Course: Semantics of the Contemporary German Language

ECTS credits: 4

Language: German

Duration: one semester

Status: obligatory

Course type: 2 hours of lecture

Course requirements: only for the regular students of the 5th semester

Course description: The course introduces students to the complex issues of meaning on various levels. It deals with traditional semantic concepts (homonymy, synonymy, polisemy, antonymy, etc.) and theoretical approaches (componential analysis, semantic field theory), as well as contemporary approaches, especially from the point of view of cognitive semantics.

Learning outcomes: Students will be able to: recognise basic semantic phenomena on practical examples, distinguish semantic and pragmalinguistic phenomena, interpret their realisation in language and critically analyse different semantic theories.

Teaching methods: lectures, classroom discussion

Literature: M. Schwarz/J. Chur (1993): Semantik. Ein Arbeitsbuch, Tübingen; S. Löbner (2003): Semantik. Eine Einführung, Berlin, New York; H. Burger (1998): Phraseologie. Eine Einführung am Beispiel des Deutschen, Berlin.

Evaluation Methods and Grading: class attendance, written exam