Course overview
Semantics is the study of meaning. It includes lexical semantics, the study of the meaning of words, the meaning of grammatical morphemes, sentence semantics and pragmatics (the study of meaning in context). The course teaches a range of approaches to the study of semantics, including dictionary definitions, prototype theory, componential analysis and semantic primitives. There is a strong focus on semantic change and cross-cultural semantics in this course.
Course learning outcomes
- Demonstrate a knowledge of a range of approaches to analysing lexical semantics
- Demonstrate an understanding of sense relations between words
- Perform a componential analysis
- Explain the relationships between semantics and grammar
- Demonstrate an understanding of sentence semantics
- Explain the principles of semantic change
- Write a coherent and logically argued essay in response to a question posed drawing on a range of perspectives and source material