<- Archives UCL - Programme d'études ->



General linguistics : semantics [ LFLTR2270 ]


5.0 crédits ECTS  22.5 h   1q 

Teacher(s) Degand Elisabeth ;
Language French
Place
of the course
Louvain-la-Neuve
Prerequisites

Pré-requis : Introduction to linguistics.

Main themes

The course gives an overview of the different theoretical and methodological approaches to semantics and pragmatics. Traditional approaches in lexical and sentence semantics are confronted with the more recent advances in discourse and cognitive semantics, thus opening the way to pragmatic theories.

Aims

At the end of the course, the students should: - have developed knowledge of the explanatory principles and foundations in semantics, - have developed the ability to transfer theoretical linguistic knowledge of semantics to everyday language situations, - have acquired a deep understanding of the different current approaches in semantics.

Evaluation methods

The evaluation proceeds on the basis of several tasks: an oral theoretical exam (50%), a written exam consisting of exercises (35%), a conceptual network (10%), the illustration of a semantic phenomenon (5%).

Teaching methods

/

Content

After a brief overview of semantics in linguistics, the course considers the role of semantics on the different levels of abstraction in the linguistic system: lexical semantics (word meaning: componential analysis vs. prototype theory), situation semantics (sentence meaning: reference, entailment, propositional and predicate logic), and discourse semantics (implicature, genre and register, cohesion and coherence). Finally, a general overview is given of cognitive semantics (conceptual metaphor theory, image schema's, mental spaces) and an number of pragmatic theories (speech act theory, relevance theory, rhetorical structure theory). All theoretical concepts are illustrated with concrete everyday language examples. The course requires the student's active participation in discussions, in reading scientific texts, in resolving exercises.

Bibliography

/

Other information

Support : 1. Written overwiew of the course, 2. scientific articles/chapters in books, 3. bibliography, 4. exercises on DVD.

Cycle et année
d'étude
> Master [120] in Information and Communication Science and Technology
> Master [120] in French and Romance Languages and Literatures : General
> Master [120] in French and Romance Languages and Literatures : French as a Second Language
> Master [120] in Ancient and Modern Languages and Literatures
> Master [120] in Modern Languages and Literatures : General
> Master [120] in Ancient Languages and Literatures: Classics
> Master [120] in Ancient Languages and Literatures: Oriental Studies
> Master [120] in Linguistics
Faculty or entity
in charge
> FIAL


<<< Page précédente