Course description

This course builds on the foundations of formal semantic theory and explores how meaning is shaped by logical structure and context in subtle ways: We will analyze how negation, quantifiers, and scalar reasoning interact, explore cross-linguistic variation, and critically examine when logic does (and does not) match up with natural language. We will focus on two particularly rich and revealing areas of natural language: negative polarity items (NPIs) and scalar implicatures.

NPIs are expressions like “any” or “ever” that only appear in certain grammatical environments, typically under negation. Why can we say “I don’t have any money” but not “I have any money”? Scalar implicatures are inferences that arise when a speaker chooses a weaker expression like “some” instead of a stronger one like “all”. Why does “Some students passed” often suggest that not all of them did? We’ll use tools from semantics and pragmatics to investigate these patterns in English and other languages.

If you’re curious about the boundaries between literal meaning and conversational implication, or you would like to refresh and extend your knowledge of semantic theory, this class is for you.

Assessment is based on short assignments, in-class activities, and a final sort paper submission.

Prerequisites: An introduction to formal semantic theory (basic knowledge of set theory, predicate logic, lambda calculus)