Course title: Semantics of the English language
Name of course coordinator: Professor Irena Zovko Dinković
Name of lecturer: Dr. Janja Čulig Suknaić, postdoc
Number of credits: 6
Language of instruction: English
Semester: 5 (autumn)
Status: obligatory
Type of course: 4 periods, lecture
Prerequisites: a pass mark in English Syntax 2: The Sentence
Assessment method: Written
Course objectives and contents: The objective of the course is to introduce students to the complexities of meaning phenomena, as well as to different theoretical frameworks, both traditional and contemporary. The course introduces students to the complex issues of meaning 1) on the level of lexemes or words, 2) on the paradigmatic level, or the vocabulary structure and 3) to the relationship between semantics and syntax, or the relationships on the syntagmatic level. Basic traditional semantic concepts are discussed, such as homonymy, synonymy, polisemy, antonymy, metaphor and metonymy, and paradigmatic and sintagmatic relations that arise from the construction grammar approach to meaning in language.
Course schedule:
|
Week |
Topic |
|
1. |
Introduction to semantics. |
|
2. |
The development of semantics as a scientific discipline. |
|
3. |
Research topics and methods. |
|
4. |
Paradigmatic relations: synonymy. |
|
5. |
Paradigmatic relations: antonymy. |
|
6. |
Paradigmatic relations: polysemy and homonymy. |
|
7. |
Paradigmatic relations: hyponymy. |
|
8. |
First preliminary exam. |
|
9. |
Metaphor and metonymy. |
|
10. |
Multimodality. |
|
11. |
Categorization. |
|
12. |
Syntagmatic relations: construction grammars and meaning. |
|
13. |
Syntagmatic relations: construction grammars and cognitive grammar. |
|
14. |
Second preliminary exam. |
|
15. |
Results and discussion. |
Student obligations and evaluation elements::
Students should attend class regularly and participate in in-class discussions. Students will be able to revise the course material in class and will get reading assignments several times during the semester. The course material is taught systematically according to the topic. Students sit for two preliminary exams during the semester and, if they pass both, can finish the course. If not, they must sit for the full exam.
Recommended reading (obligatory):
Cruse, Alan D. (1986). Lexical Semantics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Cruse, Alan D. (2004). Meaning in Language: An Introduction to Semantics and Pragmatics. Oxford: Oxford University Press
Goldberg, Adele (1995). Constructions: A Construction Grammar Approach to Argument Structure. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press
Jones, Steven, M. Lynn Murphy, Carita Paradis, Caroline Willners (2012). Antonyms in English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Lakoff, George (1987). Women, Fire and Dangerous Things, What Categories Reveal about the Mind, Chicago – London: The Univeristy of Chicago Press
Murphy, M. Lynne (2003). Semantic Relations and the Lexicon. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Žic Fuchs, Milena (1991a). Znanje o jeziku i znanje o svijetu. Filozofski fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, Biblioteka SOL
Recommended reading (optional):
Lyons, J. (1977), Semantics. Vol. 1 i Vol. 2. Cambridge University Press
Langacker, Ronald W. (1987). Foundations of Cognitive Grammar, Theoretical Prerequisites, Vol. 1, Stanford: Stanford University Press
Žic Fuchs, Milena (2009). Kognitivna lingvistika i jezične strukture: engleski present perfect. Zagreb: Nakladni zavod Globus