Teaching

2024

Specific indefinites

19–21 August 2024, Keio Univeristy, Tokyo, japan

• Lecture 1: Data + choice function theories [ handout ]
• Lecture 2: Previous presuppositional theories [ handout ]
• Lecture 3: Wide scope via dynamic presuppositions

Introduction to scalar implicature

12 July, International Christian University, Tokyo, Japan. [ slides: pdf, html ]

Introduction to indexical shift

14 March, International Christian University, Tokyo, Japan. [ handout ]

2023

Experimental approaches to scalar implicatures

Co-taught with Stavroula Alexandropoulou

CUSO School, 8–10 November 2023, Université de Genève, Geneva, Switzerland

• Lecture 1 [ slides ]
• Lab 1 [ slides ] [ raw_data.csv ] [ fillers.R ] [ targets.R ]
• Lab 3 [ slides ] [ raw_data.csv ] [ fillers.R ] [ targets.R ]

2021

Discourse referents

Göttingen fall school in linguistics 2021: anaphora and presupposition, Mon 30 August–Fri 3 September 2021, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany.

• Lecture 1: Dynamic semantics for anaphora [ slides ]
• Lecture 2: Varieties of dynamic semantics [ slides ]
• Lecture 3: A dynamic fragment of English [ slides ]

2019

The morpho-semantics/pragmatics of nominal number

• Balaton Linguistics Summer School, August 26–30, 2019, Lake Balaton, Hungary.
• Fall School of Formal Syntax and Formal Semantics (3-FS), September 1-7, 2019, Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia.

In this course we will investigate some of the current theoretical issues surrounding the morphology, semantics and pragmatics of nominal number. We will in particular focus on the idea that only certain part of the meaning of number comes from the lexically encoded meaning, and the rest comes from some other mechanism, and evaluate and compare several theoretical implementations of this idea.

[ lecture notes ]

2018

Ellipsis, binding, and Logical Form

Co-taught with Patrick D. Elliott

Eastern Generative Grammar 2018, in Banja Luka, Republika Srpska, Boznia and Herzegovina.

In this seminar, we delve into the semantics of elliptical constructions, by focusing on the interaction between ellipsis and binding – a topic that has been the focus of intensive research since Sag's (1976) pioneering dissertation. In the first part of the class, we will introduce a number of classical ellipsis/binding puzzles, and the debate surrounding their analysis: the strict/sloppy ambiguity, MaxElide, and Dahl's puzzle. In the second part of the class, we will briefly introduce dynamic semantics, and argue that static conceptions of binding are insufficient for analysing certain interactions between binding and ellipsis. Ultimately, we will suggest that once one shifts to a dynamic perspective, ellipsis can itself be analysed as a kind of binding.

The exhaustivity operator: current issues and perspectives

Co-taught with Daniele Panizza

Eastern Generative Grammar 2018, in Banja Luka, Republika Srpska, Boznia and Herzegovina.

In this course we will review recent theoretical developments concerning the exhaustivity-operator (Exh). We will start with the basics (focus, scalar implicature and problems of alternatives), and move on to more advanced topics, such as economy conditions on the distribution of Exh, polarity sensitivity, etc.

2017

Lectures on the syntax, semantics and morphology of number

Co-taught with Andrew Nevins

12–14 December, 2017, Masaryk University, Brno. Funded by Erasmus+.

• Unmarked plurals
• Paucity
• Webinar: Countable nouns and classifiers in Japanese (and beyond)

2016

Presupposition

Eastern Generative Grammar 2016, Lagodekhi, Georgia.

• Lecture 1: Introduction to presupposition [ lecture notes ]
• Lecture 2: Satisfaction theory [ lecture notes ]
• Lecture 3: Presupposition projection and quantification in satisfaction theory [ lecture notes ]

Lectures on the syntax, semantics, and morphology of gender

Co-taught with Andrew Nevins

1–3 June, 2016, at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Funded by Erasmus+.

In this course we explore current theoretical issues regarding gender marking in natural languages. Gender is a hotly debated topic in the literature of morphology, syntax, and semantics, as well as their interfaces. We discuss various theoretical debates, drawing data from a number of languages, including Greek.

