Linguistics 4400: Linguistic Meaning

Course learning goals: By the end of this course, students will understand the fundamental ideas underlying Formal Semantics, a central sub-discipline in Linguistics.

Learning Outcomes: By the end of this course, students will be able to apply type-theoretic ideas to grasp meanings of simple natural language sentences, translate between English and Higher Order Logic languages, interpret sentences relative to models, distinguish between conventional and context-determined meaning, and articulate the role of context in enriching lexically-specified meaning.

Instructor: William Schuler

• Office: Oxley 101A (or by Zoom, see Carmen)

• Email: (William's last name)@ling.osu.edu

• Office hours: Wednesday 2:30--3:30pm, Thursday 2:30--3:30pm, or by appointment (just email)

Prereqs: LING 2000 (201), LING 2000H (201H), or LING 4000 (601).

Web site: http://www.ling.osu.edu/~schuler/courses/4400. The updated syllabus, assignments, slides, etc. will be posted here, so check it regularly.

Course Content:

Wk	Due Sunday 11:59PM	Lecture: Monday	Due Tuesday 11:59PM	Lecture: Wednesday
1	(pre-term)	(pre-term)		8/23 LN01: overview
2	8/27 videos: lambda calculus	8/28 LN02: simple formal logic		8/30 --- PS1 handout (cont'd)
3		(Labor Day)		9/6 LN03: propositional logic
4	9/10 drills: derivation tree problems	9/11 LN04: predicates and operators	9/12 PS1 due	9/13 --- PS2 handout LN05: generalized quantifiers
5	9/17 videos: generalized quantifiers	9/18 (cont'd)		9/20 LN06: other higher-order logic functions
6		9/25 LN07: substances	9/26 PS2 due videos: first-order logic	9/27 --- PS3 handout LN08: first-order logic
7	10/1 videos: set theory	10/2 LN09: set theory		10/4 (cont'd)
8		10/09 LN10: schematized functions	10/10 PS3 due	10/11 (cont'd)
9		10/16 review session 1		10/18 midterm 1
10		10/23 --- PS4 handout (cont'd)		(no class)
11		10/30 LN11: modifiers		11/1 LN12: eventualities
12		11/6 --- PS5 handout (cont'd)	11/7 PS4 due	11/8 --- PS4 Q3 solution LN13: intensionality
13		11/13 LN14: entailment		11/15 (cont'd)
14	11/19 PS5 due	11/20 --- PS6 handout LN15: quantifier scope and raising	(Thanksgiving)	(Thanksgiving)
15		11/27 (cont'd)	11/28 PS6 due (postponed to 12/1)	11/29 LN16: anaphora
16		12/4 review session 2		12/6 midterm 2

Successful course participation involves:

• Regular attendance and active participation (10% of grade).

• Completing six problem set assignments (handed out about a week and a half before they are due, see schedule), handed in through Carmen (10% each, 60% total). Late assignments are only accepted if extensions are requested and granted, and are penalized 20% on a per-question basis, so try to submit as many questions as possible on time.

• Two non-cumulative midterm exams, administered during the course meeting time (15% each, 30% total).

Faculty feedback and response time:

• Assignments: you can generally expect feedback within 7 days.
• Email: I will reply to e-mails within 24 hours on work days.

Student participation requirements: Consistent engagement is expected. If any problems arise relative to attendance, please contact the instructor as soon as possible. Communication is important. You are encouraged to participate during class, ask questions, work on in-class problems in small groups, and share your experiences relative to the subjects and discussion that day.

Attendance and active participation often impacts your performance in a meaningful way, so it will be beneficial for you to attend this course synchronously as much as possible. The lecture slides will be posted on CarmenCanvas, so if you do miss a lecture, you are expected to view the missed material before the next lecture.

Weather or other short-term closing: Should in-person classes be canceled, we will meet virtually via CarmenZoom during our regularly scheduled time. I will share any updates via email.

Students with Disabilities: The University strives to make all learning experiences as accessible as possible. If you anticipate or experience academic barriers based on your disability (including mental health, chronic or temporary medical conditions), please let me know immediately so that we can privately discuss options. To establish reasonable accommodations, I may request that you register with Student Life Disability Services. After registration, make arrangements with me as soon as possible to discuss your accommodations so that they may be implemented in a timely fashion. SLDS contact information: slds@osu.edu; 614-292-3307; slds.osu.edu; 098 Baker Hall, 113 W. 12th Avenue.

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