LSA 226: Polarity and scalarity

Michael Israel | session 2 | MW 10:30 – 12:15, 106 Moffitt Hall

The ability to think of a thing or a situation in terms of its opposite (polarity) or in terms of an ordered set of alternatives (scalarity) is fundamental both to human conceptual structure and, consequently, to a wide range of lexical and grammatical structures in all human languages. This course explores some of the grammatical phenomena associated with scalar and polar constructions in a variety of languages.

Course work will consist of two problems sets or a short paper / research proposal exploring the grammar of one or more scalar, polar, or related constructions.

Reading: Selected materials available online.

Areas of linguistics: Syntax, semantics, and morphology