Mosul University

College of Arts
Department of Translation
Sept. 2018

Course Syllabus – Semantics

Presented by:Asst.Prof.Essam T.Muhammed

COURSE DESCRIPTION:
The course incorporates a sub discipline of linguistics ,i.e., semantics.
The first part of the course begins by providing a historical perspective of
the emergence of semantics as well as the nature and scope of semantics
are first described then followed by an extensive discussion of selected
conventional topics in the field of semantics including word, utterance
,and sentence meaning besides sense denotation and sense relations
within the major topic i.e., lexical semantics. Further exploration of
semantics encompasses another major topic represented by sentence
semantics which subsumes another topic such as Austin’s speech Acts
.Theory of meaning

DETAILED COURSE OUTLINE

Introduction to semantics: its nature and scope .1

Theories of meaning .2
Lexical semantics .3
Word meaning.4
Utterance meaning.5
Sentence semantics.6
Truth-conditional semantics; speech acts theory of meaning: Austin’s .7
and Searle’s contributions
semantics, semiotics & pragmatics .8

COURSE OBJECTIVES:
Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:
1.Define the technical terms required to describe meaning.

Apply modern semantic and pragmatic theories including lexical field.2

theory, truth conditional semantics, referential theory, mental
representations, linguistic relativity, relevance theory, speech act theory,
.situations types, thematic roles, and conversational implicatures

3.Identify lexical relations between sentences including paraphrase,

entailment, implicature, and presupposition.

4.Distinguish between semantics, pragmatics, semiotics and other sub-

disciplines within the field of semantics.

5.Identify truth tables of synonymy, entailment, contradiction and

presupposition.

Identify sense relations between words including hyponymy, polysemy, .6

, .synonymy,and antonymy

7.Categorize types of speech acts including performatives, indirect

speech acts and sentence types.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of the course, the student is expected to have gained the
:following

Having known the interface between semantics and pragmatics and .1

.their tools
Tools with which to study semantics and pragmatics .2
An awareness of the relationship between grammar and semantics on .3
.the one hand and the role of meaning in grammar on the other
 References

.Austin, J.L,( 1962) How to do things words, Oxford: Oxford Clarendon

.Leech, C, 1974: Semantics,Harmondsworth Penguin
.Lobner,S.(2002)Understanding Semantics,London:Arnold
Lyons ,J.(1977)Semantics:Vol.1&2,Cambridge: Cambridge University
.Press
.Palmer ,F.R.(1996)Semantics, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press