FF:AJ32052 Selected Topics in Semantics - Course Information

AJ32052 Selected Topics in Semantics

Extent and Intensity

0/2/0. 10 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: Tomáš Hanzálek
Supplier department: Department of English and American Studies – Faculty of Arts

Timetable

each odd Friday 15:00–16:35 G32

Course Enrolment Limitations

The course is only offered to the students of the study fields 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

fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with

• English Linguistics (programme FF, D-FI4) (2)

Course objectives

Objectives of the course: Students successfully completing the course will be able to categorize English verbs and to analyze their internal semantic structure. They will also be able to examine the syntactic behaviour of verbs in relation to their semantic properties.

Syllabus

• Description of the course: The seminar is an investigative one. It deals with selected problems concerning the semantics and syntax of English verbs, 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 topics covered in the course are as follows: - Vendler's time schemata: states versus actions (activites, accomplishments and achievements)
• - semantic structure of English verbs versus their internal temporal structuration
• - 'telicity' versus 'atelicity'; event-object homomorphism
• - semantic multivalence of English verbs
• - componential analysis
• - internal semantic structure of verbs in relation to their syntactic behaviour

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
• 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
• VENDLER, Zeno. Linguistics in philosophy. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1967. info

Teaching methods

One 1.5 hour seminar, held every other week of the term.

Assessment methods

Seminar attendance is compulsory. Assessment: a research paper discussing a selected topic in verbal semantics.

Language of instruction

English

Further Comments

The course can also be completed outside the examination period.
The course is taught annually.

Information about innovation of course.

This course has been innovated under the project "Faculty of Arts as Centre of Excellence in Education: Complex Innovation of Study Programmes and Fields at FF MU with Regard to the Requirements of the Knowledge Economy“ – Reg. No. CZ.1.07/2.2.00/28.0228, which is cofinanced by the European Social Fond and the national budget of the Czech Republic.

• Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2013, recent)
  
• Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/spring2013/AJ32052