Semantics
Semantics Workshop
Semantics
PROF. SAVINA RAYNAUD
COURSE AIMS
The aim of the course is to set the question “what its meaning?" against a
background of pre-theoretical assumptions or intuitions inherent in verbal
language, in order to provide a basic answer with the aid of theory and history.
COURSE CONTENT
Language and languages: the species-specific ability to communicate in one or
more languages. Overview of the subject: contributions by philosophers of
language, linguistics and the cognitive sciences.
Speech acts; the sense and identity of meaning based on noun and verb phrases;
communicational assertions and implications.
The basic realms of semantic theory: referential, predicative-argumentative,
inferential.
The current status quaestionis (state of the art) and its history.
The descriptive and evaluative levels: words and works; happy and unhappy acts;
telling the truth.
READING LIST
A. FRIGERIO, Filosofia del linguaggio, Apogeo, Milan 2011
F. DIODATO, Il problema del significato. Tra linguistica e filosofia del linguaggio, Liguori, Naples
2007: selected essays from the first, second and third parts, explained and commented on at
lectures.
Course material and slides will be published on the Blackboard website.
TEACHING METHOD
Lectures on theory and the history of theory. Students studying for degrees in
Philosophy and Classical/Modern Languages will attend further lectures/exercises on certain
topics: philosophical or linguistic/philological.
ASSESSMENT METHOD
Oral examination to assess:
1. the ability to progress from pre-theoretical (implicit and intuitive) know-how to the
gradual outline and critical foundations of a basic semantic theory;
2. the ability to apply this knowledge to actual writings (of your own or by others), an
aim to be pursued further on a systematic basis during the " Workshop" (see
below).
NOTES
This intensive single-semester course (30 hours) will be taken as the first module of the
second semester. It is taken as an introduction to the Semantics Workshop (optional).
Further information can be found on the lecturer's webpage at
http://docenti.unicatt.it/web/searchByName.do?language=ENG or on the Faculty notice
board.
Semantics Workshop
PROF. SAVINA RAYNAUD
COURSE AIMS
The aim of the course is to test out the effectiveness and adequacy of the
theoretical skills learned during the Semantics course and further students’ general
understanding of the subject.
COURSE CONTENT
Semantic studies of texts handed out at lectures/composed at lectures based around
specific topics: recognition/creation of predicative-argumentative relations,
referential expressions and inferential operations, also studied along
contrastive/translational lines (studies of the semantics of lexical entries and
morpho-syntactic structures) within individual statements and complete texts.
READING LIST
Study grid (worked out on the basis of the reading list for the Semantics course) and
supplementary documents handed out at the beginning of the workshop and uploaded to
the Blackboard website.
TEACHING METHOD
The workshop is based along the lines of supervised practical work (SPW) aimed at
reinforcing skills - critical and practical – connected with the relationship between data and
theories.
ASSESSMENT METHOD
The skills learned during practical laboratory work will be assessed based on the reading
and correcting of individual papers handed in at the end of the workshop. The results will be
given and discussed during the examination.
NOTES
Further information can be found on the lecturer's webpage at
http://docenti.unicatt.it/web/searchByName.do?language=ENG or on the Faculty notice
board.