Semantics Research Seminar 2025-26

Module code: PLIN0056

Lecturer: Yasutada Sudo

About

This seminar is a PhD-level research seminar course on the intersection of natural language semantics and philosophy of language. It meets weekly during Term 1 at UCL. The main target audience of the seminar is PhD students, as well as staff, interested in linguistics, philosophy of language and related areas.

Topic

Focus

Schedule

Time: Friday, 15:00–17:00

Location: 201 Chandler House

Lecture 1

3 Oct
Intonation
Optional reading: Chapters 12–13 of Kadmon 2001 Formal Pragmatics
[ handout ]

Lecture 2

10 Oct
Alternative semantics
Reading: Rooth (1992) “A theory of focus interpretation”, NALS, 1 [ link ]
[ handout ]

Lecture 3

17 Oct
Alternative Semantics: issues and refinements I
Reading: Kratzer (1991) The representation of focus, Semantik, pp. 825–834 [ link ]
[ handout ]

Lecture 4

24 Oct
Alternative Semantics: issues and refinements II
Reading: Wold (1996) Long distance selective binding, SALT 6 [ link ]
Same handout as Lecture 3

Lecture 5

31 Oct
Structural alternatives
Reading: Fox & Katzir (2011) On the characterization of alternatives, NALS, 19 [ link ]
[ handout ]

Reading Week (7 Nov)

Lecture 6

14 Nov
Movement theory redux
Reading: Wagner (2006) Association by movement, NALS, 14 [ link ]
[ handout ]

Lecture 7

21 Nov
Varieties of focus sensitivity
Reading: Ch.3 of Beaver & Clark (2008) Sense and sensitivity [ link ]
[ handout ]

Lecture 8

28 Nov
Additive particles
Reading: Donáti & Sudo (2025), Additivity, accommodation, and alternatives, NALS, 33 [ link ]
[ handout ]

Lecture 9

5 Dec
Minimal sufficiency
Reading: Panizza & Sudo (2020) Minimal sufficiency with covert even, Glossa, 5 [ link ]
[ handout ]