Course Outline

Faculty of Ghanaian Languages Education

College of Languages Education, Ajumako
University of Education, Winneba.
Semester I 2021
Course Code: LNG 231
Course Title: Introduction to Semantics
INSTRUCTORS: DR. AGOSWIN MUSAH, DR HELEN ATIPOKA,
DR. YVONNE A. A. OLLENNU, MR. BRIGHT AMOAH, MS.
RAHINATU IBRAHIM AND MS. NUURATU MUSTAPHA.

Course Description
The course aims to provide an introduction to the main descriptive concepts in the study of
meaning in language, both as a way of increasing awareness of the richness and complexity of
linguistic meaning and as a foundation for more advanced study. The course will explore what
semantics is about, some basic notions and concepts in the study of meaning, lexical relations,
ambiguity and vagueness, and participants roles. It further introduces students to pragmatics and
explores key concepts such as speech acts, implicatures and presupposition.

Course Objectives
At the end of the course will be able to:
 Demonstrate their understanding of the main semantic concepts listed under the content
and be able to explain, illustrate and apply these concepts to new data.
 Acquire skills to analyse semantic data in English or Ghanaian languages using the
concepts acquired in the course.
 Develop and demonstrate skills for abstracting and synthesising from empirical data, and
application of their knowledge in real contexts.
 Acquire foundational knowledge in semantics for the study of advanced course in future

Mode of delivery: Lectures, discussions, group work and tutorials

Requirements: Students are expected to read the required readings before coming to
lectures.

Course Content
1. Some basics in semantics
 What is semantics?
 Levels of Meaning
 Semantics as part of linguistics
Required Readings: Lobner chapter 1-2, Murphy: Chapter 1-2, Saeed: Chapter 1; Palmer:
Chapter 1-3

2. Basic concepts in the study of meaning

 Reference and sense

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  Connotation and denotation
 Utterances, sentences, and propositions
Required Readings; Saeed: Chapter 1; Goddard: Chapter 1

3. Logic and Semantics

 Entailment
 Contradiction
 Equivalence
 Contraries
Required Readings: Lobner chapter 4; Saeed: Chapter 3

4. Lexical Relations
 Homonymy
 Polysemy
 Hyponymy
 Synonymy
 Meronymy
 Metonymy
Required Readings: Löbner: chapter 5; Murphy: chapter 5 & 6; Saeed: Chapter 3

5. Ambiguity and Vagueness

 Definition of the concepts
 Lexical and sentence ambiguities
Required Readings: Löbner: chapter 3; Murphy: Chapter 5;Cruse (2011): chapter 5

6. Participants in a proposition
 Thematic Roles
 Grammatical relations and thematic roles
Required Readings: Löbner (2002): Chapter 6; Cruse, (2011): Chapter 13-16; Saeed: Chapter 6

7. Semantics and Pragmatics

 What is Pragmatics?
 Speech Acts (Locutionary and illocutionary force)
 Implicature
 Presupposition
Required Readings: Levinson: Chapter 1, 3; Huang: Chapters 1, 2; Cruse: Chapter 10; Huang:
Chapter 2-4; Saeed: Chapter 4; Cruse (2004, 2011): Chapter 18-20

Reading list
Cruse, D. A. (2004). Meaning in Language: An introduction to Semantics and Pragmatics. Oxford:
Oxford University Press.
Cruse, D. A. (2011). Meaning in language: An introduction to semantics and pragmatics. Oxford
and New York: Oxford Cambridge.
Goddard, C. (2011). Semantic Analysis: A Practical Introduction Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Huang, Y. (2007). Pragmatics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Hurford, R. James, Heasley, Brendan, and Smith, Michael B. (2007). Semantics: A coursebook

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Löbner, S. (2002). Understanding Semantics: Understanding Language Series. London: Hodder
Education.
Levinson, C. S. (1983). Pragmatics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Murphy, M. Lynne. (2010). Lexical Meaning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Saeed, I John. (2009). Semantics. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.
Sekyi-Baidoo, J.Y. (2002). Semantics: An introduction. Kumasi: Wilas Press Limited.

Assessment:
The overall assessment is made up of: Exercises and a Quiz (40%) and final Exams (60%).
Note: The exams and quiz may contain questions about topics covered in the required readings, but
not in the lectures.