Semantics of the English language
Posted on 21/06/2010Updated on 10/10/2023by adminCategories:5. semestar
Course
title: Semantics
of
the
English
language
Name
of
course
coordinator:
Professor
Irena
Zovko
Dinković
Name
of
lecturer: Dr.
Janja
Čulig
Suknaić,
postdoc
Number
of
credits: 6
Language
of
instruction: English
Semester:
5
(autumn)
Status:
obligatory
Type
of
course: 4
periods,
lecture
Prerequisites:
a
pass
mark
in English
Syntax
2:
The
Sentence
Assessment
method: Written
Course objectives and contents: The objective of the course is to introduce students
to the complexities of meaning phenomena, as well as to different theoretical frameworks,
both traditional and contemporary. The course introduces students to the complex issues
of meaning 1) on the level of lexemes or words, 2) on the paradigmatic level, or the
vocabulary structure and 3) to the relationship between semantics and syntax, or the
relationships on the syntagmatic level. Basic traditional semantic concepts are discussed,
such as homonymy, synonymy, polisemy, antonymy, metaphor and metonymy, and
paradigmatic and sintagmatic relations that arise from the construction grammar
approach
to
meaning
in
language.
Course schedule:
Week
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
Topic
Introduction to semantics.
The development of semantics as a scientific discipline.
Research topics and methods.
Paradigmatic relations: synonymy.
Paradigmatic relations: antonymy.
Paradigmatic relations: polysemy and homonymy.
Paradigmatic relations: hyponymy.
First preliminary exam.
Metaphor and metonymy.
Multimodality.
Categorization.
Syntagmatic relations: construction grammars and meaning.
Syntagmatic relations: construction grammars and cognitive grammar.
Second preliminary exam.
Results and discussion.
Student
obligations
and
evaluation
elements::
Students should attend class regularly and participate in in-class discussions. Students
will be able to revise the course material in class and will get reading assignments several
times during the semester. The course material is taught systematically according to the
topic. Students sit for two preliminary exams during the semester and, if they pass both,
can finish the course. If not, they must sit for the full exam.
Recommended reading (obligatory):
Cruse, Alan D. (1986). Lexical Semantics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Cruse, Alan D. (2004). Meaning in Language: An Introduction to Semantics and
Pragmatics. Oxford: Oxford University Press
Goldberg, Adele (1995). Constructions: A Construction Grammar Approach to
Argument Structure. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press
Jones, Steven, M. Lynn Murphy, Carita Paradis, Caroline Willners (2012).
Antonyms in English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Lakoff, George (1987). Women, Fire and Dangerous Things, What Categories Reveal
about the Mind, Chicago – London: The Univeristy of Chicago Press