Topic 1 – What is meaning?

Topic 2 – Levels of meaning

Topic 3 – Categorization and cognitive semantics

Topic 4 – Figure & ground

Topic 5 – Motion events

Topic 6 – Metaphor & metonymy

Topic 7 – Frame semantics

Topic 8 – Semantic change

Topic 9 – Meaning and syntax

Topic 10 – Meaning & gesture

• Each topic will be taught over a period of one to three weeks


• Each topic has one or more associated preparatory readings


• Students perform one linguistic analysis per topic, independently or in small groups. These results are presented and discussed during the next class


• The approximate work load per week is 4-7 hours (3 hours of class, 1-2 hours of reading, 0-2 hours of homework)

Attendance & performance in class:  30%

Presentations and exercises:               35%

Term paper                                         35%

• Students are expected to actively participate in class. You will be assessed on your ability to discuss the course materials in a creative and critical manner.


• Students are required to attend class and to arrive in class on time. Absence without proper reason will negatively affect your grade. If you are absent for more than two times, you cannot pass this class.


• Students are required to discuss and analyze linguistic data and discuss previous research, and present the results in class.


• Assignments have to be turned in on time. There is a penalty of 10% of your final grade for each day a submission is late.


• Students will be required to write a term paper on semantics.

Grading scale:

Topic 1 – What is meaning?

1. Riemer, Nick. 2010. Introducing Semantics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [Chapter 1: Meaning in the empirical study of language; Chapter 2: Meaning and definition; Chapter 3: The scope of meaning I: external context]

Topic 2 – Levels of meaning

2. Levinson, Stephen C. 1995. Three levels of meaning. In F. R. Palmer (ed.), Grammar and Meaning, 90-110. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Topic 3 – Categorization and cognitive semantics

3. Kövecses, Zoltán. 2006. Language, Mind and Culture: A Practical Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press. [Chapter 2: Categorizing the world; Chapter 3: Levels of interacting with the world]

Topic 4 – Figure & ground

4. Ungerer, Friedrich, and Hans-Jörg Schmid. 2006. An Introduction to Cognitive Linguistics. 2nd edition. New York: Pearson/Longman. [Chapter 4: Figure and ground]

Topic 5 – Motion events

5. Slobin, D., 2004. The many ways to search for a frog: linguistic typology and the expression of motion events. In Strömqvist, S., Verhoeven, L. (Eds.), Relating Events in Narrative: Typological and Contextual Perspectives. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah, NJ, pp. 219-257.

Topic 6 – Metaphor & metonymy

6. Kövecses, Zoltán. 2002. Metaphor: A Practical Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press. [Chapter 2: Common source and target domains; Chapter 3: Kinds of metaphor; Chapter 6: The basis of metaphor; Chapter 11: Metonymy]

Topic 7 – Frame semantics

7. Kövecses, Zoltán. 2006. Language, Mind and Culture: A Practical Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press. [Chapter 6: The frame analysis of culture; Chapter 7: Mappings within frames; Chapter 8: Mappings across frames]


8. Fillmore, Charles J. 1982. Frame semantics. In T. L. S. of Korea (Ed.), Linguistics in the Morning Calm. Seoul: Hanshin Publishing Company.


9. Fillmore, C. J., & Baker, C. (2006). FrameNet web site: http://framenet.icsi.berkeley.edu/

Topic 8 – Semantic change

10. Van Bogaert, Julie. 2011. I think and other complement-taking mental predicates: A case of and for constructional grammaticalization. Linguistics 49.2: 295–332.


11. Riemer, Nick. 2010. Introducing Semantics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [Chapter 11: Semantic variation and change]

Topic 9 – Meaning and syntax

12. Kaltenböck, Gunther, Bernd Heine, and Tania Kuteva. 2011. On thetical grammar. Studies in Language 35.4: 848-893.


13. Riemer, Nick. 2010. Introducing Semantics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [Chapter 9: Meaning and morphosyntax I: the semantics of grammatical categories]

Topic 10 – Meaning & gesture

14. Özyürek, Asli, Sotaro Kita, Shanley Allen, Reyhan Furman, & Amanda Brown (2005). How does linguistic framing of events influence co-speech gestures? Insights from cross-linguistic variations and similarities. Gesture, 5, 215–237.