Asignatura: Prácticas de Gramática Inglesa I
Año Académico: 2004/2005
Código: 31973203
Titulación: Licenciatura de Filología Inglesa
Carácter: Obligatoria
Ciclo: 2º
Curso: 3º
Cuatrimestre: 1º
Créditos Teóricos y Prácticos: 6 Créditos (2 T+ 4 P)
Departamento: Filología Inglesa y Alemana
Área De Conocimiento: Filología Inglesa
Profesor: Francisco Gonzálvez García
1. OBJECTIVES AND METHODOLOGY:
The aim of this course is to provide students with a cursory analysis of central topics
in English contemporary lexicology and semantics from both a theoretical and descriptive
standpoint, with special focus on the relationship between grammar and semantics. Lectures
will be delivered in English. Students will be asked to take active participation in class
discussions as well as to do some complementary readings on specific aspects of the syllabus
to be determined in class.
2. SYLLABUS:
1. CLEARING THE GROUND: SOME BASIC UNITS OF SEMANTIC
DESCRIPTION
1.1. The definition and scope of semantics. Its relationship to syntax and
pragmatics.
1.2. The meaning of “meaning”.
1.3. Lexemes and word-forms.
1.4. Lexical meaning and grammatical meaning”.
1.5. Synonymy, antonymy, polysemy and homonymy.
1.6. Predication, attribution and modification.
2. FROM SEMANTICS TO PRAGMATICS: A WORLD OF USERS
2.1. Why do we need Pragmatics?
2.2. Presupposition, conventional implicature and conversational implicature.
Grice´s Cooperative Principle.
2.3. Speech act theory: a taxonomy of speech acts. Direct speech acts and
indirect speech acts.
2.4. Pragmatics and discourse analysis: the notion of politeness.
3. GRAMMATICAL WORDS, SEMANTIC ROLES, AND SYNTACTIC
FUNCTIONS
3.1. A semantic classification of nouns: common/proper,
countable/uncountable, concrete/abstract.
3.2. A semantic classification of adjectives: stative/dynamic, gradable/nongradable, inherent/non-inherent.
3.3. A semantic classification of verbs: a repertoire of the most recurrent
verb classes in English.
3.4. A (syntactico-)semantic classification of adverbs: adjuncts,
subjuncts, conjuncts, and disjuncts.
3.5. An inventory of the semantic roles commonly associated with the
most typical syntactic functions in English.
3.6. The notion of valency and the concept of syntactic pattern. An
outline of the basic sentence patterns in English.
4. THE SEMANTICS OF THE ENGLISH VERB PHRASE (i): TENSE,
ASPECT, PHASE AND VOICE.
4.1. The tense system in English: its semantic implications.
4.2. The aspect system in English: its semantic implications.
4.3. The phase system in English: its semantic implications.
4.4. The voice system in English: its semantic implications.
5. THE SEMANTICS OF THE ENGLISH VERB PHRASE (II): MOOD
AND MODALITY
5.1. Towards a definition of modality.
5.2. Factivity and the realis/irrealis distinction.
5.3. Knowledge modality: necessity and possibility.
5.4. Influence or agent-oriented modality: obligation, permission, prohibition
and exemption.
5.5. The semantics of the imperative and the subjunctive in English.
6. ASSESSMENT:
There will be a final exam, consisting of three basic types of exercises: (i) an
essay-like commentary on a general topic taking a quote or a small corpus as the point
of departure for your contentions, (ii) definition and exemplification of concepts, and
(iii) grammatical commentary in which the students will be asked to demonstrate their
command of the subject at a practical level. The paper is to be written in English. Gross
use-of-English mistakes will be penalized.
7. RECOMMENDED BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Dixon, R.M.W. (1991), A New Approach to Grammar, on Semantic Principles. Oxford:
Clarendon Press.
Frawley, W. (1993), Linguistic Semantics. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Greenbaum, S. & R. Quirk. (1991), A Student´s Grammar of the English Language.
London: Longman.
Leech, G. (1971), Meaning and the English Verb. London: Longman.
Levinson, S.C. (1989), Pragmatics. Cambridge: CUP.
Lyons, J. (1977), Semantics (2 vols.). Cambridge: CUP.
Lyons, J. (1995), Linguistic Semantics: An Introduction. Cambridge: CUP:
Palmer, F. (1986), Mood and modality. Cambridge: CUP.
Parsons, T. (1994), Events in the Semantics of English: A Study of Subatomic Semantics.
Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
Pustejovsky, J. (ed.) (1993), Semantics and the Lexicon. Dordrecht: Kluwer.
Quirk, R. et al. (1985), A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language. London:
Longman.
Wierzbicka, A. (1988), The Semantics of Grammar. Amsterdam/North Holland: John
Benjamin