CJBB166 Time and Space in Language

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2023
Extent and Intensity
0/2/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: z (credit).
Teacher(s)
doc. Mgr. Pavel Caha, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
doc. Mgr. Pavel Caha, Ph.D.
Department of Czech Language – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Jaroslava Vybíralová
Supplier department: Department of Czech Language – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
Mon 12:00–13:40 D33
Prerequisites
Prior knowledge of linguistic terminology and basic syntax is desirable.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 20 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 4/20, only registered: 0/20, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/20
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 9 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
My goal is to investigate the grammar of temporal and spatial expressions. At the start of the course, I will introduce some basic terminology coming from the cognitive approaches, like Figure, Ground, Place, Path, Frame of Reference and the like. We will have a look at typological work that finds interesting generalisations concerning the connections between spatial and temporal prepositional phrases. At the end of the course, the students should be able to understand a critically evaluate various theoretical proposals about the nature of temporal and spatial expression, and also to apply the knowledge to novel empirical data.
Learning outcomes
The student will be able to:
- identify the main meaningful elements in spatial and temporal expressions;
- explain the function of various components of spatial and temporal expressions;
- describe the order of meaningful elements in spatial and temporal expressions, and relate the linear order of markers to their meaning;
- describe the main parameters along which languages vary in the marking of spatial and temporal expressions;
- describe the relationship between spatial and temporal expressions;
- apply the principles of spatial and temporal marking to new empirical data.
Syllabus
  • 1. Figure/Ground.
  • 2. Frames of Reference.
  • 3. Place marking: projectivity, dimensionality, measure phrases. 4. Temporal prepositions.
  • 5. Paths and their types, the interaction between Path type and aspect.
  • 6. The ordering of Place and Path.
  • 7. Axial Parts.
  • 8. Beyond space and time: the localist theory of case.
Literature
    recommended literature
  • Levinson. Language, space and cognition.
  • Cinque, Guglielmo. Mapping Spatial PPs. Oxford: OUP.
  • Talmy, Leonard. 2000. Towards cognitive semantics. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Teaching methods
Lecture, discussion.
Assessment methods
The requirement is to come to classes and have one presentation in the course of the semester. The presentation will be based on an assigned topic -- you will have to read a scientific article and present its contents in the class.
Language of instruction
English
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2015, Spring 2016, Spring 2018, Spring 2019, Spring 2020, Spring 2021, Spring 2022.
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
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