The course develops students' knowledge of central concepts within semantics primarily but also to a certain extent within pragmatics, paired with the skill to use these concepts to analyze English words and sentences. These are important tools in gaining a deeper understanding of the structure and function of language, and therefore also prepare students for the concrete language analyses that their bachelor papers may involve.

This course is about meaning in language and thus deals with both the nature of language and the structure of communication. In more detail, the course deals with how words are related to other words, and how sentences are related to other sentences, by examining relations such as synonymy, antonymy, hyponymy and implication. In this course we will also investigate grammatical and lexical meaning in language, through an investigation of concepts such as aspect and modality.

After finishing the course, the student:

1) can account for the difference between semantic and pragmatic meanings;

2) can account for the central concepts within semantics;

3) can analyze English words and sentences using semantic methods and concepts;

4) can use correct terminology to describe relevant meaning features of English words and sentences;

5) can demonstrate an awareness of how semantics can contribute to text and discourse analysis; and

6) can seek and evaluate further information within the field of semantics.

The learning activities on this course are lectures, seminars, self-study of literature including exercises, and independent work on a particular topic.

This course is assessed through one written in-class exam and one written assignment. The written exam assesses learning outcomes 1-4 and the written assigment assesses learning outcomes 3-6, in relation to a topic selected by the student. In order to receive a passing grade on the whole course, the student has to recieve a passing grade for both the exam and the written assignment.

J. R., Heasley, B., & Smith, M. B. 2007. Semantics: a coursebook. Cambridge University Press.

Additional material may be introduced in the course, but no more than 200 pages.

The course is concluded with an individual course evaluation focusing on the goals of the course. A summary of the evaluation results is made available to the students on the university network/learning platform and is discussed in programme councils or similar forums connected to the course

In a case when a course is no longer given, or the contents have been changed essentially, the student has the right to two opportunities during a one year period to be examined according to the course plan which was valid at the time of registration. The exam opportunities are set by the department and it is the student’s responsibility to contact the department to find out how and when the re-examination will take plac