Courses:

Course Info

• Course Number / Code:
• 24.921 (Spring 2007) 
• Course Title:
• Special Topics in Linguistics: Genericity 
• Course Level:
• Graduate 
• Offered by :
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
  Massachusetts, United States  
• Department:
• Linguistics and Philosophy 
• Course Instructor(s):
• Prof. Paula Menéndez-Benito 
• Course Introduction:
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  24.921 Special Topics in Linguistics: Genericity
  
  
  
  

  Spring 2007

  
  
  

  
  
  

  Course Highlights

  
  
  

  
  
  24.921 Special Topics in Linguistics: Genericity
  
  
  
  

  Spring 2007

  
  
  

  

  A tripartite structure for adverbially quantified sentences. For more information, see "Bare Plurals as Indefinites" in the lecture notes . (Figure by MIT OCW. Adapted from Heim, Irene. "The Semantics of Definite and Indefinite Noun Phrases." Doctoral dissertation, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 1982, p. 146.)

  
  
  

  Course Description

  
  
  

  This course will investigate the semantics of generic sentences, i.e., sentences that are used to talk about habits, tendencies, dispositions, or kinds. For instance:

  1. Dogs are good pets.
  2. The giant panda is an endangered species.
  3. A soccer player makes lots of money.
  4. Mary smokes after dinner.
  5. This machine crushes oranges.

  This is a half-semester course.

  
  
  

  Recommended Citation

  
  
  

  For any use or distribution of these materials, please cite as follows:

  Paula Menéndez-Benito, course materials for 24.921 Special Topics in Linguistics: Genericity, Spring 2007. MIT OpenCourseWare (http://ocw.mit.edu/), Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Downloaded on [DD Month YYYY].