Universität Konstanz
Fachbereich Sprachwissenschaft

Course Description

The semantic foundations acquired in Ling 115 are further developed. The compositional procedure is extended to derive the meaning of more complex constructions. New tools are introduced and applied to specific phenomena.

Termin und Raum: Vorlesung Donnerstag 10-12 Uhr in G307; Tutorium Dienstag 13-14 Uhr in G300.

Sprache: Englisch

Semester plan: Syllabus

Slides & Handouts

Note: For readings available in the electronic Semesterapparat, click here.

23.10.2008	From sets to functions. Names and predicates. Review reading: Heim and Kratzer chapter 2. Partee et al chapters 1-2, available in the electronic Semesterapparat of *Ling115*.
30.10.2008	Review of Predicate Logic. Reading: Partee et al's chapter on Predicate Logic, available in our electronic Semesterapparat.
06.11.2008	Lambda Calculus. To download the Lambda Calculator (student edition), click here. Lambda exercises: exercise 1.1 done in class and exercise 2 for Tutorium. Non-verbal predicates. Modifiers. Exercise on Passive. Reading: Chapter 4 from the Heim and Kratzer textbook.
13.11.2008	We continue with the handout Non-verbal predicates. Modifiers. (Chapter 4) Reading: Continue with Chapter 4 from the Heim and Kratzer textbook. Exercise on Middle from the Tutorium.
20.11.2008	We continue with the handout Non-verbal predicates. Modifiers. (Chapter 4) Take Home I and its exercise 2 on Lambda conversion. Three caveats. First, for the last line of exercise 2, the Lambda Calculator will only allow to do lambda conversion in a particular order, though several orders are truly possible in this case. This is a bug in the program (the Marc-bug, after its discoverer). Second, for exercise 4, the Lambda Calculator can help part of the way but at some point it crashes. Yet another bug - the Christine-bug. So, better just do it by hand. Third, also concerning exercise 4, if at some point you need to use a new semantic rule, say that explicitly and define it.
27.11.2008	Relative Clauses. Variable Binding. (Chapter 5)
4.12.2008	Summarizing our formal language.
11.12.2008	Quantifiers (chapter 6), part 1, part 2, and part 3.
18.12.2008	Take Home II. As an optional addition to Take Home II, here you have Exercise on Plurals.
8.1.2009	Ways of encoding scope in natural language.
15.1.2009	Quantification: QuDPs and the rest of the sentence. (Chapter 7)
22.1.2009	We continue with Quantification: QuDPs and the rest of the sentence.
29.1.2009	Intensionality. Typos fixed!
5.2.2009	Take Home III.
12.2.2009	KLAUSUR.