Semantics and Pragmatics

The course investigates topics in semantics and pragmatics including how meaning is expressed in natural language and the principles that lie behind the interpretation of utterances in specific contexts. It addresses topics such as how words and sentences relate to entities in the world, whether this relationship is mediated by concepts, the formal representation of meaning, how the study of meaning is relevant to other areas of linguistic analysis such as syntax, how and why language differs from other communication systems; and how language is used to communicate various types of meaning.

Knowledge

Candidates who have passed this course

• have insight into basic issues of linguistic semantics, e.g. how linguistic expressions relate to entities in the world, meaning relations between linguistic expressions, and the relation between meaning and truth.
• have insight into basic issues in pragmatics, including how context and pragmatic principles affect interpretation.
• have insight into how semantic and pragmatics interact and relate to neighbouring fields (e.g., lexical theory, morphology and syntax).
• understand how language differs from other communication systems, and how language is employed to communicate various types of meaning.

Skills

Candidates who have passed this course

• are able to describe and analyse how people handle and exploit various semantic and pragmatic phenomena in everyday communication.

A combination of lectures, seminars, group activity, and/or supervision. Students are required to use the course learning platform regularly.

Students should expect that this 7.5 credit course equates with approximately 10 hours of work per week, including teaching time.

The required readings are in English and classes will be taught in English. Students admitted to an English program shall, as a rule, do the obligatory assignments in English. Students admitted to a Norwegian/Scandinavian studies program shall, as a rule, do the obligatory assignments in Norwegian.

Compulsory assignments

1-3 written and/or oral assignments, equivalent to 3000-3500 words in total. Online quizzes may substitute for a portion of this. Specific tasks will be defined at the start of the semester.

Approved obligatory assignment is valid for 2 semesters (the semester in which the approval is given, plus the following semester). All obligatory assignments must be completed in the same semester.