Semantic Analysis: A Practical Introduction

Semantic Analysis is a lively and clearly written introduction to the study of meaning in language, and to the language-culture connection. Cliff Goddard covers essential background on traditional and contemporary issues and approaches, and then takes the reader through a series of case studies in descriptive semantics. He includes topics such as emotions, speech acts, colours, concrete objects, motion, causative verbs, and grammatical categories. The author draws on a rich range of material from a diversity of languages, including Arrernte, Ewe, Japanese, Malay, Polish, Spanish, and Yankunytjatjara. The main method used is reductive paraphrase in natural language, an approach which is rigorous yet accessible, and each chapter has a selection of interesting and often thought-provoking exercises to involve students in practical semantic analysis. This is the first real textbook on cross-cultural, cross-linguistic semantics. Series Information Series ISBN: 0-19-961833-X (Cloth); 0-19-9618348 (Paper) Series Editors: Professor Keith Brown (Essex), Professor Eve V. Clark (Stanford), Professor Lesley Milroy (Michigan and Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Dr Jim Miller (Edinburgh), Professor Geoffrey K. Pullum (UC Santa Cruz), and Professor Peter Roach (Reading) Series Description: Oxford Textbooks in Linguistics is a new series of course textbooks for second and third-year undergraduate, and postgraduate university students. It is assumed that the student will have completed a first-year introductory course in general linguistics. The books will be suitable for students specializing in linguistics, or taking linguistics options as part of a languages, humanities, or social sciences degree. Other books in the series are Linguistic Reconstruction by Anthony Fox and Principles and Parameters by Peter Culicover.

Cliff Goddard joined the Department of Linguistics at The University of New England in 1990. He has collaborated closely with Anna Wierzbicka in the development of the "natural semantic metalanguage" approach to semantics.