Linguistic Semantics Lab (LiSLab)

Welcome to the Linguistic Semantics Lab (LiSLab) at Boston University!

Directed by Asst. Prof. Elizabeth (“Liz”) Coppock, LiSLab is dedicated to the study of foundational questions in semantic/pragmatic theory through empirically rich studies of diverse languages. Examples include:

• the inventory of composition rules (giving the meaning of the whole from the meanings of the parts) in natural languages (e.g. binary predicate conjunction)
• arithmetic in the ontological foundations of natural language semantics (including multiplication and division)
• the potential role of sequences in the underlying ontology for a semantics of natural language

We use a variety of methods, including targeted comparative fieldwork across a broad sample of languages, in-depth field studies of particular languages, corpus-based methods, and experimental methods.

The lab is now located in Room 131 at 111 Cummington Mall (inside the linguistics department). It was set up for in-person fieldwork interviews with one or two consultants, remote fieldwork, traditional psychology-style experiments with in-person participants at a computer, private study/work, and small group meetings.

For more information, click on the tabs above.

A list of publications (co-)authored by Elizabeth Coppock can be found on her personal website.