Short Course Description
This is an introductory course to the referential semantics of natural language, which studies the informational aspect of the meaning of linguistic expressions, and the competence that allows speakers to understand the meaning of an infinite number of expressions. We will become familiar with the primary sorts of data, including truth-value judgments and judgments of sort of proposition. We will also become familiar with the central concepts, including reference, compositionality, truth-conditions, logical properties and relations, presupposition and ambiguity. Then, we will discuss the distinction between sense and reference, guided by Gottlob Frege's paper. Lastly, we will turn to logic, and see the usage of formal technique to study the semantics of natural language.
The readings are mandatory.
Assignments: 25% of the final grade.
Final exam: 75% of the final grade.
Full Syllabus
