Semantics, Pragmatics & Philosophy (SPP) Group Meetings
Lent 2025
Friday, 20th February 2026
Paper to be discussed: Panfili, Laura, Steve Duman, Andrew Nave, Katherine Phelps Ridgeway, Nathan Eversole, and Ruhi Sarikaya. 2021. “Human-AI Interactions through a Gricean Lens”. Proceedings of the Linguistic Society of America 6 (1): 288–302. https://doi.org/10.3765/plsa.v6i1.4971.
Guest speakers: Steve Duman and Laura Panfili
Friday, 6th March 2026
Paper to be discussed: TBC
Guest speaker: Una Stojnić (Professor of philosophy at the Department of Philosophy, at Princeton University). Una mainly works on understanding and modelling language and linguistic communication. This situates her work within a network of traditional questions in philosophy of language, as well as within a set of empirical questions in linguistics and cognitive sciences.
Friday, 13th March 2026
Paper to be discussed: TBC
Guest speaker: Daniel Altshuler (Professor of Semantics and Pragmatics in the Faculty of Linguistics, Philology and Phonetics at the University of Oxford). Daniel’s primary research interests are in the areas of semantics and pragmatics. The theme of his research is context dependence with the aim of better understanding how compositional semantics interacts with discourse structure and discourse coherence.
Michaelmas 2025
Friday, 17th October 2025 (14:00-15:00 UK time)
Talk: Parikh, Prashant. 2019. Communication and content. Berlin: Language Science Press
Guest speaker: Prashant Parikh (Senior Research Scholar at Stanford University)
Friday, 14th November 2025 (14:00-15:00 UK time)
Talk: Borg, Emma. 2024. What is it to be responsible for what you say? Royal Institude pf Philosophy Supplement 95. 107-126.
Guest speakers: Emma Borg (Professor of philosophy of language at University of London)
Easter 2024
Friday, 9th May 2025 (14:00-15:00 UK time)
Talk: Kalomoiros, A. & Schwarz, F. Presupposition Projection From 'and' vs. 'or': Experimental Data and Theoretical Implications. Journal of Semantics 41 (3-4).
Guest speaker: Alexandros Kalomoiros (Institute for Linguistics, Heinrich Heine Unversitat, Dusseldorf)
Friday, 6th June 2025 (14:00-15:00 UK time)
Talk: Mehu, M. & Sweeting, S. Automatic behaviour analysis reveals links between facial expression and speech acts' illocutionary point, strength, and valence. Journal of Pragmatics 241. 41-60.
Guest speakers: Marc Mehu (Department of Psychology, Webster Vienna Private University, Vienna)
Lent 2024
Friday, 31st January 2025 (14:00-15:00 UK time)
Talk: Moeschler, J. (2023). What makes inferences reliable? The unpredictable relationship between pragmatic inference and truth. Journal of Pragmatics 218, 153-164.
Guest speaker: Jacques Moeschler (University of Geneva)
Friday, 14th February 2025 (14:00-15:00 UK time)
Talk: Miller, J. (2024). The metaphysics of puns. Synthese 203, 1-18.
Guest speaker: James Miller (Durham University)
Friday, 28th February 2025 (14:00-15:00 UK time)
Talk: Zhai, M., Feng, C., Qu, Q., and Fischer-Baum, S. (2025). The primacy of taxonomic semantic organization over thematic semantic organization during picture naming. Cognition 254, 1-14.
Guest speaker: Mingjun Zhai (The Hong Kong Polytechnic University)
Friday, 21st March 2025 (14:00-15:00 UK time)
Talk: van Poppel, L. & Pilgram, R. (2024). Exploiting metaphor in disagreement. Journal of Language Aggression and Conflict 12, 111-138.
Guest speakers: Lotte van Poppel (University of Groningen), Roosmaryn Pilgrim (Leiden University)
Michaelmas 2024
Friday, 18th October 2024 (14:00-16:00 UK time)
Talk: Peet, A. (2024). The puzzle of plausible deniability. Synthese 203 (5), 1-20.
Guest speaker: Andrew Peet (Umea University, Sweden)
Friday, 1st November 2024 (14:00-16:00 UK time)
Talk: Erk, K. & Herbelot, A. (2023). How to marry a star: probabilistic constraints for meaning in context. Journal of Semantics 40 (4), 549-583.