• Lecture 1 (YS): Introduction [ slides ]
• Lecture 2 (YS): The semantics of gender on nouns [ slides ]
• Lecture 3 (YS): Nominal ellipsis of gendered nouns [ slides ]
• Lectures 4&5 (AN): Gender on participles

2015

The semantics of perspective sensitviity

Co-taught with Lisa Bylinina and Eric McCready

ESSLLI 2015, August 10–14, 2015, at Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona.

Many expressions in natural language (e.g. left, interesting) are 'perspective-sensitive' in the sense that their meanings nontrivially refer to the perspectives under which they are used. While the semantics of such perspective sensitive items (PSIs) garnered some attention in the 70-80s, the recent literature focuses more on specific subsets of them (e.g. predicates of personal taste, perspective sensitive anaphora, evidentials) and discussion on similarities and differences among PSIs is scarce. Furthermore, despite the recent developments in the study of context sensitivity, especially the semantics of indexical expressions and de se attitude, connections to perspective sensitivity have rarely been made. The purpose of this course is to bring together the views offered by these different trends in the recent literature, aiming at giving a better empirical landscape of PSIs and developing a formal theory of perspective sensitivity in relation to context sensitivity.

• Lecture 1 (LB): Introduction to perspective sensitivity
• Lecture 2 (YS): Shifting in attitude contexts and elsewhere
• Lecture 3 (YS): Come and go
• Lecture 4 (EM): Epistemic modality and evidentials
• Lecture 5 (LB): Subjectivity, predicates of personal taste

2014

Introduction to formal semantics

Co-taught with Dimitra Lazaridou-Chatzigoga

ACTL Autumn School 2014, UCL, London, UK.

• Lecture 1 (YS): Introduction
• Tutorial 1 (YS): Set theory
• Lecture 2 (DLC): Quantification in predicate logic
• Tutorial 2 (DLC): Exercises on predicate logic and quantifiers
• Lecture 3 (DLC): Generalized Quantifier Theory
• Tutorial 3 (YS): Exercises on Generalized Quantifier Theory
• Lecture 4 (YS): Quantifier scope
• Lecture 5 (DLC+YS): Bare NPs, genericity and quantification
• Tutorials 4&5 (DLC+YS): Generalized Scope Economy and intermediate scope

前提

University of Hiroshima, July 18–19, 2014.

• 講義１：真理条件的意味論入門 [ スライド ]
• 講義２：前提と第三の真理値 [ スライド ]
• 講義３：前提の引き金問題と投射問題 [ スライド ]
• 研究発表：量化文における前提投射と第四の真理値 [ スライド ]

2013

The semantics of phi

ACTL, June 24–28, 2013, UCL, London, UK.

• Lecture 1: Introduction [ handout ]
• Lecture 2: Phi-features on pronouns and presuppositions [ handout ]
• Lecture 3: The problem of bound pronouns [ handout ]
• Lecture 4: Number features on bound pronouns [ handout ]
• Lecture 5: Phi-features on verbs, adjectives and nouns [ handout ]

• Jisu Park: September 2024–, UCL, primary supervisior (funded by AHRC-LAHP)
• Tim Jantarungsee: September 2023–, UCL, primary supervisor (funded by AHRC-LAHP)
• David Blunier: 2022–2024, Université de Genève, co-supervisor (co-supervision with Isabelle Charnavel)
• Ruoying Zhao: September 2016–January 2022, UCL primary supervisor
• Bridget Schvarcz: 2019–2021, Bar Ilan University, external advisor (primary supervisors: Gabi Danon, Susan Rothstein)
• Gregor Willamson: 2016–September 2021, UCL, primary supervisor (co-supervision with Hans van de Koot)
• Flóra Lili Donáti: 2018–July 2021, Paris 8, external advisor (primary supervisor: Claire Beyssade)
• Rodanthi Christofaki: 2017–December 2019, Cambridge University, external advisor (supervisor: Ianthi Tsimpli)