Tacitly assuming its existence and viability, this course will introduce students to comparative (parametric) semantics. Focussing on a cute and attractive phenomenon of homophonous marking of logical expressions, which is typologically and possibly surprisingly wide-spread, we examine the extent and limits of variation and change in the domain of highly functional vocabulary (i.e., logical vocabulary). We will romantically even assume that a wider (or more general) comparative (both synchronic/typological as well as) diachronic semantic theory can be induced from the empirical set we will be entertaining. Specific topics, from which a logical sequence and a timeline of the course will follow, include:
-> Morpho-Logic:
• introduction
• synchronic typology
• diachrony
-> Comparative-parametric linguistics:
from Parameter Theory v1.0 to v3.0
-> Parameter Theory for semantics:
from hierarchy of discreet choices
to multivariate decision trees (including simulation, time allowing)