While formal semantics has been a success story of contemporary linguistics, it has been narrowly focused on spoken language. Systematic extensions of its research program have recently been explored: beyond spoken language, beyond human language, beyond language proper, and even beyond systems with an overt syntax. First, the development of sign language semantics calls for systems that integrate logical semantics with a rich iconic component. This semantics-with-iconicity is also crucial to understand the interaction between co-speech gestures and logical operators, an important point of comparison for sign languages. Second, several recent articles have proposed analyses of the semantics/pragmatics of animal calls, an important topical extension of semantics. Third, recent research has developed a semantics for music, based in part on insights from iconic semantics. Finally, the methods of formal semantics have newly been applied to  concepts, which do not have a syntax that can be directly observed. The overall result is a far broader typology of meaning operations in nature than was available a few years ago. The course will offer a survey of some of these results, with topics that will change from year to year.

Prerequisites: Students should have an ability to follow formal analyses, and they should thus have taken M1 courses "Formal tools in the study of language, by P. Amsili" or "Semantics, by S. Mascarenhas", or they need to have significant experience with mathematical theories. If in doubt, please check with the instructors.

ECTS : 6