Syntax and semantics: Language structure and interpretation

In Fall 2025, this course has a new title 'Syntax and semantics'. The course content remains the same.

The form of an utterance is essential to the meaning it conveys; in fact, essential to whether it conveys meaning at all.  The three words ‘chase’, ‘mice’, and ‘cats’, can be combined in six logically possible orders, but only two of the arrangements produce a sentence that is interpretable in English (‘Mice chase cats’ and ‘Cats chase mice’).  The rules of syntax determine which logical possibilities are sentences, while semantics relates to their interpretation. 
Describing the variety in languages requires accurate categorization of the syntactic and semantic function of elements in languages, which in turn allows important insights regarding the similarities between very different languages. Furthermore, a basic grasp of syntax and semantics is crucial to understanding the dominant issues in modern linguistics, as well as linguistics-related issues in philosophy and cognitive science. 
This course begins with an introduction to the philosophical and scientific background for the study of syntax and meaning. Next, fundamental syntactic categories and concepts, and their relationship to semantic notions relevant for the study of language are explored. Topics such as the elements of lexical meaning, phrase structure, syntactic movement, and the computation of sentence meaning are treated and placed within a theoretical context. 
This course serves as a basis for further specialization in fields where insights about the structure and meaning of language are relevant, including linguistics, philosophy, psychology, cognitive science and computer science.   
 
Format
The class meets twice a week. Students are expected to have read assigned readings prior to class meetings. Class meetings involve combination of discussion, (guest) lecture and student presentations. Students work on and present their own research paper topics after the exam.