Linguistics 501: Formal Foundations of Linguistic Theory General Modern linguistic theory requires a working familiarity with several “formal” disciplines, e.g. set theory, logic, lambda calculus, formal language theory, au- tomata, probability theory, etc. The point of this course is to provide that familiarity, with particular attention to how those disciplines can be and are used in our field. Instructor Name: Mike Hammond Email: hammond at u dot arizona dot edu (reliable) Phone 621-5759 (unreliable) Office: Douglass 308 Hours: Wed. 2–3, Thurs. 10–11, and by appointment Text Hammond, Michael. 2010. Introduction to the mathematics of language. U. of Arizona. Course Website http://dingo.sbs.arizona.edu/~hammond/ling501-f12/ Requirements Homework 14.25% × 7 ≈ 100% A missed assignment or the lowest score will be dropped. 1 Schedule Week Date Topic Reading Due 1 8/21 Overview (IML chs.1,2) 8/23 Set Theory IML ch.3 2 8/28 Set Theory 8/30 Sentential Logic IML ch.4 HW#1 3 9/4 Sentential Logic 9/6 TBA 4 9/11 Sentential Logic 9/13 Sentential Logic HW#2 5 9/18 Predicate Logic IML ch.5 9/20 Predicate Logic 6 9/25 Predicate Logic 9/27 Modal Logic HW#3 7 10/2 Temporal Logic 10/4 Montague Grammar Montague (1973) 8 10/9 Montague Grammar 10/11 Montague Grammar HW#4 9 10/16 Montague Grammar 10/18 Generalized Qs Barwise & Cooper (1981) 10 10/23 Generalized Qs 10/25 Formal Languages IML chs.6,7 HW#5 11 10/30 Formal Languages 11/1 Formal Languages 12 11/6 Formal Languages 11/8 Formal Languages HW#6 13 11/13 Formal Languages 11/15 Probability IML chs.8,9 14 11/20 Probability 11/22 No class Thanksgiving! 15 11/27 Probability 11/29 Probability HW#7 16 12/4 TBA 12/6 No class 17 12/11 No class HW#8 Readings are to be done before class on the day of the week for which they are listed. Be aware that due dates are real. 2 Readings Barwise, Jon & Robin Cooper. 1981. Generalized quantifiers and natural lan- guage. Linguistics and Philosophy 4. 159–219. Hammond, Michael. 2010. Introduction to the mathematics of language. U. of Arizona. Montague, R. 1973. The proper treatment of quantification in ordinary English. Approaches to Natural Language 49. 221–242. Recommended Readings Partee, Barbara H., Alice ter Meulen & Robert E. Wall. 1990. Mathematical methods in linguistics. Dordrecht: Kluwer. Weaver, Warren. 1963. Lady luck. New York: Dover. 3.