Time and room
Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 14:30-16:30
Complesso Maldura, Room G
Course description
Natural languages are sophisticated tools which enable us to express and understand an unbounded range of thoughts by assembling sentences that we have never before used or heard. Formal semantics uses tools from logic to study how this impressive result is achieved, that is, how the meaning of an expression is assembled from the meanings of its parts.
This course introduces the key logical tools of formal semantics and covers some central topics in semantics, like predication, quantification, definites, plurals, indexicals, modals, conditionals, questions, and presuppositions.
Textbook
Invitation to Formal Semantics
By Elizabeth Coppock and Lucas Champollion
Prerequisites
Basic knowledge of predicate logic. Students wishing to refresh the relevant notions may consult Chapters 3 and 4 of the textbook.
Program, material, and assignments
(will be updated as the course proceeds)
27 Feb. Introduction. What is formal semantics?
Material: Handout. Chapters 1 and 2 of the textbook.
If you lack prior knowledge of predicate logic, please read also Ch. 3 and 4.
28 Feb. Mathematical preliminaries; introducing the typed lambda calculus.
Material: Handout (up to page 8). Chapter 5 of the textbook.
First exercise sheet. Solutions available on Moodle.
05 Mar. Semantics of the typed lambda calculus.
Material: second part of the previous handout.
06 Mar. Beta-reduction.
Material: Handout.
Second exercise sheet. Solutions available on Moodle.
12 Mar. Basics of compositional semantics. Function application.
Material: Handout. Sections 6.1-6.3 of the textbook.
13 Mar. Intersective and non-intersective predicate modification.
Material: Handout. Sections 7.1-7.2 of the textbook.
Third exercise sheet. Solutions available on Moodle.
19 Mar. Quantification.
Material: Handout. Sections 6.4-6.8 of the textbook.
20 Mar. Scope ambiguities.
Material: Handout.
Fourth exercise sheet. Solutions available on Moodle.
27 Mar. Monotonicity and NPIs.
Material: Handout. Sections 2.2 and 2.4 of the textbook.
03 Apr. Definite descriptions.
Material: Handout. Chapter 8 up to and including section 7.
Fifth exercise sheet. Solutions available on Moodle.
09 Apr. Relative clauses, pronouns.
Material: Handout. Sections 7.3 and 7.4 of the textbook.
10 Apr. Distributive vs collective predication, plurals.
Material: Handout. Chapter 10 of the textbook up to 10.3.1.
Additional readings: Slides by Chatain and Spector’s course at ESSLLI.
Sixth exercise sheet. Solutions available on Moodle.
16 Apr. Plural definites and indefinites.
Material: Handout. Remaining part of Chapter 10.
17 Apr. Introduction to intensional semantics.
Material: Handout. Chapter 13 of the textbook.
Chapter 1 of von Fintel and Heim’s lecture notes.
Seventh exercise sheet. Solutions available on Moodle.
23 Apr. Propositional attitude verbs.
Material: Handout. Chapter 2 of von Fintel and Heim’s lecture notes.
24 Apr. Modals.
Material: Handout. Chapter 3 of von Fintel and Heim’s lecture notes.
Eighth exercise sheet.
Access to Moodle
To make sure you have access to all the course materials, please enrol to the Moodle page of the course. The enrolment key is SUP9085903N02023