Catalan Lexicology and Semantics
Code: 100698 ECTS Credits: 6| Degree | Type | Year | Semester |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2500247 Catalan Language and Literature | OB | 2 | 1 |
| 2501801 Catalan and Spanish | OT | 3 | 0 |
| 2501801 Catalan and Spanish | OT | 4 | 0 |
| 2501902 English and Catalan | OT | 3 | 0 |
| 2501902 English and Catalan | OT | 4 | 0 |
Contact
- Name:
- Jaume Mateu Fontanals
- Email:
- Jaume.Mateu@uab.cat
Use of Languages
- Principal working language:
- catalan (cat)
- Some groups entirely in English:
- No
- Some groups entirely in Catalan:
- Yes
- Some groups entirely in Spanish:
- No
Prerequisites
A good command of (oral and written) Catalan language and a good command of standard grammar are required. The contents of lexical morphology and basic syntax previously explained in "Llengua Catalana" (1st course) are taken for granted.
Objectives and Contextualisation
The course of "Lexicologia i semàntica catalanes" consists in the study of morphological, syntactic and, especially, semantic properties of the lexical units of Catalan.
This course is part of the compulsory subjects included in "Catalan Language: synchrony".
GOALS:
Specifically, in the field of lexical morphology, the student should be able:
- to analyze the morphological and syntactic structures of derivation and composition processes;
- to analyze the argument structure relations between lexical morphology and syntax;
- to solve problems that have to do with the morphological structure of lexical elements;
- to distinguish, from a lexical theory, what words are (im)possible.
Specifically, in the field of semantics, the student should be able:
- to acquire a general perspective on how a formal theory of semantics conceives compositionality and the structuring of lexical meaning;
- to distinguish which aspects of the lexical meaning are relevant to grammar and which are not;
- to solve problems that refer to the semantic structure of words;
- to acquire a general perspective on how a cognitive theory of language conceives meaning from general skills involved in human cognition;
- to analyze idioms and idiomatic expressions of Catalan with the tools of cognitive semantics;
- to analyze the meaning relations among words with the tools of cognitive semantics.
Competences
- Catalan Language and Literature
- Analyze, with the help of the concepts of linguistic theory and the contributions of applied linguistics where appropriate, major phonetic properties, phonological, morphological, syntactic, lexical and semantic of the Catalan language, its evolution throughout history and its current structure.
- Developing critical thinking and reasoning and communicating them effectively both in your own and other languages.
- Students must be capable of applying their knowledge to their work or vocation in a professional way and they should have building arguments and problem resolution skills within their area of study.
- Students must develop the necessary learning skills in order to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
Learning Outcomes
- Apply appropriate and thoughtfully prescriptive principles of oral and written standard Catalan.
- Dominate oral and written expression in Catalan.
- Knowing the principles of lexical semantics affecting the internal structure of words and their syntactic combinatorics.
- Producing a written text that is grammatically and lexically correct.
- Producing an oral text that is grammatically and lexically correct.
- Properly apply the knowledge gained to data collection and management of documentary sources application to the study of Catalan language and literature.
- Working independently in the synchronic and diachronic study of Catalan language and literature.
Content
According to the subject of "Catalan Language: synchrony", the contents that must be dealt with in the course "Lexicologia i semàntica catalanes" are the following ones:
(i) Syntactic and semantic properties of lexical categories;
(ii) Internal structure of lexical elements;
(iii) Types of predicates;
(iv) Complex words (lexical morphology);
(v) Word meanings.
SYLLABUS:
1. Introduction to lexicology
Mental lexicon and grammar. Grammatical vs. encyclopaedic information of lexical entries. Grammatical vs. encyclopedic meanings.
Semantic and conceptual structures. Complex word formation: derivation and composition. Types of lexicalized/idiomatic expressions. Idioms and collocations.
Lexical morphology, lexical syntax, and lexical semantics.
2. Lexical semantics and grammar
3. Lexical semantics and cognition
Conceptual content and semantic construal. Profile and base. Semantic frames and cognitive domains. The theory of prototypes and idealized cognitive models. Cognitive semantics of spatial relations.
Conceptual metaphors and image schemata. Metaphors and idioms. Cognitive semantics and sense relations: polysemy, hyponymy, synonymy, antonymy, meronymy, etc.
Methodology
The calendar will be available on the first day of class. Students will find all information on the Virtual Campus: the description of the activities, teaching materials, and any necessary information for the proper follow-up of the subject. In case of a change of teaching modality for health reasons, teachers will make readjustments in the schedule and methodologies.
