Lexical Semantics of Verbs
Course LSA 116
LSA Linguistic Institute
July 2009
University of California, Berkeley
General Information:
- Instructor: Beth Levin, Department of Linguistics, Stanford University
- Dates: July 6-22, 2009
- Time: 10:30am-12:15pm
Course Description:
This course reviews foundational topics in
the lexical semantics of verbs, bringing together insights from a range
of theoretical perspectives. Since verbs are predicates of events, a
theory of the lexical semantics of verbs must be a theory of which
cognitively salient facets of events are relevant to argument
realization---the mapping from lexical semantics to syntax. The course
reviews the two leading approaches to event conceptualization: one takes
events to be conceptualized in terms of their causal structure, the
other in terms of their aspectual structure. The theories are assessed
in terms of their ability to perspicuously identify semantic
determinants of argument realization. Simultaneously, the course
considers the form of a lexical semantic representation which embodies
such theories of event conceptualization; it surveys theoretical
constructs such as semantic roles, predicate decompositions,
proto-roles, and thematic hierarchies. The course also reviews recent
theories of semantic representation which incorporate a root/event
structure distinction and explores a constraint on the meaning
lexicalized by a verb root, manifested in the complementarity of manner
and result as components of verb meaning.
Prerequisites:
The course assumes no specific background in
lexical semantics, but does assume some familiarity with basic semantic
and syntactic concepts.
Recommended text:
Levin, B. and M. Rappaport Hovav (2005) Argument
Realization, Cambridge University Press.
Handouts from Lectures
Introduction and Role-Centered Approaches to Lexical Semantic Representation
The Structure of Event Structure
Causal Approaches to Lexical Semantic Representation
Aspectual Approaches to Lexical Semantic Representation
Scales, Scalar Change, and Manner/Result Complementarity
Assessing Semantic Determinants of Argument Realization
Return to Beth Levin's
home page.