239939 Lexicology and Lexicography (S) (WiSe 2012/2013)

Lexicology a.k.a. lexical semantics is the application of theories of meaning to words; in short it is about word meanings and their association with other word meanings. Even the most superficial look at word meaning will reveal the different mappings between the lexical items and the objects or concepts in reality denoted by them. This leads to the linguistically relevant question whether meanings can be defined with words as these words will have meanings themselves. However, where “classical” lexical semantics maintains that concepts are clearly defined by necessary and sufficient attributes, modern lexical semantics deviates from this on the grounds of cognitive modeling and dictionary-making. The seminar will focus on a systematic look at attempts to define word meanings from different theoretical perspectives. We will learn to identify, analyze and classify meanings according to various approaches: formally (via instruments of logic and functionally (via conceptual units like semantic prototypes). Finally, we will have an introduction to the recent advances in the creation of dictionaries using large computer corpora.