LING 3450
Introduction to Semantics
Semantics is the branch of linguistics which studies how speakers assign meaning to words, sentences, and larger units of discourse. We combine perspectives from both linguistics and philosophy to explore a variety of topics including polysemy, compositionality, quantification, anaphora, definite descriptions, attitude reports, presupposition, and implicature. Prerequisite: Ling 170D or Phil 301G or permission of instructor.
Instructors
Reviews
He's probably staring down awful grad placement rates and decided the solution was to crank the course difficulty to absurd levels. Still warm outside class, but in the room he mumbles through lectures, nitpicks assignments to absurdity, gives no credit if you don't have the exact thing he wants, nukes our grades, and calls it rigor. Brilliant.
12/5/2025
He is really hard to meet with outside of class, but you won't receive a good grade in upper level courses unless you do. Not a very dynamic lecturer. Focuses unnecessarily on his own work and interests, does not provide a good background in material. He does care about students, but this translates to having to meet with him more outside of class.
3/5/2017
I can see why he has a following! He cares about his students and teaches well. I highly recommend taking a class with him before you graduate.
11/4/2007