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SUMMARY:'Universals in semantics' - PhD course / Reading Group
DTSTART:20100128T153000Z
DTEND:20100128T163000Z
UID:TALK22983@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Eleni Kapogianni
DESCRIPTION:*discussed paper:* 'Universals in semantics' by Von Fintel and
  Matthewson\, published in The Linguistic Review 25(2008)\,139-20\n\n*abst
 ract*\n\nThis article surveys the state of the art in the field of semanti
 c universals. We\nexamine potential semantic universals in three areas: (i
 ) the lexicon\, (ii) semantic\n“glue” (functional morphemes and compos
 ition principles)\, and (iii)\npragmatics. At the level of the lexicon\, w
 e find remarkably few convincing semantic\nuniversals. At the level of fun
 ctional morphemes and composition principles\,\nwe discuss a number of pro
 mising constraints\, most of which require\nfurther empirical testing and/
 or refinement. In the realm of pragmatics\, we\npredict that Gricean mecha
 nisms are universal\, but suggest that the precise\nnature of presuppositi
 ons may be subject to cross-linguistic variation. Finally\,\nwe follow E.L
 . Keenan in concluding that the overarching universal of effability\nor tr
 anslatability between languages cannot be upheld in its strongest form.\nA
  recurring theme throughout this survey is how much work still remains to 
 be\ndone in the relatively young field of cross-linguistic formal semantic
 s.
LOCATION:Brown Library\, RCEAL\, 3rd floor\, English Faculty Building.
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