Linguistics

An introduction to the study of language from a scientific perspective. The course is divided into three units: language as a system (sounds, morphology, syntax, and semantics), language in context (in space, time, and community), and language of the individual (psycholinguistics, errors, aphasia, neurology of language, and acquisition). Workload: lecture, weekly homework, and final examination.

Many modern theories of grammar are almost entirely based on English, having been developed mainly to describe the structure of English and, to a much lesser extent, other familiar languages of Europe.  But the languages of the world are highly diverse, many of them, in contrast to English, with highly complex word and inflectional structures and relatively simple phrasal structures.  Theories of grammar built on English serve such languages poorly.  This course seeks to address this imbalance by focusing on languages with complex morphological and morphosyntactic structures.  Because the grammars of such languages are built around word structures, we will be exploring current lexicalist theories of grammar such as Lexical Functional Grammar and Construction Grammar to develop formal explicit analyses of these languages.  One learns morphological and morphosyntactic analysis by doing it across languages of various types, so we will regularly be working through problems to analyze in class.

This course provides an introduction to semantics, the study of meaning in language. We will explore a range of semantic phenomena, and students will learn the tools and techniques of formal semantic analysis as well as core concepts, goals, and findings of the field.

Prerequisites: LING UN3101 In light of the predicted loss of up to 90% of the world languages by the end of this century, it has become urgent that linguists take a more active role in documenting and conserving endangered languages. In this course, we will learn the essential skills and technology of language documentation through work with speakers of an endangered language.

With the largest landmass of any continent and a majority of the world’s population, Asia is deeply diverse linguistic terrain, where even the major national languages may come from very different families and employ varied writing systems. Though many are endangered and little documented, Asia’s 2,000-plus languages are a crucial lens for looking in specific detail at the long-run history of places, peoples, and cultures, telling us “What’s where why?”, as language typologists sometimes put it. This course surveys four of Asia’s major language groups (Indo-Iranian, Turkic, Tibeto-Burman, and Sinitic) and four of its proposed linguistic areas (the Caucasus, India, mainland Southeast Asia, and Northeast Asia), where a constellation of languages from a variety of families, as well as isolates, have long been in close contact. Lesser-studied languages large and small will be examined in close-up for both their linguistic features and the natural, social, and historical forces that shape them.

How language structure and usage varies according to societal factors such as social history and socioeconomic factors, illustrated with study modules on language contact, language standardization and literacy, quantitative sociolinguistic theory, language allegiance, language, and power.