Yael Greenberg and Carla Umbach

Week 1, August 3-7, 2020

Abstract:

ADDITIVITY and SCALARITY, linguistically encoded by alternative-sensitive operators, are in principle independent of each other: There are additives which are not scalars (e.g. 'also' / 'too'), as well as scalars which are not additives (e.g. 'only'-like particles).

In this course, we intend to focus on two types of expressions where additivity and scalarity co-exist (sometimes referred to as ‘scalar additives’). The first is illustrated by English 'even', and the second by English additive 'more'.

Andras Kornai

Week 1, August 3-7, 2020

Abstract:

We consider the three major approaches to semantics that can be distinguished by their formal apparatus: formulaic, geometric, and algebraic and argue that these are trunk, leg, and tail of the same elephant.

Natasha Korotkova and Pranav Anand

Week 1, August 3-7, 2020

Abstract:

There has been a lot of recent work in formal semantics and philosophy of language on
predicates of personal taste (PPTs) such as "tasty" and "fun". The linguistic behavior of PPTs differs from that of other predicates (OPs), like "round" or "popular", both in grammatical distribution and conversational dynamics: for example, disagreements over tastiness are seen as matters of opinion, not fact. The PPT-OP difference is at the heart of an ongoing contextualism-relativism-expressivism debate.

Joost Zwarts

Week 1, August 3-7, 2020

Abstract:

Metaphor is a pervasive factor in natural language, underlying the conscious creation of verbal images (e.g., brexit as a divorce), but also the flexibility of our most basic vocabulary (like prepositions). The nature of metaphors (as mappings between conceptual domains) has been the constant concern of cognitive linguistics and psychologist since the eighties and there is a booming interest in detecting them in texts using computational techniques.

Judith Tonhauser and Judith Degen

Week 2, August 10-14, 2020

Abstract:

Projective content is utterance content that a listener may take a speaker to be committed to even when the expression associated with the content occurs in an entailment-canceling environment. Well-known classes of projective content are presuppositions and conventional implicatures, but other content may also project, including expressive content, conversational implicatures, as well as aspects of social meaning. This course introduces students to the state of the art in the investigation and formal analysis of projective content: specifically, it introduces students to theoretical analyses of different classes of projective content, to empirical properties of classes of projective content and to how experimental investigations can inform the development of formal analyses of projective content. Whenever possible, the course draws on research on languages other than English to encourage the development of research on projective content in a wider variety of languages. At the end of the course, students are able to develop their own research projects on projective content.

Elsi Kaiser and Deniz Rudin

Week 2, August 10-14, 2020

Abstract:

Predicates of personal taste (PPTs) like "tasty" and "fun" have prompted much discussion in semantics and philosophy: We can disagree about whether the chili is tasty without either of us being obviously wrong. Philosophically, it's interesting how disagreements can be "faultless." Semantically, how can we capture whose taste is being expressed--by means of extra parameters, covert pronouns, generic operators? These theoretical problems are increasingly investigated using experimental methods. Psycholinguistic tools yield new kinds of data to apply to old questions about PPTs, and highlight new questions at the linguistics/psychology interface. In this advanced, interdisciplinary course, we present the classic observations and seminal proposals about PPTs that crosscut these disciplines, and highlight emerging routes forward in contemporary work, including questions about the class of relevant subjective predicates beyond classics like "tasty" and "fun." Students will learn about key theoretical debates and how to use experimental methods to investigate them.

Patrick Georg Grosz and Mélissa Berthet

Week 2, August 10-14, 2020

Abstract:

Animal linguistics investigates the linguistic (e.g., semantic and syntactic) properties of non-human animal communication systems, using a combined methodology from both linguistics and ethology. This course aims to introduce linguists to the field of animal linguistics (with a focus on animal semantics) and provide them with the core ethological and linguistic methods and tools needed to understand, criticize, and run an animal linguistic study - including study design, data collection, data extraction, and formal linguistic analysis. The course is structured as follows: we begin with a general introduction to animal linguistics, reviewing some of the key studies that legitimize the field. In classes two and three, we present the main ethological methods used to collect and process data on animal communication; we focus on two case studies: monkey vocalizations and great apes' gestures. Finally, in the last two classes we illustrate how formal semantic analyses can be applied to these data.