Title of the Study Program English Philology
Title of the Module Semantics
Faculty, Department
Instructor
Faculty of Philology, Department of English Philology
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Linas Selmistraitis
Address
Language of Instruction
Room 209, Department of English Philology, Lithuanian
University of Educational Sciences, 39 Studentų St., Vilnius
LT-08106, Lithuania, tel. +370 5 2757258, e-mail: linas.selmistraitis@leu.lt
English
Required Prerequisites
Suggested Academic Cycle or Year of Studies
Semester
BA in English Philology
MA studies (from 1 st
year of studies)
Spring
ECTS Credits
Contact Hours per Week
5
2
Cumpolsary Compulsory/ Elective
Methods of Teaching
Form of Assessment
Course Description
Lectures and individual consultations
Accumulative mark
The course introduces students with different modern theories of the word meaning which can be treated as meaning in language, meaning in the speakers mind and meaning in discourse.
These three instances of meaning are joined into semantic theory of language when both pragmatics and semantics come into play. Students get acquainted with semantic system of vocabulary in the light of different Saussure‘s, Ogden’s, Richards’s, Bühler’s and other scientists’ theories in the context of paradigmatic and syntagmatic relations. Students deepen their knowledge in: correlation between concept and meaning of the word, lexical and grammatical meaning of the word; prototypical, national and anthropocentric aspects of word definition; emotional and stylistic connotations of the word. The students get into componential analysis of the words, broadens skills of defining semantic fields. Students contrast semes and sememes of the words finding the words with corresponding meanings, different meanings, non-equivalent meaning, pseudo-equivalent meaning. Students become aware of culture-specific component in lexical units.Topics of the course:
1.
Meaning of the word. Correlation between meaning and notion. Lexical and grammatical meaning
2.
Defining the meanings of the word. The structure of polysemantic words. Word meaning and context.
3.
Prototypical, national and anthropocentric aspects of word definition.
4.
Syntagmatic and paradigmatic parameters and principles of analysis in lexical semantics.
5.
Systematic relations in lexical semantics: synonymy, antonymy, hyponymy and their role in semantic fields
6.
Semantic system of words in the light of different semantic theories: Saussure‘s,
Ogden‘s, Richards‘, Bühler‘s theories.
7.
Relationship between semantics and pragmatics. Speech acts.
8.
Semantic field. Relationship between fields. Componential analysis.
9.
Juxtaposition of semantic systems of different languages. Seme as a unit of contrastive semantics.

10.
Identical meanings, different meanings, partly identical meanings, non-equivalent meanings of the word, pseudo-equivalents.
11.
Cultural component in lexical semantics.
Readings
1.
Cruse, A. 2011. Meaning in language: an introduction to semantics and pragmatics.
Oxford: Oxford University Press.
2.
Goddard, C. 2011. Semantic analysis: a practical introduction. Oxford; New York:
Oxford University Press.
3.
Hurford J.R., Heasly B., Smith M., B. 2009. Semantics. CUP.
4.
Klijūnaitė, I. 2004. Field structures in the lexico-semantic system of language.
Šiauliai: Šiaulių universiteto leidykla, 2004.
5.
Murphy L., Koskela A. 2010. Key terms in semantics.
6.
London; New York: Continuum.
7.
Selmistraitis, L. 2011. Seminars in English lexicology. Semantics. Vilnius: Vilniaus pedagoginio universiteto leidykla.