Meeting time. 11am–12:30pm Tuesdays and Thursdays, in KCB 102.

Professor. Paul Hagstrom, CAS Linguistics Program, Dept. of Modern Foreign Languages & Literatures. Office: 621 Commonwealth Ave., Room 105. Email: hagstrom@bu.edu (likely to get a quick response). Phone: 617–353–6220 (x3–6220). Office hours: TR4-5, W12-1.

Prerequisites. CAS LX 250 ("Foundations of Language"–Intro to linguistics), or equivalent

Course goals. Semantics is the study of linguistic meaning. In this course, we will examine meaning from a variety of perspectives, including: how it is encoded in words and sentences, how native speakers interpret language, and how truth and falsehood can emerge from the complexity of the grammar. We will also touch on various aspects of pragmatics - the function of meaning in a communicative setting...

Course Requirements. Homework. Homework assignments will generally be assigned on Thursdays, due the following class; "exercises" will sometimes be assigned on Tuesdays to be discussed in class but not to be handed in. Midterm exam. There will be a take-home midterm exam due (given out Thursday February 26, due Tuesday March 2). Final exam. Tuesday May 4, 9-11am.

Email. Whenever feasible, homework can be emailed to me at hagstrom@bu.edu. Text-only is preferred, but you may also send PDF, RTF, or Microsoft Word files. Postscript files are less welcome, and don't even bother sending Word Perfect, TeX or LaTeX files. Wherever email won't work for any reason, homework can be turned in at the beginning of class. Be aware that if you use any special fonts, I may not be able to read your homework—be sure you know how to "include" nonstandard fonts (or send it to me early, so I can let you know if I was unable to read it).

Late assignments. Late assignments will not be accepted without prior arrangement.

Textbooks (required):

• Portner, Paul (2005). What is meaning? Fundamentals of formal semantics. Oxford: Blackwell. (Perhaps also of use: Publisher's link, Amazon link).

Readings. Occasionally, supplemental readings may be assigned. These readings will be available in the hallway outside my office suite, in a folder labeled LX502. You may take the readings out for no more than an hour to make a personal photocopy, and then they should be returned to the folder so that others may photocopy them.

CAS Student Academic Conduct Code. As a member of a CAS course, it is essential that you read and adhere to the CAS Student Academic Conduct Code. In particular, several types of plagiarism (any attempt to represent the work of another as your own) are defined by this academic conduct code. A copy is available in CAS 105.