 (2006): 537-586.
    Listed reading
  • Heim, Irene. “Presupposition Projection.” Edited by R. van der Sandt. “Presupposition, Lexical Meaning and Discourse Processes: Workshop Reader.” University of Nijmegen, 1990.
    Listed reading
  • ———. “On the Projection Problem for Presuppositions.” Pragmatics: A Reader . Edited by Steven Davis. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1991. ISBN: 9780195058987.
    Listed reading
  • Schlenker, Philippe. “Be Articulate! A Pragmatic Theory of Presupposition Projection.” Manuscript, UCLA and Institut Jean-Nicod, 2006. To appear in Theoretical Linguistics (2008). ( PDF ) ↗
    Listed reading
  • Schwarz, Florian. “Processing Presupposed Content.” Manuscript, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, 2006. To appear in the Journal of Semantics .
    Listed reading

Prerequisites & course information

Prereq: Permission of instructor G (Fall) 3-0-9 units

Sources