What do you know when you know the meaning of a word, a phrase, or a sentence? This introductory course aims to answer this question through the study of truth-conditional semantics and (to a lesser extent) pragmatics. The course will take a compositional approach to the representation of linguistic meaning, by investigating the ways that humans are able to predict the meaning of novel phrases and sentences based on the meanings of their parts (words and morphemes) and the ways in which they combine (morphology and syntax).

We will also explore the ways in which these meanings relate to the world (or possible worlds), to human cognition, and to conversational context. Our analysis of natural language will make use of a variety of formal tools, including predicate logic, set theory, and functions, which will help us to describe and better understand a variety of empirical phenomena.

Course Requirements:

The course assignments will include reading quizzes, weekly problem sets, and open-book take-home exams (extended problem sets covering multiple topic areas).

Intended Audience:

An introductory background in Linguistics OR previous study of logic is recommended, but not required.