ASIGNATURA: PRÁCTICAS DE GRAMÁTICA INGLESA I
AÑO ACADÉMICO: 2001-2002
CÓDIGO: 3130306
TITULACIÓN: Licenciatura de Filología Inglesa
CARÁCTER: Obligatoria
CICLO: 2º
CURSO Y GRUPO: 3º
CRÉDITOS TEÓRICOS Y PRÁCTICOS: 2 créditos teóricos, 4 créditos prácticos
DESCRIPTOR:
DEPARTAMENTO: Filología Inglesa y Alemana
ÁREA DE CONOCIMIENTO: Filología Inglesa
PROFESOR: Dr. D. Francisco Gonzálvez García (Profesor Asociado a tiempo completo
(Tipo III)
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.
3. 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 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.
4. 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 Benjamins.