Guest speakers: Katrin Erk (University of Texas at Austin) and Aurelie Herbelot (University of Trento)
Friday, 15th November 2024 (14:00-16:00 UK time)
Talk: Weissman, B (2024). Can an emoji be a lie? The links between emoji meaning, commitment, and lying. Journal of Pragmatics 219, 12-29
Guest speaker: Ben Weissman (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute)
Friday, 29th November 29th (14:00-16:00 UK time)
Talk: Rahman, A., & Liu, Z. (2023). The cognitive psychological distinction between levels of meaning. Language Sciences 100, 1- 21.
Guest speakers: TBC
Easter 2024
Friday, May 17th, 2024 (14:00-16:00 UK time)
Talk. Rapport in interpreter-mediated police interviews with victims. A discourse-pragmatic analysis.
Guest speakers: Dr Maria Gomez Bedoya (University of East Anglia).
Friday, May 31st, 2024 (14:00-16:00 UK time)
Talk. Metasemantics, metapragmatics, and philosophical foundations of meaning: The case of humanism.
Guest speaker: Professor Kasia M. Jaszczolt (University of Cambridge).
Lent 2024
Friday, January 26th, 2024 (14:00-16:00 UK time)
Paper. Witek, M. 2022. ‘An Austinian alternative to the Gricean perspective on meaning and communication’. Journal of Pragmatics 201: 60-75.
Guest speakers: Maciej Witek
Friday, February 9th, 2024 (14:00-16:00 UK time)
Paper. Mazzarella, D. 2021. “I didn't mean to suggest anything like that!”: Deniability and context reconstruction. Mind and Language’ 38 (1):218-236.
Guest speakers: Diana Mazzarella
Friday, February 23rd, 2024 (14:00-16:00 UK time)
Paper. Graci, R. & Capone, A. 2023. ‘Perspectives on the semantics/pragmatics debate: insights from aphasia research. Frontiers in Psychology 14:1-20.
Guest speakers: Roberto Graci and Alessandro Capone
Friday, March 8th, 2024 (14:00-16:00 UK time)
Paper. Hansen, M. & Terkourafi, M. 2023. ‘We need to talk about Hearer's Meaning!’. Journal of Pragmatics 208: 99-114.
Guest speakers: Maj-Britt Mosegaard Hansen and Marina Terkourafi
Michaelmas 2023
Friday, October 13th, 2023 (14:00-15:30 UK time)
Paper. Fishman, A., Asherov, D., Katzir, N., & Ariel, M. 2023. 'Discourse context cannot make 'or' inclusive (only experimental task can)'. Journal of Pragmatics 217: 7-16.
Guest speakers: Alon Fishman and Mira Ariel
Friday, October 27th, 2023 (15:00-16:30 UK time)
Paper. Rumberg, A., Lauer, S. 2023. 'What if, and when? Conditionals, tense, and branching time'. Linguist and Philos 46: 533-565.
Guest speakers: Antje Rumberg and Sven Lauer
Friday, November 10th, 2023 (14:00-16:00 UK time)
Paper. Liebesman, D., Magidor, O.'Copredication and Meaning Transfer'. Journal of Semantics 40: 69-91.
Guest speakers: David Liebesman and Ofra Magidor (tbc)
Friday, November 24th, 2023 (14:30-16:00 UK time)
Paper. Caponetto, L. 2023. 'The Pragmatic Structure of Refusal'. Synthese 201: 1-18.
