Overview
Reference to events and other abstract objects (such
as degrees and times) which serve as implicit predicate arguments has
served as the basis for semantic analysis of a wide range of phenomena,
from adverbial modification and anaphora to temporal and aspectual
interpretation and pluractionality. We will review the trends in the
field, and address the question of the status of such objects in the
grammar.
Course requirements
Students who enroll in the course for credit will be
required to turn in a research paper at the end of the quarter. You
should consult with me on the topic by the end of the seventh week.
Schedule
NB: The following schedule is subject to change, so please
check for updates each week! (Last updated: Tuesday, May 3)
-
April 3
Event descriptions and nominalizations
Davidson 1967 (ch. 6)
, Vendler 1967, chapter 5
(or if that doesn't work, download this archive, which contains pdf versions of each page of the chapter),
Moltmann 2006, (additional, optional readings:
Davidson 1967 (ch. 8),
Cleland 1991,
Zucchi 1993 The language of propositions and events, ch. 3)
Handout of class notes
-
April 13 (Friday)
The ontology of events. (NOTE: I will be out of town on Wednesday, April 11, so we will meet
Friday the 13th at 11am, in Classics 47.
Vendler 1957,
Mourelatos 1978,
Bach 1986,
Dowty 1979 Word Meaning and Montague Grammar, chapter 2, section 2.2
Notes
-
April 17
Severing the external argument (and maybe some other ones) from the verb
Kratzer (event ms., chs 1-3)
Notes
-
April 24
Themes, proto-themes, and incremental themes
Kratzer (event ms., ch. 4), Dowty 1991, Carlson 1998
Notes
-
May 1
Measuring out
Krifka 1992, Krifka 1998,
(Krifka 1990 optional)
Notes
-
May 8
Measuring change
Kennedy and Levin 2007,
Pinon 2007, (optional: Kearns 2007,
Winter 2006)
-
May 15
Putting the VP back together
Filip 2007, Rappaport Hovav 2006,
Kratzer 2002
-
May 31
Resultatives
Levin and Rappaport Hovav 2001,
Kratzer 2004,
Wechsler 2005
|