I heard from some of you that today’s discussion of constructing truth tables went by a little too quickly for you to copy everything down into your notes. Â Since this task figures prominently in your homework assignment for this Thursday, I’ve put together a brief handout on the topic. Â It includes a full definition of …
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I’ve put together a short handout on flouting maxims. Â It contains a couple of examples (from lecture) of implicatures that arise via a speaker’s flouting of some maxim, as well as the step-by-step derivations of these implicatures. Â You might like to refer to these examples when formulating your responses in Assignment 3, Part I. Flouting …
The HW2 answer key is now available. Â Just as before, I’ve put the answer key in the password-protected “Readings” section of our website. Â (Remember that the password is listed on the syllabus.) In the answer key, I’ve tried to address some of the more common errors that we saw in Part II (“Deriving Conversational Implicatures”). …
Your third homework assignment is now available for download (just click the link below for a PDF version). Â It will be due on Thursday, October 1, at the beginning of class. Homework 3 (due 10/1 @ beg. of class)
For next Tuesday’s class, read the following: 1. Â Sections 2.1-2.2 (pgs. 25-35) of the Kearns textbook. (This was also the assigned reading for today’s (Thursday’s) class. Â Now that we’ve discussed Propositional Logic in class, you should go back and review these sections to solidify your understanding.) 2. Â Lobner 4.2-4.3 (pgs. 62-73). I’ve posted a short …
Continue reading ‘Reading for Tu 9/29: Kearns 2.1-2.2 (pgs. 25-35) & Lobner 4.2-4.3 (pgs. 62-73)’ »
The HW1 answer key is now available. Â As a courtesy to my fellow Semantics instructors at other universities, I’ve put the answer key in the password-protected “Readings” section of our website. Â (Remember that the password is listed on the syllabus.) The overall class performance on this assignment was quite high…keep it up!
For this Thursday’s class, read the following: 1. Â Section 11.1.3 (pgs. 258-260) of the Kearns textbook. This section briefly reviews Scalar Implicatures, which we talked about in today’s (Tuesday’s) class. Â Be sure to have a look at this reading, since it provides several other examples of “linguistic scales”. 2. Â Sections 2.1-2.2 (pgs. 25-35) of the …
For next Tuesday’s class, read the following: 1. Â Section 3.2.3 (pgs. 126-132) of the Levinson chapter on Implicature. Â (You’ve already read sections 3.0 and 3.1 for an earlier class; section 3.2.3 is part of the same PDF document.) For the Levinson reading, focus on the discussion of generalized vs. particularized implicatures. Â You should also read …
Continue reading ‘Reading for Tu 9/22: Levinson 3.2.3 (126-132)’ »
Your second homework assignment is now available for download (just click the link below for a PDF version). Â It will be due on Thursday, September 24, at the beginning of class. Homework 2 (due 9/24 @ beg. of class) (Before you begin the assignment, make sure to review the class expectations regarding your homework write-ups …
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For next week, read the paper entitled “Logic and Conversation” by H.P. Grice. Â You can find a PDF version of it in the “Readings” section of the website. (Remember that the readings are password-protected: Â you can find the password on your printed copy of the syllabus.) Grice’s paper (and the lectures from which it originates) …
Continue reading ‘Reading for Tue 9/15 & Thu 9/17: Grice, “Logic & Conversation”’ »