AJ32052 Selected Topics in Semantics

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2004
Extent and Intensity
0/2/0. 20 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
Teacher(s)
doc. PhDr. Naděžda Kudrnáčová, CSc. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
Jeffrey Alan Vanderziel, B.A.
Department of English and American Studies – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Mgr. Michaela Hrazdílková
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 15 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/15, only registered: 0/15, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/15
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The seminar is an investigative one. It deals with some of the problems of the semantics and syntax of the English verb, taking into consideration the fuctionalist and structuralist view. The seminar uses as its starting point Zeno Vendler's classification of verbs, which is largely based on the time schemata in which English verbs occur. In the analysis of English verbs the method of componential analysis will also be employed (the meaning of the lexeme is seen in terms of a number of discrete, distinct components of meaning).
Syllabus
  • - Vendler's time schemata - states, actions, accomplishments, achievements, semelfactives - verbal aspect - the dichotomy 'telicity' versus 'atelicity' - semantic multivalence of English verbs - internal semantic structure of English verbs versus their internal temporal structuration - componential analysis - English verbs in middle constructions
Literature
  • Frawley, William: Linguistic Semantics (Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum) 1992
  • HUDDLESTON, Rodney and Geoffrey K. PULLUM. The Cambridge grammar of the English language. Edited by Laurie Bauer. 1st pub. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002, xvii, 1842. ISBN 9780521431460. info
  • LYONS, John. Linguistic semantics : an introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995, xvi, 376. ISBN 0521438772. info
  • The verb in contemporary English : theory and description. Edited by Bas Aarts - Charles F. Meyer. 1st publ. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995, x, 313. ISBN 0521460395. info
  • JACKENDOFF, Ray. Semantic structures. Cambridge, Mass.: M.I.T. Press, 1990, xiv, 322 s. ISBN 0-262-60020-X. info
  • DUŠKOVÁ, Libuše. Mluvnice současné angličtiny : na pozadí češtiny. Vyd. 1. Praha: Academia, 1988, 673 p. info
  • PALMER, F. R. The English verb. 2nd ed. London: Longman, 1988, xii, 268. ISBN 0582297141. info
  • QUIRK, Randolph. A comprehensive grammar of the English language. Edited by David Crystal. 1st pub. London: Longman, 1985, x, 1779. ISBN 9780582517349. info
  • DANEŠ, František. Věta a text : studie ze syntaxe spisovné češtiny. Vyd. 1. Praha: Academia, 1985, 234 s. URL info
  • VENDLER, Zeno. Linguistics in philosophy. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1967. info
Assessment methods (in Czech)
Seminar; Assessment: attendance at the seminar.
Language of instruction
English
Further Comments
The course can also be completed outside the examination period.
The course is taught annually.
The course is taught: every other week.
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2002, Spring 2003, Autumn 2003, Spring 2004, Spring 2005, Autumn 2005, Spring 2006, Spring 2007, Spring 2009, Spring 2011, Spring 2013, Autumn 2014, Autumn 2016, Autumn 2018, Autumn 2020, Spring 2023.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2004, recent)
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