Course Description: This course will be an examination
of the fundamental theories and methods for studying language and
communicative phenomena that prevail within the discipline of
contemporary linguistics. The course will follow a dual-path
approach: on the one hand, we will work through a standard
introductory textbook that presents linguistics as essentially a
coherent set of practices to be applied to a definable data
set. At the same time, we will read essays that have been
influential in constructing or challenging the perceived
disciplinary consensus. No previous experience with linguistics will
be assumed. In addition to reading assignments and practice sets,
students will be complete three tests and a final examination.
Textbooks:
Language Files, 11th ed. Ohio State University Press,
2011. ISBN: 978-0-8142-5179-9.
The Language Instinct. Steven Pinker. New York:
Perennial, 1994. ISBN: 0060958332. (not in bookstore)
Don't Sleep, There are Snakes.
Dan Everett, 2008. New York: Vintage. ISBN: 978-0307386120
Daily Schedule:
Aug, Mon, 22 -- Course Introduction. Image: Linguistics as as
Discipline; HW: Linguistic Autobiography
Aug, Mon, 29 -- Language Variation and Contact; Files 9, 10; Pinker
Ch1
Sep, Mon, 05 -- Labor Day, No Class
Sep, Mon, 12 -- Phonetics: Anatomy, Consonants; Files 2.0-2.2;
Vowels; Files 2.3; Pinker Ch2
Sep, Mon, 19 -- Phonetics: Other sounds, Suprasegmentals; Files
2.4-2.8; Pinker Ch3;
Sep, Mon, 26 -- Phonology: Files 3.0-3.6; HW: File 3.6, 134-6,
139-143; Pinker Ch4-6. [Joe
B.]
Oct, Mon, 03 -- Phonology: syllabification. HW: practice problems;
Pinker Ch7-8;
Oct, Mon, 10 -- Phonetics & Phonology Test; AAVE Dialect
Phonology; Pinker 9-10; [Danielle
H.]
Oct, Mon, 17 -- Morphology: words and morphemes; Files 4.0-4.2;
Pinker 11-13;
Oct, Mon, 24 -- Morphology: Making new words; Files 4.3-4.6; FUDGE
factors (Metcalf); Morphology Problems;
Oct, Mon, 31 -- Syntax: Lexical Categories; Files 5.0-5.3; Syntax:
Constituency and Rules; Files 5.4-5.7
Nov, Mon, 07 -- Syntax: Dependency; Universals and Word Order
typology File 10.2 [Josh G.]
Nov, Mon, 14 -- Second Test;
Semantics: Lexical Semantics, File 6.2 [Wayne A.]; Semantics: Compositional Semantics;
Files 6.4-6.6;
Nov, Mon, 21 -- Pragmatics: Conversational Rules, file 7.2 [Kathrin K.]; Speech Act
Theory, file 7.4 [Chris Mc.];
Politeness and Face-Theory, file 11.4
Nov, Mon, 28 -- File 11.3 [Sami
R.]; File 14 [Erin];
File 15.1 [Stephanie M.],
File 8 [Kristina D.]
Dec, Mon, 05 -- Final Exam
Points for Each Assignment: (600 points total)
| Tests (2) |
100 |
| Homeworks (5) |
10 |
| Class Participation (presentation) |
50 |
| Project |
100
|
| Final Exam |
100 |
Attendance: University policy is that you
may miss 10% of the class meetings without serious
consequences. Subsequent absences will cause your grade to
suffer. No make-up tests will be given unless you tell me in
advance of class that you will be absent for some (important)
reason.
Phonetics Links:
Sammy,
the
Interactive
Saggital Section -- make sure your javascript is turned on.
Peter Ladefoged's A Course in
Phonetics interactive
IPA chart
Bell
Labs text-to-speech (TTS) synthesizer demo
Phthong
-- practice your IPA reading and transcription skills; use the LIN
228 link for more precise style.
Another IPA
practice page
Summer Institute of Linguistics Speech
Analysis software
Praat--speech
analysis software
International Phonetic Alphabet chart
U. Iowa's Phonetics
Flash Animations
Wikipedia has a nice section
on phonetics
Online Linguistics Textbooks:
How Language Works: The
Cognitive Science of Linguistics, by Michael Glasser
Linguistics
001, Mark Liberman's course at U. Penn
Fren 215:
Introduction à la linguistique française (in
French), by Greg Lessard
The
Syntax
of
Natural Language, by Beatrice Santorini and Anthony Kroch
Various Linguistics Links:
The Linguist List --
Clearinghouse for linguistics information of all types
Ethnologue -- A database
of the world's languages
Poetics and Linguistics
Association -- Professional association for stylistics
Lots of fun stuff on John Lawler's
Homepage
Language Log --
professional linguists meet the real world
The Web of
Language--Dennis Baron's op-eds on linguistics issues in the
press
New! The Linguist's
Search Engine searches the web and parses, too!
MLA's Language Map of
the USA
Language
Myths from U. Penn
Various Text and Author Links:
Some short
texts of concrete poetry
Heather McHugh Links
Gertrude Stein's Tender Buttons
Text of Jabberwocky
Lewis Carroll
Home Page
The
Emily Dickinson International Society
