LING2006 Semantics (Spring 2024)

Undergraduate course, Department of Linguistics and Modern Languages, Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2024

Meeting Time and Location

  • Lecture: Friday 9:30-11:15, Lee Shau Kee Building 306
  • Tutorial: Wednesday 9:30-10:15, Li Dak Sum Building 218

Teaching Staff

  • Instructor: Dr. Zhuo Chen
  • Teaching Assistant: Yige Chen

Course Syllabus

Assessment Scheme

  • Homework assignments (45%): There will be a total of 3 take-home written homework assignments (15% each). 20% of your raw score will be taken off for each day overdue.
  • Midterm (20%): There will be 1 in-class midterm on Mar 1 (Week 8).
  • Final exam (25%): There will be 1 final exam. The final exam will be cumulative. It will be conducted on Apr 23 (Tue), 4-6pm, exact place TBA.
  • Participation (10%): Consistent and active participation in lectures and tutorials is required. For each missed class meeting without a documented family or medical emergency, 2% will be taken off.

Course Schedule

WeekLectureTopicTutorialReadingsMaterialsEvents
1Jan 12IntroductionN/ASaeed2016, pp. 1-17  
2Jan 19Meaning, denotation, referenceJan 17Saeed2016, pp. 1-17, 22-29[Tutorial Slides] 
3Jan 26Lexical meaning I: Ambiguity, vagueness, indeterminacyJan 24Saeed2016, pp. 51-67, 69-75  
4Feb 2Lexical meaning II: Lexical sense relationsJan 31Saeed2016, pp. 51-67, 69-75[Tutorial Slides] 
5N/ANo class: Lunar New YearFeb 7 [Tutorial Slides] 
6Feb 16Thematic relations I: Theta-roles and participantsN/ASaeed2016, pp. 149-156  
7Feb 23Thematic relations II: Grammatical relations and theta-rolesFeb 21Saeed2016, pp. 155-164[Tutorial Slides] [Flowchart for Ambiguity, Vagueness & Indeterminacy]HW1 due 11:59pm, Feb 24
8Mar 1MidtermFeb 28 [Tutorial Slides]Midterm: In class
9N/ANo class: Reading weekN/A   
10Mar 15Sentence semantics I: TruthN/ASaeed2016, pp. 84-91  
11Mar 22Sentence semantics II: Entailment, presuppositionMar 20Saeed2016, pp. 94-105[Tutorial Slides] 
12N/ANo class: Good FridayMar 27 [Tutorial Slides] 
13Apr 5Conversational implicature and Grice’s maxims of conversationN/ASaeed2016, pp. 210-217 HW2 due 11:59pm, Apr 3
14Apr 12Speech acts I: PerformativesApr 10Saeed2016, pp. 229-237[Tutorial Slides] 
15Apr 19Speech acts II: (In)direct speech actsApr 17Saeed2016, pp. 237-247[Tutorial Slides]HW3 due 11:59pm, Apr 17
16Apr 22Make-up class (9:30-11:15am, WMY 507)N/A  Final exam: Apr 23 4-6pm, YIA LT6