Semantics

Linguists in this department study meaning of language from both the perspectives of lexical semantics and formal semantics. In lexical semantics, the units of analysis include words, sub-words (such as affixes), compound words and phrases. The study of lexical semantics investigates the (inter)relation among lexical items, the classification and decomposition of lexical items, the relation between lexical items and event types, and lexically related areas such as tense, aspect, thematic roles and modality, which are also intriguing areas to formal semanticists. Adopting a truth- conditional account of meaning, formal semantics approaches the study of meaning with the aid of logic. Using tools of symbolic logic (SL)—in particular propositional and predicate logic—linguists can uncover the underlying forms of statements. In general, specially constructed logical systems are helpful in the investigation of the meaning of linguistic expressions and other facts in the external world.

Jen-i Li is Associate Professor in the linguistics track of the Department of English, National Taiwan Normal University. Her recent research interest falls on (a) second language acquisition of semantic knowledge, and (b) lexical semantics of Mandarin and Taiwanese Southern Min, with special focus on topics of tense, aspect, modality and verbal semantics.

Prof. Nai-Hsien Chen is interested in the semantics of mass terms, collectives, and partitives. Drawing evidence from various languages, she has proposed a distinction within the category of mass term and to re-examine the nature of non-countable noun referents. Current research interests include the meaning of proper nouns and cross- linguistic interpretation of quantificational determiners.

Instructor(s):

• Dr. Chen, Nai-Hsien
• Dr. Li, Jen-i

Related Course(s) Provided:

• ENM2021 Semantics
• ENC2014 Studies in Semantics
• END2007 Seminar in Semantics
• ENC2046 Studies in Formal Semantics
• END2009 Formal Semantics