Look Who it Was Random video

Humanities Day 2012: The Grammar of Subjectivity

1,945 views · Published 3 December 2012 · 47:40 · Indexed 14 November 2026

Channel: The University of Chicago · 2012 · Education

Watch on YouTube

One feature of human language that is crucial to its role in communication is the systematic relation between linguistic symbols (words, phrases, sentences) and the information they express in different contexts. For example, the sentence, "The Quad Club is currently serving tripe for lunch" conveys the same information about the world at the time of utterance no matter who utters it. As a result, if Anna says "The Quad Club is currently serving tripe for lunch," and Beatrice says "No, the Quad Club is not currently serving tripe for lunch," then clearly one must be wrong, and we can simply look at the menu to discover the facts. However, the information content of many kinds of linguistic expressions appears to vary according to the perspective, attitudes, or subjective viewpoint of the individual who utters them. If Anna says "The Quad Club tripe is delicious," and Beatrice responds, "No, the Quad Club tripe is not delicious," we can no longer say with confidence that one must be right and the other wrong; instead, what each says can be in some way "true for her." Expressions of taste are a fairly benign example of such "subjective predicates." Other examples, such as expressions of aesthetic or moral judgments, play a more significant role in thinking about the relation between language and the world. Chris Kennedy, Professor and Chair of the Department of Linguistics, examines subjectivity from the perspective of linguistic semantics, showing that subjective predicates have a number of shared grammatical features, and explains how a close examination of these features can help us better understand what subjectivity consists in and how it is encoded in the linguistic system.

Chris Kennedy is Professor and Chair of the Department of Linguistics at the University of Chicago. His research addresses issues in syntax, semantics, pragmatics and the philosophy of language. He is also engaged in work on language processing and acquisition. In addition to publishing numerous journal articles on these topics, he is Associate Editor of the Oxford University Press series Studies in Semantics and Pragmatics. His publications include Adjectives and Adverbs: Syntax, Semantics and Discourse (with Louise McNally, Oxford, 2008).

➡ Subscribe: http://bit.ly/UCHICAGOytSubscribe   

About #UChicago:
Since its founding in 1890, the University of Chicago has been a destination for rigorous inquiry and field-defining research. This transformative academic experience empowers students and scholars to challenge conventional thinking in pursuit of original ideas.

#UChicago on the Web:
Home: http://bit.ly/UCHICAGO-homepage
News: http://bit.ly/UCHICAGO-news 
Facebook: http://bit.ly/UCHICAGO-FB  
Twitter: http://bit.ly/UCHICAGO-TW   
Instagram: http://bit.ly/UCHICAGO-IG  

University of Chicago on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/uchicago ***

ACCESSIBILITY: If you experience any technical difficulties with this video or would like to make an accessibility-related request, please email [email protected].

More from this channel