Activities
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: Directed | |||
| Lectures/syllabus exposition, discussion of bibliography, and resolution of theory-based practical exercises | 26 | 1.04 | 6, 1, 3 |
| Type: Autonomous | |||
| Study of class notes and bibliography | 85 | 3.4 | 6, 1, 4, 5, 3, 2, 7 |
Assessment
The evaluation will be based on three activities:
(a) Final exam: 50%
(b) Exercises of lexical-semantic analysis: 40%
(c) Review of a book: 10%
The final grade of the course will be the (weighted) sum of the scores obtained in each activity, which must be at least 5. After each test, there will always be a procedure for reviewing the result.
If a student has been evaluated of less than 2/3 of the subject, he will receive the consideration of "non-assessable". To qualify for the second-chance test, two conditions must be met: (1) the student must have been evaluated of at least 2/3 of the subject and (2) he must have a continuous evaluation mark between 3.5 and 4.9. The maximum second-chance test rating is 5.
In the event of a student committing any irregularity that may lead to a significant variation in the grade awarded to an assessment activity, the student will be given a zero for this activity, regardless of any disciplinary process that may take place. In the event of several irregularities in assessment activities of the same subject, the student will be given a zero as the final grade for this subject.
In the event that tests or exams cannot be taken onsite, they will be adapted to an online format made available through the UAB’s virtual tools (original weighting will be maintained). Homework, activities and class participation will be carried out through forums, wikis and/or discussion on Teams, etc. The professor will ensure that students are able to access these virtual tools, or will offer them feasible alternatives.
Assessment Activities
| Title | Weighting | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Book review | 10% | 7 | 0.28 | 6, 4, 5, 3, 7 |
| Final exam | 50% | 4 | 0.16 | 6, 1, 4, 3, 2, 7 |
| Lexical analysis exercises | 40% | 28 | 1.12 | 6, 1, 4, 5, 3, 2, 7 |
Bibliography
Textbooks
Cabré, M. Teresa & Rigau, Gemma (1985). Lexicologia i semàntica. Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana.
De Miguel, Elena (ed.). (2009). Panorama de la lexicología. Barcelona: Ariel Letras.
Escandell, M. Victoria (2007). Apuntes de semántica léxica. Madrid: Cuadernos de la UNED.
Espinal, M. Teresa (coord.) et al. (2002). Semàntica. Del significat del mot al significat de l’oració. Barcelona: Ariel Lingüística.
Espinal, M. Teresa (coord.) et al. (2014). Semántica. Madrid: Akal.
Gràcia, Lluïsa (1994). Morfologia lèxica. L’herència de l’estructura argumental. Col·lecció Biblioteca Lingüística Catalana. Universitat de València.
Pustejovsky, James & Olga Batiukova (2019). The Lexicon. Col·lecció: Cambridge Textbooks in Linguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Reference bibliography
Acedo Matellán, Víctor & Mateu, Jaume (2009). "L’expressió dels esdeveniments de canvi: del llatí al català". In Cufí, Joan Rafel (ed.). Diachronic linguistics. 473-496. Girona: Documenta Universitaria.
Baker, Mark (2003). Lexical Categories: Verbs, Nouns, and Adjectives. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Bosque, Ignacio (1989). Las categorías gramaticales. Madrid: Síntesis.
Bosque, Ignacio (2000). “Objetos que esconden acciones. Una reflexión sobre la sincategorematicidad”. In Cabré, M.Teresa & Gelpí, Cristina (eds.). Lèxic, corpus i diccionaris. 15-30. Universitat Pompeu Fabra. Barcelona: Publicacions de l’IULA.
Bosque, Ignacio (2001). “Sobre el concepto de ‘colocación’ y sus límites”. Lingüística Española Actual 23: 9-40
Bosque, Ignacio (2012). “On the lexical integrity hypothesis and its (in)accurate predictions”. Iberia 4.1: 140-173.
Bosque, Ignacio. i Gutiérrez-Rexach, Javier (2009). Fundamentos de sintaxis formal [cap. 5 "Léxico y sintaxis"]. Madrid: Akal.
Cabré, M. Teresa (1994). A l’entorn de la paraula. (Vol. I Lexicologia general i vol. II Lexicologia catalana). Series: Biblioteca Lingüística Catalana. Universitat de València.
Cabré, M. Teresa (2002). “La derivació”. In Solà, Joan et al. (dir.). Gramàtica del català contemporani (vol. I). 731-775. Barcelona: Empúries.
