Logo UAB
2021/2022

Morphology, Lexicology and Semantics

Code: 100190 ECTS Credits: 6
Degree Type Year Semester
2500245 English Studies OT 3 0
2500245 English Studies OT 4 0
The proposed teaching and assessment methodology that appear in the guide may be subject to changes as a result of the restrictions to face-to-face class attendance imposed by the health authorities.

Contact

Name:
Montserrat Capdevila Batet
Email:
Montserrat.Capdevila@uab.cat

Use of Languages

Principal working language:
english (eng)
Some groups entirely in English:
Yes
Some groups entirely in Catalan:
No
Some groups entirely in Spanish:
No

Prerequisites

- Students should have passed Use of English 1 and 2 to register for the course.

- The course requires an initial level of English C2 (Proficiency) of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment. With C2, students can understand almost everything they read or hear without effort; they can summarise information from different oral and written sources, reconstruct facts and arguments and present them in a coherent way; they can express themselves spontaneously, with fluency and precision, distinguishing subtle nuances of meaning even in the most complex situations.

Objectives and Contextualisation

This subject offers an in-depth analysis of the areas of English morphology, lexicology and semantics. It focuses on the analysis of the most important inflectional phenomena and on the analysis of word structure (derivation and compounding). Secondly, it studies the structure of the lexicon and lexical models. Thirdly, it distinguishes between lexical semantics and sentence semantics and analyses both of them.

 

 

Competences

    English Studies
  • Critically assessing the scientific, literary and cultural production in the English language.
  • Describe synchronously the main grammar units, constructions and phenomena of the English language.
  • Students can apply the knowledge to their own work or vocation in a professional manner and have the powers generally demonstrated by preparing and defending arguments and solving problems within their area of study.
  • Students have the ability to gather and interpret relevant data (normally within their study area) to issue judgments that include reflection on important issues of social, scientific or ethical.
  • Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
  • Students must develop the necessary learning skills in order to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
  • Students must have and understand knowledge of an area of study built on the basis of general secondary education, and while it relies on some advanced textbooks it also includes some aspects coming from the forefront of its field of study.
  • Utilising new technologies in order to capture and organise information in English and other languages, and applying it to the personal continued training and to the problem-solving in the professional or research activity.
  • Working in an autonomous and responsible way in a professional or research environment in English or other languages, in order to accomplish the previously set objectives.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Applying the acquired knowledge and competences to professional and academic activities related to linguistics.
  2. Applying the acquired methodologies of work planning to work in an environment in the English language.
  3. Applying the acquired scientific and work planning methodologies to the research in English.
  4. Communicating in the studied language in oral and written form, properly using vocabulary and grammar.
  5. Critically assessing the analysis and syntactic, morphological and lexicological elements submitted during the course.
  6. Demonstrate a master of the specific methods of individual academic work that prepare the student for a postgraduate specialised education in the same or a different field of study.
  7. Demonstrate sound knowledge of the topics within the study of Linguistics.
  8. Describing language phenomena from a semantic perspective, and demonstrating a general comprehension of the theoretical concepts of lexicology and lexical semantics.
  9. Effectively communicating and applying the argumentative and textual processes to formal and scientific texts.
  10. Identifying the constituents of derivative and compound words.
  11. Issue appropriate critical assessments based on the comprehension of relevant information about social, scientific or ethical issues related to linguistics.
  12. Locating and organising relevant information in English that is available on the Internet, in databases, etc.

Content

- Introduction to theoretical framework. Structuralist morphology vs. generativist morphology.

- Morphology and morphological analysis. Inflectional and derivational morphology.

- Inflection in English

- Word formation processes. Analysis of derived and compound words.  Typology.

- Lexicology. Lexical access and categorization.

- Structure of the lexicon. Types of words. The lexeme.

- Processes that characterise the lexicon in English.

-  Semantics. Lexical semantics and sentence semantics. 

-  Denotation, reference and connotation. Semantic fields and semantic networks.

-  Semantic ambiguity.

 

Methodology

The methodology of this subject is based on a combination of lectures, group discussions, practical exercises and individual tutorials.

Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.

Activities

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Lectures with ICT support 25 1 5, 6, 8, 10, 12
Practical exercises and class discussions 25 1 1, 5, 7, 11, 9, 4
Type: Supervised      
Class practice and individual tutorials 25 1 2, 1, 7, 6, 8, 9, 10
Type: Autonomous      
Reading and study; assignments 50 2 2, 3, 1, 5, 7, 6, 8, 11, 9, 4, 10, 12

Assessment

On carrying out each evaluation activity, lecturers will inform students (on Moodle) of the procedures to be followed for reviewing all grades awarded, and the date on which such a review will take place.

Assignment 1: 10%

Assignment 2: 10%

Exam 1: 35%

Exam 2: 35%

Exercises and activities: 10%

REASSESSMENT:

Students with a final mark of at least 3.5/10 that have fully completed all assessment items and that have passed at least 45% of the course are entitled to sit the reassessment exam. For the final grade, all assessment items are taken into account (according to the percentages specified above). The reassessment test is a written exam to be sat at the time assigned by the Faculty and which covers the contents of the entire course. The reassessment mark is 5/10 at most. Specific exercises cannot be reassessed (unless students missed them for justified reasons). Reassessment cannot be used to obtain a higher final course grade.

Students will obtain a “Not assessed/Not submitted” course grade unless they have submitted more than 30% of the assessment items.

- VERY IMPORTANT: 

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. Lecturers will ensure that students are able to access these virtual tools, or will offer themfeasible alternatives.

Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Activities 10% 10 0.4 2, 3, 1, 5, 7, 6, 8, 10, 12
Assignment 1 10% 5.5 0.22 3, 1, 7, 11, 10
Assignment 2 10% 5.5 0.22 2, 3, 1, 7, 8, 11, 9, 12
Exam 1 35% 2 0.08 3, 1, 7, 6, 11, 9, 4, 10
Exam 2 35% 2 0.08 1, 5, 7, 8, 11, 9

Bibliography

Adger, David (2003) Core Syntax. A Minimalist Approach. Oxford: Oxford University Press

Aitchison, Jean (2012) Words in the Mind. An Introduction to the Mental Lexicon. 2nd edition. Oxford: Blackwell.

Aronoff, Mark & Kirsten Fudeman (2005) What is morphology? London: Blackwell.

Aronoff, Mark (1994) Morphology by Itself. Cambridge, Mass.: The MIT Press.

Bochner, Harry (1993) Simplicity in Generative Morphology. The Hague: Mouton de Gruyter. Halliday, M., Teubert, X., Yallop, C. & A.

Cermakova, Anna (2000) Lexicology and Corpus Linguistics. An Introduction. London: Continuum.

Frawley, William (2013) Linguistic semantics. London: Routledge.

Geeraerts, Dirk (2010) Theories of Lexical Semantics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Haspelmath, Martin & Andrea Sims (2010) Understanding morphology. London: Routledge.

Katamba, Francis (1993) Morphology. London: Macmillan.

Katamba, Francis (2004) Morphology: its Place in the Wider Context. London: Routledge.

Lipka, Leonhard (2002) English lexicology: Lexical Structure, Word Semantics & Word Formation. 2nd edition. Tübingen: Niemeyer.

Loebner, Sebastian (2013) Understanding semantics. London: Routledge.

Spencer, Andrew & Arnold Zwicky (2001) The Handbook of Morphology. London: Blackwell.

Software

No specific program required.