Instructor: Kyle Rawlins
Meeting: MW 10:30-11:45, seminar room
Kyle's office hours: Tues 3:30-4:30
We will explore the syntax and semantics of modification through a series of case studies, of both modifiers, and the grammatical systems they interact with: modal adverbs and modals, temporal adverbs and tenses, conditionals, spatial modifiers, adjectives, and adverbs. One question will be whether there is a single uniform theory of modifiers (semantic and/or syntactic), and what it looks like. Less optimistically, are there any non-absolute generalizations we can make about modifiers? Another question will be exactly what degree of diversity there is in modifiers (it is high), and what explains this diversity.
The first few weeks will also cover some background material in intensional semantics. The point of this is to gain an understanding of some of the core systems targeted by modifiers.
Readings are available in a password protected directory here. Ask me if you don't know the password.