Cabré, Teresa & Mateu, Jaume (1998). “Estructura gramatical inormativa lingüística: a propòsit dels verbs psicològics encatalà”. Quaderns. Revista de Traducció 2: 65-81. http://www.raco.cat/index.php/quadernstraduccio/article/viewFile/25162/24997
Croft, William & Cruse, David (2008). Lingüística cognitiva. Madrid: Akal Cambridge.
Espinal, M. Teresa (2000). “Sobre les expressions lexicalitzades”. Els Marges 67: 7-31.
Espinal, M. Teresa & Mateu, Jaume (2005). “La llengua a les frases fetes”. Articles de Didàctica de la Llengua i la Literatura catalanes, núm. 36, pàg. 20-31.
Fábregas, Antonio (2013). La morfología. El análisis de la palabra compleja. Madrid: Síntesis.
Fábregas, Antonio (2016). Las nominalizaciones. Madrid: Visor Libros.
Ginebra, Jordi & Navarro, Pere (2015). "Concurrències lèxiques en català i en espanyol: uns quants contrastos". In À. Martín Escribà et al. (eds.). Actes del Setzè Col·loqui Internaciona de Llengua i Literatura Catalanes, Universitat de Salamanca, 1-6 de juliol de 2012, vol. II, 217-228. Barcelona: Publicacions de l'Abadia de Montserrat.
Gràcia, Lluïsa (1989). Els verbs ergatius en català. Maó, Institut Menorquí d'Estudis.
Gràcia, Luïsa (2002). “Formació de mots: composició”. In Solà, J. et al. (dir.). Gramàtica del català contemporani (vol. I). 777-829. Barcelona: Empúries.
Hale, Kenneth & Keyser, Samuel Jay (1993). “On Argument Structure and the Lexical Expression of Syntactic Relations”. In Hale, Kennneth & Keyser, Samuel Jay (eds.). The View from Building 20. Essays in Honor of Sylvain Bromberger. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
Hanks, Patrick (2013). Lexical analysis. Norms and Exploitations. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
Lakoff, George & Johnson, Mark (1986). Metáforas de la vida cotidiana. Madrid: Cátedra.
Levin, Beth & Rappaport Hovav, Malka (2005). Argument Realization. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Lieber, Rochelle (2004). Morphology and lexical semantics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Lorente, Mercè (2002). "Altres elements lèxics". In Solà, Joan et al. (dir.). Gramàtica del català contemporani, vol. 1, 831-883. Barcelona: Empúries.
Marantz, Alec (1997). “No Escape from Syntax. Don’t Try Morphological Analysis in the Privacy of Your Own Lexicon”. UPenn Working Papers in Linguistics 4.2: 201-225.
Mascaró, Joan (1986). Morfologia. Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana.
Mateu, Jaume (2000). “La semàntica relacional de l’estructura argumental i la seva aplicació a una alternança lexicosemàntica del català”. Llengua & Literatura 11: 281-309.
Mateu, Jaume (2016). "La estructura argumental". In Ángel J. Gallego (ed.). Perspectivas de sintaxis formal. 111-148. Madrid: Akal.
Mendikoetxea, Amaya. (2007). “En busca de los primitivos léxicos y su realización sintáctica: del léxico a la sintaxis y viceversa”. In Cabré, Teresa (ed.). Lingüística Teòrica:anàlisi i perspectives II (Series: Monografies de Catalan Journal of Linguistics). 55-102. Bellaterra: Servei de Publicacions de la UAB.
Moreno Cabrera, Juan Carlos (2003). Semántica y gramática. Sucesos, papeles semánticos y relaciones sintácticas. Madrid: Ed. Antonio Machado Libros.
Picallo, Carme (1991). “Nominals and Nominalizations in Catalan”. Probus 3.3: 1-34.
Pustejovsky, James (1995). The Generative Lexicon. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
Ramchand, Gillian (2008). Verb meaning and the lexicon. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Rosselló, Joana (2002). «El SV, I: Verb i arguments verbals». In Solà, Joan et al. (dir.). Gramàtica del català contemporani, vol. II, cap. 13. Barcelona: Empúries.
Singleton, David (2000). Language and the Lexicon. An Introduction. Londres: Arnold.
Talmy, Leonard (2000). Toward a Cognitive Semantics. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
Tuson, Jesús (2008). Això és i (no és) Allò. Badalona: Ara llibres. http://www.tv3.cat/videos/457169/Jesus-Tuson
Ynglès, M. Teresa (1996). “El temps no passa en va: correlació forma-significat en les expressions temporals”. Llengua i Literatura 7: 235-270.