Universität Konstanz
Fachbereich Sprachwissenschaft

Course Description

Comparative constructions like "taller than" and superlative expressions like "tallest" operate over a degree argument. The seminar will investigate the nature of this degree argument, the ways in which the degree operator has been argued to produce scopal effects (syntactic approach and pragmatic approach), and the interaction of the degree operator with other scopal elements, such as quantificational noun phrases and modal verbs.

Semesterplan: Syllabus

Readings & Lecture Notes

15.4.2008	Review: Basics of Formal Semantics
22.4.2008	Reading: Stechow 1984 Handout Introduction to Comparatives
29.4.2008	Review: Summary of formal language We will finish Stechow 1984
6.5.2008	Review: Presupposition: A Brief Introduction Review: Worlds: Modal Logic vs. Two-Sorted Type Theory Reading: Heim 2001
13.5.2008	We continue our discussion of Heim 2001. Handout on Heim 2001: The scope of the degree operator.
27.5.2008	We continue our discussion of Heim 2001.
3.6.2008	We finish Heim 2001. New reading: Rullmann 1995, pp. 75-96 (Setion 2.5). Handout on Rullmann 1995: On Seuren-Rullmann's ambiguity.
10.6.2008	Reading: Buering 2007: Cross-polar nomalies. Presented by Aljona.
17.6.2008	We start with Superlatives. Handout Introduction to Superlatives. Exercise on Focus.
24.6.2008	We do the exercise on Focus. We continue with superlatives. Optional reading: Heim 1995/1999: Notes on superlatives.
1.7.2008	We continue with superlatives..
8.7.2008	Reading: Shimoyama 2006. Indeterminate Phrase Quantification in Japanese, Natural Language Semantics. Presented by Marc Novel.
15.7.2008	Discussion on vagueness in positive and comparative adjectives lead by Robert Michels.