SEMANTICS

Specific Foundation / Core

The course is also offered to exchange programme students.

Course description and objectives: The course explores the basic semantic structures in language at the level of words and sentences. Lexical relations, sentence-relations, sense and reference, indexicality, truth-functionality and formal representations of meaning are some of the areas that will be studied. The main objective of the course is to raise an acute awareness that meaning is fundamental in language and communication; the subject matter of the course is at the level at which language makes contact with reality. Learning outcomes • An understanding of the basic issues across subdomains of semantics • Knowledge of the terms used and of the most significant concepts • An appreciation of the variability of semantic problems • Ability to analyse sentences semantically (according to theories taught) • Ability to see the relevance/significance of semantic knowledge to further data at large • Ease to comprehend the various problems involved in the field • Acquisition of a good background for further studies at postgraduate level • Possibly, developing skills at adapting or incorporating semantic analyses into further analyses in other domains of linguistics • Development and consolidation of an almost automatic reflex of semantic motivation in further fields of applied knowledge and practice, most notably in language learning and FLT Students are urged to take this course before taking courses in pragmatics and/or discourse analysis, as knowledge of semantics is fundamental for these other courses. Assessment: Final exam, hand in short exercises. Recommended reading: Eliza Kitis (2012) Semantics. Meaning in Language.Thessaloniki: University Studio Pres. Also 2 e-books available. This course is uploaded at the University’s e-platform https://blackboard.lib.auth.gr/. Students must consult it weekly.

Course Description and objectives of 2-341 in English: The course explores the basic semantic structures in language at the level of words and sentences. Lexical relations, sentence-relations, sense and reference, indexicality, truth-functionality and formal representations of meaning are some of the areas that will be studied. The main objective of the course is to raise an acute awareness that meaning is fundamental in language and communication; the subject matter of the course is at the level at which language makes contact with reality. Learning outcomes • An understanding of the basic issues across subdomains of semantics • Knowledge of the terms used and of the most significant concepts • An appreciation of the variability of semantic problems • Ability to analyse sentences semantically (according to theories taught) • Ability to see the relevance/significance of semantic knowledge to further data at large • Ease to comprehend the various problems involved in the field • Acquisition of a good background for further studies at postgraduate level • Possibly, developing skills at adapting or incorporating semantic analyses into further analyses in other domains of linguistics • Development and consolidation of an almost automatic reflex of semantic motivation in further fields of applied knowledge and practice, most notably in language learning and FLT Students are urged to take this course before taking courses in pragmatics and/or discourse analysis, as knowledge of semantics is fundamental for these other courses. Assessment: Final exam, hand in short exercises. Recommended reading: Is there a course textbook? Yes, Eliza Kitis (2012) Semantics. Meaning in Language. University Studio Press (with exercises at the end of each chapter). Additionally, choice of a further 2 e-books with more exercises. Is there a list of readings? Yes This course is uploaded at the University’s e-platform https://blackboard.lib.auth.gr/. (A wealth of ppoint presentations, links to other sites, videos, etc. that will help students substantially). Students must consult it weekly.

language, meaning, sense, reference, deixis, logic, lexical semantics, philosophy of language

23-11-2013