Towards language universals through lexical semantics: introduction to lexical and semantic typology

Product type

Towards language universals through lexical semantics: introduction to lexical and semantic typology

Coursera (CC)
Logo Coursera (CC)
Provider rating: starstarstarstar_halfstar_border 7.2 Coursera (CC) has an average rating of 7.2 (out of 6 reviews)

Need more information? Get more details on the site of the provider.

Description

When you enroll for courses through Coursera you get to choose for a paid plan or for a free plan

  • Free plan: No certicification and/or audit only. You will have access to all course materials except graded items.
  • Paid plan: Commit to earning a Certificate—it's a trusted, shareable way to showcase your new skills.

About this course: The aim of the course is to obtain the idea of the lexicon as a complex system and to get the methodology of the typological approach to the lexicon cross-linguistically, as well as to learn about the general mechanisms of semantic shift and their typological relevance. By the end of the course the students should know the basic principles of lexical organization, the main parameters of semantic variations in lexicon, and be able to apply the basic methods of the analysis of lexical meaning to different lexical domains. The course is designed for students of linguistic programs (BA, MA, PhD), as well as for teachers and researchers in the named field. The course conta…

Read the complete description

Frequently asked questions

There are no frequently asked questions yet. If you have any more questions or need help, contact our customer service.

Didn't find what you were looking for? See also: .

When you enroll for courses through Coursera you get to choose for a paid plan or for a free plan

  • Free plan: No certicification and/or audit only. You will have access to all course materials except graded items.
  • Paid plan: Commit to earning a Certificate—it's a trusted, shareable way to showcase your new skills.

About this course: The aim of the course is to obtain the idea of the lexicon as a complex system and to get the methodology of the typological approach to the lexicon cross-linguistically, as well as to learn about the general mechanisms of semantic shift and their typological relevance. By the end of the course the students should know the basic principles of lexical organization, the main parameters of semantic variations in lexicon, and be able to apply the basic methods of the analysis of lexical meaning to different lexical domains. The course is designed for students of linguistic programs (BA, MA, PhD), as well as for teachers and researchers in the named field. The course contains the overview of different approaches to the semantic description of lexical items and lexical systems in different languages and discusses the methodology of Moscow Lexical Typology Group (lecture 1). This methodology (“frame approach”) is illustrated with the data of the following domains: aquamotion verbs (lecture 2), verbs of falling (lecture 3), adjectives denoting oldness (lecture 4) and pain metaphors (lecture 5 and 6). The results of the analyses are visualized with specially constructed lexical semantic maps.

Who is this class for: Students of linguistics

Created by:  Higher School of Economics
  • Taught by:  Ekaterina Rakhilina , Professor

    School of Linguistics
Level Advanced Commitment 5 hours: 2 hours – video lectures, 3 hours – reading, home tasks, peer review of home tasks Language English How To Pass Pass all graded assignments to complete the course. User Ratings 4.1 stars Average User Rating 4.1See what learners said Trabajo del curso

Cada curso es como un libro de texto interactivo, con videos pregrabados, cuestionarios y proyectos.

Ayuda de tus compañeros

Conéctate con miles de estudiantes y debate ideas y materiales del curso, y obtén ayuda para dominar los conceptos.

Certificados

Obtén reconocimiento oficial por tu trabajo y comparte tu éxito con amigos, compañeros y empleadores.

Higher School of Economics National Research University - Higher School of Economics (HSE) is one of the top research universities in Russia. Established in 1992 to promote new research and teaching in economics and related disciplines, it now offers programs at all levels of university education across an extraordinary range of fields of study including business, sociology, cultural studies, philosophy, political science, international relations, law, Asian studies, media and communications, IT, mathematics, engineering, and more. Learn more on www.hse.ru

Syllabus


WEEK 1


What is special about lexical typology: methodological issues
This lecture is the introduction to the whole course. It describes different approaches to the semantic typology of lexicon and presents research methodology of the Moscow Lexical Typology Group.


5 videos expand


  1. Video: About us. General remarks
  2. Video: Groups and names
  3. Video: MLEXT Methodology
  4. Video: Linguistic resources for lexical typology
  5. Video: Theoretical background

Graded: Frames in cross-linguistic comparison: Oscillation

WEEK 2


Does the octopus swim? AQUA-motion in cross-linguistic perspective
The lecture considers the project on AQUA-motion verbs in more than 50 languages and describes the possible strategies of colexification of basic situations denoting being in water and motion in water.


7 videos expand


  1. Video: Introduction
  2. Video: Semantic maps: Strategies of colexification-1
  3. Video: Strategies of colexification-2: Additional oppositions
  4. Video: Strategies of colexification-3
  5. Video: Meaning shifts-1
  6. Video: Meaning shifts-2
  7. Video: Lack of standard metaphors

Graded: AQUA-motion verbs

WEEK 3


Jack and Jill fell down the hill: Typological approach to verbs of falling
The lecture describes the results of our research on the typology of verbs of falling, including types of falling and falling metaphors. In addition, it focuses on special cases and several other semantic fields closely related to falling.


5 videos expand


  1. Video: Typology of verbs of motion
  2. Video: Falling: Semantic space
  3. Video: Oppositions between the main frames
  4. Video: Related semantic fields
  5. Video: Metaphors of falling

Graded: Trajector + Goal

WEEK 4


How do we think about oldness?



This lecture tells about the experiment of a dictionary-based semantic analysis of quality terms describing the domain of OLD in 100 languages. Semantic systems and semantic oppositions within these systems are revealed and it is argued that the linguistic behavior of quality terms is semantically motivated.


4 videos expand


  1. Video: Introduction
  2. Video: Semantics of ‘OLD’
  3. Video: Typological results: How do languages structure the domain of ‘OLD’?
  4. Video: Additional oppositions

Graded: How do we think about oldness?

WEEK 5


Words that change their meaning: pain metaphors and pain constructions. Part 1



This lecture introduces the notion of secondary pain terms. Unlike prototypical pain verbs, which have pain as their direct initial meaning, secondary pain terms denote other types of situations, like cutting, burning, etc., while pain is their secondary meaning. The lecture shows that the corresponding semantic shifts are far from trivial.


4 videos expand


  1. Video: Introduction
  2. Video: General issue
  3. Video: The first question
  4. Video: Morphology of pain constructions

Graded: Pain metaphors and pain constructions

WEEK 6


Words that change their meaning: pain metaphors and pain constructions. Part 2
This lecture continues discussing secondary pain terms. It points out the syntactic and semantic peculiarities of this shift to the pain domain and considers their contribution to the theory of metaphor and metonymy.


5 videos expand


  1. Video: Morphosyntax of pain constructions
  2. Video: Syntax of pain constructions: General remarks
  3. Video: Syntactic patterns of pain constructions
  4. Video: Semantics of pain constructions
  5. Video: Conclusion

Graded: Pain metaphors and pain constructions. Part 2
There are no reviews yet.

    Share your review

    Do you have experience with this course? Submit your review and help other people make the right choice. As a thank you for your effort we will donate £1.- to Stichting Edukans.

    There are no frequently asked questions yet. If you have any more questions or need help, contact our customer service.