Course information

Section A1

Meeting time: MWF 2-3, CAS 314

Instructor: Peter Alrenga
Email: palrenga@bu.edu (preferred)
Phone: (617) 353-6221
Office: 621 Commonwealth Ave., Rm. 110
Office Hours: M 3:30-5; Th 11:30-1 (and by appt.)

Section B1

Meeting time: MWF 2-3, STO 143

Instructor: Paul Hagstrom
Email: hagstrom@bu.edu (preferred)
Phone: (617) 353-6220
Office: 621 Commonwealth Ave., Rm. 105
Office Hours: T 11-12; W 12-1; Th 11-12 (and by appt.)

Prerequisite: CAS LX250 (Introduction to Linguistics)

Course Description: People use sentences to convey information about themselves and about the world in which we live.  This course provides an introduction to the study of how meaning is encoded and expressed in natural language.  The study of linguistic meaning comprises two disciplines:  semantics, the study of the conventional meaning carried by words and sentences, and pragmatics, the study of how speakers use words and sentences to convey meaning.  Despite its title, this course is concerned with both aspects of linguistic meaning.

We will examine some of the basic concepts, findings, and theoretical approaches that underlie research in semantics and pragmatics.  Along the way, we will also acquaint ourselves with some of the formal tools that are employed in the study of meaning.  Throughout, our focus will be on an empirical understanding of meaning in natural language (i.e., this is not a logic class).  In particular, we will investigate various aspects of the semantic structure of English while constructing an explicit theory of linguistic meaning.

Reading: The required textbook for this course (available at the BU Bookstore) is:

Kearns, Kate.  2000.  Semantics.  Palgrave Macmillan.

Several supplementary readings will also be assigned—these will be made available to you via the “Readings“ section of this website. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, all readings are required, and should be completed by the beginning of class.

Attendance & Participation: Regular attendance and participation are expected, and will constitute 5% of your final grade.

Exams: There will be two in-class midterm exams:  the first will be on Wednesday, February 16, and the second will be on  Monday, March 28.  Each midterm exam will constitute 15% of your overall grade.  There will also be a cumulative final exam on Tuesday, May 10 from 12:30-2:30pm, which will constitute 20% of your overall grade.

Homework: There will be weekly homework assignments.  Some of the problems will be technical exercises designed to develop familiarity with our formal tools, and will not require prose write-ups.  Others will be more substantial problems in semantic analysis and argumentation, and will require clear and well-reasoned exposition.  The assignments will both test your understanding of previously covered material and also serve to introduce new topics that will be discussed in subsequent classes.  In some cases, you will not yet have the tools to fully solve a particular problem—your goal here will be to develop a novel proposal for how to solve the problem.

Assignments will be due at the beginning of class.  Late assignments will not be accepted unless prior arrangements have been made. Your lowest homework score will be dropped; the rest will account for 45% of your final grade.

Your homework assignments should be presented in coherent prose –– groups of complete sentences that lay out your thinking clearly, explicitly, and in an organized fashion.  Assignments should be typed, with enough space for our comments.  (Logical symbols may be hand-written, though these are also available in word processing programs such as Microsoft Word.)  Remember to include your name, the date, and the assignment number on each assignment.  Multi-page assignments should be stapled.

Linguistics is a collaborative discipline, and I encourage you to discuss the assignments with each other.  However, each student must write up his/her answers independently, without reference to the written work of any other student.  Also, give due credit to your collaborators by listing their names at the top of your assignment.  Any external sources that you consult must be cited in your assignment. For a full statement of the CAS Academic Conduct Code, visit http://www.bu.edu/cas/students/undergrad-resources/code/ (see in particular “A Definition of Plagiarism” and “Examples of Plagiarism”).