Fall 2005
LIN 393P • Topics in Phonology
| Unique | Days | Time | Location | Instructor |
| 40155 |
TTh |
2:00 PM-3:00 PM |
MEZ 1.122 |
Crowhurst |
Course Description
Even to casual observers, it is apparent that alongside its role in the phonological systems of human languages, rhythm plays a special and most likely universal role in verbal art forms such as sung folk genres (e.g. ballads), chant, nursery rhymes, and poetry. A vast body of work in traditional metrics has explored this relationship in "higher" art forms. In contrast with traditional analytical practices, linguists have applied generative (e.g. rule-governed or constraint based) approaches to revealing the principles that underlie meter in verbal art forms ¯ hence the term generative metrics ¯ and the accompanying challenge of textsetting, or fitting language to the metrical templates characterizing various genres. The main objectives of this course are " To survey some of the literature in generative metrics, with an emphasis on sung and chanted folk varieties in English and in other languages; " Connect the findings of this body of work with what we know about prosody in natural, non-poetic language, as well as with Lerdahl & Jackendoffs generative model for music theory; " Explore the cognitive basic for many structural principles that can be seen to underlie sung and chanted folk genres in a broad and diverse set of cultures and languages. At the beginning of the course, we will read background work on linguistic rhythm, the cognitive basis of linguistic rhythm, and selected chapters from Lerdahl and Jackendoff‘s 1983 work on generative music theory. After establishing this background, we survery work that applies linguistic theories of rhythmic structure to the work of several well-known poets (e.g. Pope, Milton), and most especially, to popular poetic or verbal art forms (e.g. folk music, nursery rhymes, children‘s chants and skipping rhymes). A substantial portion of the class will be given to applying the models used in class to folk genres in languages other than English.
Texts
Lerdahl, F. & R. Jackendoff. Generative Theory of Tonal Music.
