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Linguistics
Department
Stanford
University |
Stanford
Humanities Center
Mellon
Foundation
Graduate
Research Workshop Program
Stanford
Semantics and Pragmatics Workshop:
THE
CONSTRUCTION OF MEANING
Friday, January 24, 3:30pm in 460-126:
Thoughts on semantic universals and semantic variation
Lisa Matthewson (British Columbia)
This talk tackles the following two-part question: What is universal in
semantics, and how can semantics vary cross-linguistically? Based partly
on two specific case studies (determiners and tense in Lillooet Salish),
and partly on conceptual reasoning, I'll put forward the three claims in
(1).
(1) i. In both syntax and semantics, our null hypothesis should be that
all languages are identical.
ii. Semantic variation is not necessarily tied to syntactic variation; the
former exists even in the absence of the latter.
iii. A theory that admits semantic parameters is more restrictive than one
which doesn't.
The basic idea is that semantic theory should not abdicate to syntactic
theory all responsibility for setting limits on variation. Once we admit
that semantics can vary in ways which do not necessarily derive from
differing syntactic structures, we can begin to articulate constraints on
semantic variation; we will then end up with a more restricted theory of
both semantics and syntax. Finally, the case studies will also lead to the
substantive claim given in (2).
(2) The inventory of functional projections is invariant
cross-linguistically; the lexical semantics of functional heads varies
cross-linguistically.
Please contact one of the workshop organizers
if you have suggestions for presentations or the workshop in general.
Back to the workshop homepage.
This workshop is sponsored by
the Stanford Humanities Center, and funded by a grant from the Mellon
Foundation.
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