This course will investigate meaning in a range of areas:

• Language and emotions; the meaning of 'moral emotions' (e.g. 'shame', 'guilt', 'outrage', 'humiliation', 'jealousy'); perspectives on 'happiness'; the meaning of bodily expression
• The semantics of social relations: the meaning of words like 'friend' and 'mate': cross- cultural variation and its significance
• Speech acts and speech genres: the semantics of 'threats', 'promises', 'gossip', 'quarrels', 'negotiations', etc.: cross-linguistic variation and its significance.
• The semantics of everyday life and of 'concrete vocabulary': The meaning of words like 'cup' and 'mug', 'box' and 'bag', 'pants' and 'skirt', 'open' and 'close', 'cook' and 'fry', 'kiss' and 'kick', 'green' and 'purple'.
• The language of human categorisation: ethno-biological classifications (e.g. 'animals', 'birds', and 'creepy-crawlies' across language and cultures).
• Discourse particles and interjections (e.g. 'OK', 'yeah-no' 'yuk', and 'gosh')
• Semantics and the problems of translation
• Semantics and lexicography

Graduate students attend joint classes with undergraduates but may expect more rigorous assessment and additional assignment work, tailored to the student's interests.