Guest speaker: Laura Caponetto
2022-2023
Easter 2022 (via Zoom) 2nd May, 2pm - Kasia Jaszczolt and Chi-Hé Elder on Functional Dynamic Propositions 26th May, 2pm - Nina Haket on Conceptual Engineering and Semantic Theory
Lent 2023 (via Zoom) Friday, January 27th, 2023 (14:00-16:00 BST) Paper: Oswald, S. 2022. ‘Insinuation is committing’. Journal of Pragmatics 198: 158-170. Guest speaker: Dr Steve Oswald (University of Fribourg)
Friday, February 10th, 2023 (14:00-16:00 BST) Paper: Davis, W. A. 2022. ‘Quotational reports’. Linguistics and Philosophy 45:1063–1090. Guest Speaker: Dr Wayne Davis (Georgetown University) TBC
Friday, February 24th, 2023 (14:00-16:00 BST) Paper: Hinzen, W. & T. Martin. 2021. ‘De se or not de se: a question of grammar’. Language Sciences 85 Guest speakers: Dr Wolfram Hinzen (Intitut Català de Recerca I Estudis Avançats) and Dr Txuss Martin (Universitat Pompeu Fabra & University of Cambridge) TBC
Friday, March 10th, 2023 (14:00-16:00 BST) Paper: Göbel, A. 2022. ‘On the role of focus-sensitivity for a typology of presupposition triggers’. Journal of Semantics 39: 617–656. Guest speakers: Dr Alexander Göbel (McGill University) TBC
Michaelmas 2022 (Via Zoom) Friday, October 14th, 2022 (14:00 - 15:00) Paper: Cabanes-Calabuig, Mireia. 2022. Expressive ‘dimension’? Guest Speaker: Mireia Cabanes-Calabuig (University of Cambridge)
Friday, October 28th, 2022 (14:00 - 15:00) Paper: Isaac, M. 2020. How to conceptually engineer conceptual engineering? Inquiry, 1-24. Guest speaker: Dr. Manuel Gustavo Isaac (University of Zurich, Switzerland)
Friday, November 11th, 2022 (14:00- 15:00) Paper: Dombi, J., Sydorenko, T., & Timpe-Laughlin, V. 2022. Common ground, cooperation, and recipient design in human-computer interactions. Journal of Pragmatics, 193, 4-20. Guest Speaker: Dr. Judit Dombi (University of Pécs, Hungary)
Friday, November 25th, 2022 (14:00- 15:00) Paper: Blochowiak, J., Castelain, T., Rodriguez-Villagra, O., & Musolino, J. (2022). If and only if people were logical! The effect of pragmatic enrichment on reasoning with abstract and realistic materials. Journal of Pragmatics, 197, 137-158. Guest speakers: Dr. Joanna Blochowiak (University of Geneva, Switzerland) and Dr. Thomas Castelain (University of Girona, Spain)
2021-2022
Michaelmas 2021 (via Zoom) Friday 15th October (14:00 - 15:00) Paper: Geurts, B. (2019). Communication as commitment sharing: Speech acts, implicatures, common ground. Theoretical Linguistics, 45, 1-30. Guest speaker: Prof Bart Geurts, Radboud University Nijmegen (Netherlands)
Friday 29th October (14:00 - 15:00) Paper: Orr, S. and Ariel, M. (2021). Predicating 'Truth': An empirically based analysis. Journal of Pragmatics, 185, 131-145. Guest speakers: Shirly Orr and Dr Mira Ariel, Tel-Aviv University (Israel)
Friday 12th November (14:00 - 15:00) Paper: Sbisà, M. (2021). Presupposition and implicature: Varieties of implicit meaning in explicitation practices. Journal of Pragmatics, 182, 176-188. Guest speaker: Marina Sbisà, Università degli studi di Trieste (Italy)
Lent 2022 (via Zoom) Monday 31st January (11:00-13:00) Paper: Ruiz, A., Cepollaro, B., & Stojanovic, I. (2021). "The Semantics and Pragmatics of Value Judgments". In P. Stalmaszczyk (Ed.), The Cambridge Handbook of the Philosophy of Language. 434-449. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Guest speakers: Dr Andrés Soria Ruiz, (Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal), Dr Bianca Cepollaro, (University Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Italy) and Dr Isidora Stojanovic, (Institut Jean Nicod, France)
Monday 14th February (15:00-17:00) Paper: Abrusan, M. (2021). The spectrum of perspective shift: Protagonist projection versus free indirect discourse. Linguistics and Philosophy, 44(4), 839-873. Guest speaker: Dr Marta Abrusán, Institut Jean Nicod (Institut Jean Nicod)
Watch the recording on YouTube Monday 28th February (11:00-13:00) Paper: Borg, E. (2008). "Intentional-based semantics". In Lepore, E. and Smith, B. (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Language. 250-268. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Easter 2022 Friday, June 3rd, 2022 (14:00 - 15:00) Paper: Chen, X. 2021. Whose metaphor? Metaphor in belief reports. Cambridge Occasional Papers in Linguistics, 13 (6): 132-143. Guest Speaker: Xiaoxuan Chen (University of Cambridge)
Friday, June 17th, 2022 (14:00 - 15:00) Guest Speaker: Sadiyah Shahid (University of Cambridge)
2020-2021
Michaelmas 2020 (via Zoom) Friday, October 30th, 2020 (14:00 - 15:30) Paper: Stotts, M. H. 2020. Toward a sharp semantics/pragmatics distinction. Synthese, 197(1), 185-208. Guest Speaker: Dr. Megan Stotts, McMaster University (Canada)
Friday, November 13th, 2020 (14:00 - 15:30) Paper: Borg, E. 2019. Explanatory roles for minimal content. Noûs, 53(3), 513-539.
