Context Structures
This is a course in formal pragmatics. Its aim
is to propose and defend an articulated context structure that brings together
elements of earlier work, in particular Stalnaker 1978, Groenendijk and Stokhof
1994, and Gunlogson 2001. I then explore how this structure allows us to
capture the similarities and differences between reactions to questions and
reactions to assertions within a view of speech acts that follows proposals in
Krifka 2001. The course ends with a discussion of the way polarity discourse
particles work in Hungarian, Romanian and French. Relevant readings will be
provided in electronic form. Students are assumed to have some familiarity with
the tools of formal semantics.
Syllabus
Meeting 1
Introduction
Discussion of
Stalnaker 1978
Meeting 2
Dividing the common ground:
Gunlogson 2001/2003
Meeting 3
Questions:
Groenendijk 1999,
Krifka 2001
Meeting 4
An expanded context structure: assertions and polar questions compared
Meeting 5
The grammar of polarity particles