Friday, November 27th, 2020 (14:00- 15:30) Paper: Elder, C., & Haugh, M. 2018. The interactional achievement of speaker meaning: Toward a formal account of conversational inference. Intercultural Pragmatics, 15(5), 593-625. Guest Speaker: Dr. Chi-Hé Elder, University of East Anglia
Friday, December 4th, 2020 (14:00- 15:30) Paper: Ariel, M. 2019. Different prominences for different inferences. Journal of Pragmatics, 154, 103-116.
Lent 2021 (via Zoom) Friday 29th January (12:00-13:00) Paper: Mustafa, A. R. (2018). Ibn Taymiyyah & Wittgenstein on Language. The Muslim World, 108(3), 465-491. Guest speaker: Dr Abdul Rahman Mustafa, University of Edinburgh
Friday 19th February (14:00 - 15:00) Paper: Hess, L. (2018). Perspectival expressives. Journal of Pragmatics, 129, 13-33. Guest speaker: Dr Leopold Hess, Jagiellonian University (Poland)
Friday 12th March (14:00 - 15:00) Paper: Viebahn, E. (2020). Lying with presuppositions. Noûs, 54(3), 731-751.
Easter 2021 (via Zoom) Friday 21st May (14:00 - 15:00) Paper: Viebahn, E. (2020). Ways of using words: On semantic intentions. Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, 100(1), 93-117. Guest speaker: Dr Emanuel Viebahn, Humboldt University of Berlin (Germany)
Friday 4th June (14:00 - 15:00) Paper: Reichl, I., & Kapogianni, E. (2021). A delicate balance: Irony in the negotiation of refusals. Journal of Language Aggression and Conflict, 10(2), 48–74. Guest speaker: Dr Eleni Kapogianni, University of Kent
2019-2020
Michaelmas 2019 Friday, November 1st, 2019 (15:00 - 16:30) Papers: King, J. C. 2014. What role do propositions play in our theories? In: J. C. King, S. Soames & J. Speaks (eds.), New Thinking about Propositions. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Speaks, J. 2014. What’s wrong with semantic theories which make no use of propositions? In: J. C. King, S. Soames & J. Speaks (eds), New Thinking about Propositions. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Friday, November 15th, 2019 (15:00 - 16:30) Papers: Soames, S. 2014. Why the traditional conceptions of propositions can’t be correct. In: J. C. King, S. Soames & J. Speaks (eds.), New Thinking about Propositions. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Soames, S. 2014. Cognitive propositions. In: J. C. King, S. Soames & J. Speaks (eds), New Thinking about Propositions. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Lent 2020 Friday, 14th February, 2020 (15:00 - 16:30) Papers: King, J. C. 2014. Naturalized propositions In: J. C. King, S. Soames & J. Speaks (eds), New Thinking about Propositions. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Speaks, J. 2014. Propositions are properties of everything or nothing In: J. C. King, S. Soames & J. Speaks (eds), New Thinking about Propositions. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Friday, 28th February, 2020 (15:00 - 16:30) Paper: Jaszczolt, K. M. 2012. Context: Gricean intentions vs. two-dimensional semantics. In: R. Finkbeiner, J. Meibauer and P.B. Schumacher (eds), What is a Context?: Linguistic Approaches and Challenges. Amsterdam: J. Benjamins. 81-104.
Easter 2020 Friday, 1st May, 2020 (14:00 - 15:30) Paper: Popa-Wyatt, M. 2019. Embedding irony and the semantics/pragmatics distinction. Inquiry, 62(6), 674-699.
Friday, 15th May, 2020 (14:00 - 15:30) Paper: Jaszczolt, K. M. 2018. Pragmatic indexicals. In: M. Huang, K. M. Jaszczolt (eds), Expressing the Self: Cultural Diversity and Cognitive Universals. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 260.