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LIN395 | Conference Course |
| LIN380L | Syntax I | |
| LIN380M | Semantics I | |
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LIN380S | Sociolinguistics |
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LIN381K | Phonology II |
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LIN381M | Phonetics |
| LIN381S | Semantics II | |
| LIN383 | Explaining Language Change | |
| LIN383.8 | Intro to Diachronic Linguistics | |
| LIN384.4 | German Syntax | |
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LIN391.1 | Studies in English Phonology |
| LIN392 | Lexical Functional Grammar | |
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LIN392.1 | Intro to Cognitive Science |
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LIN393 | S Y Agnon: Art & Language |
| LIN393P.2 | Experimental Phonetics | |
| LIN393S | Structure of Discourse | |
| LIN393S | Sociolinguistic & Syntactic Approaches | |
| LIN395 | Conference Course | |
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LIN396.1 | Research Methods in Sociolinguistics |
| LIN396 | Language, Style and Identity | |
| LIN396.2 | Intro to Graduate Linguistic Anthropology | |
| LIN396.5 | Language and Politics in Language Planning | |
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LIN397 | Forum for Doctoral Candidates |
| LIN398T | Supervised Teaching in Linguistics |
This course is an introduction to generative syntax for graduate students. Emphasis is on the study of syntactic theory. Central notions are developed primarily through the attempt to construct a partial syntax of English. Some material from other languages is considered as well.
Graduate standing
TBA
TBA
Back to graduate course index
This course is an introduction to the study of meaning in natural language. Starting from the assumption that sentence meanings are truth conditions, we will examine a variety of linguistic phenomena, including definite descriptions, adjectival modification, relative clauses, quantificational noun phrases, scope ambiguities, anaphoric pronouns, and ellipsis. The proposed analyses will make use of concepts from mathematics, viz. set theory, relations, and functions. These tools will be introduced along the way. We will also study propositional logic and predicate logic, and their relation to natural language.
Graduate standing.
TBA
Irene Helm and Angelika Kratzer: Semantics in Generative Grammar, Blackwell, London,
1998. Other required and optional readings (papers, book chapters) will be made
available.
Sociolinguistics is that branch of linguistics that tries to understand and investigate in a systematic way what it means to take seriously one of the most obvious of facts about language, that it is a social phenomenon. Those committed to thinking about language in this way range from researchers who believe that sociolinguistics should account for only those aspects of linguistic patterning that cannot be accounted for within formal theories of phonology, syntax, etc., to those who argue for a socially constituted linguistics, which would never lose sight of the social nature of language. These researchers may not share a method, theory, or epistemology, but they share the conviction that certain important aspects of language can only be understood by considering both the extralinguistic and the linguistic contexts in which it is created, used, and interpreted.
This course will seek to offer a broad introduction to the field, considering the many topics people who call themselves sociolinguists have studied as well as the contributions researchers in other fields--pragmatics, anthropology, sociology, psychology, rhetoric, education, communications--have made to our understanding of the social nature of language. We will consider in particular the ways in which sociolinguistic data and findings bear on issues of long-standing interest to linguists, including the mechanisms of language contact and change, the structure and uses of discourse, and the nature of pragmatics. We will also examine the functions and uses of languages, spoken and written, across speech communities of different kinds. Finally, we will discuss phenomena like pidginization/creolization, standardization, and language death, considering them from both a structural and social perspective. Despite the wide variety of topics considered, our primary concern will be the sorts of questions of greatest interest to those whose primary training is in linguistics. Please note that this course is a prerequisite for LIN 396: Research Methods in Sociolinguistics.
Prerequisites for this course are a graduate or undergraduate course of some sort in syntax and one in phonology; possibilities among UT course offerings include LIN 380L (Syntax I), LIN 380K (Phonology), LIN 391 (English Grammar), or LIN 391 (English Phonology), or their equivalent in some other department or at some other institution. These courses are listed as prerequisites because much of the reading for the course assumes (a) a general knowledge of linguistics, its goals, and methods and (b) familiarity with the approach to syntax and phonology popular in this country since the 1960's, often termed generative grammar. If you have any questions about your preparation for this course, please talk to instructor (kwalters@mail.utexas.edu) before signing up.
Attendance, intellectual engagement with the reading material, class participation, occasional flashes of insight and/or brilliance, a midterm, and a final exam.
Course packet to be available from local copy shop.
This course is a continuation of LIN 480K (Phonology I), completing an introduction to contemporary phonology, with an emphasis on Optimality Theory.
In the first section, we will survey the role of phonology in morphology. Topics here will include nonconcatenative morphology (such as reduplication and truncation), and morphological domains in phonology (such as levels and phonological words).
We will then consider featural phonology (i.e. the patterns of distribution according to features) from the perspectives of Optimality Theory and Laboratory Phonology. We will consider patterns in various languages in the distribution of (a) laryngeal features, (b) vowel features, and (c) tones.
At the end of each section, students will complete an analysis in Optimality Theory of a relevant pattern in a language of their choosing.
Graduate standing and Phonology I (LIN 480K or 380K)
The grade will be based on homework assignments, and two short papers, one for each of the two major sections of the course.
Readings, drawn from the literature on Optimality Theory and Laboratory Phonology, will be made available in a course packet.
The general theme of this course is: "What is phonetics?" A broad survey of major topics in modern phonetics will be presented. Theoretical issues as well as applications (e.g. speech technology).
In the first part we will familiarize ourselves with the traditional descriptive methods of phonetics: auditory analysis and transcription. This will include a presentation of phonetic alphabets and distinctive feature theory as well as exercises based on both known and unknown languages. The goal is to establish a general framework for specifying speech in terms of its linguistic and phonetic (mostly articulatory) properties sufficient for later phonology classes. (The book by Ladefoged is the text for this part. It will be supplemented by hand-outs).
Given this background, we will continue with acoustic phonetics. Basic theory and applications in the form of laboratory assignments and spectrogram readings (book by Johnson plus hand-outs). Our objective is to make every student familiar with the source-filter theory of speech production which is central to the acoustic specification of phonetic phenomena. Correlates of segmental and prosodic phenomena will be defined from a cross-linguistic perspective. The representation of speech signals in the auditory system will also be discussed. The rule of thumb in selecting the material for this part is as follows: Nothing will be introduced that does not have an explanatory bearing on the issues of linguistic phonetics: 'Formants without tears'!
The third and final part will be more problem-oriented and will present, in a preliminary manner, some current 'hot topics'. This means a review of work on speech production, speech perception, speech development and the phonetic bases of phonology which aims at giving a brief, but coherent and unified view of 'how speech works'.
Graduate standing
TBA
Ladefoged. A Course in Phonetics
J. M. Pickett, Acoustics of Speech Communication: Fundamentals, Speech Perception
Theory, and Technology
This advanced course on semantics builds on LIN 380M. Weíll mostly be concerned with intensionality, specifically tense and modality. On the way, weíll look at some tools widely used in the relevant literature, viz. intensional propositional logic and intensional predicate logic. We will also review the important framework known as Montague Semantics. If there is time, we will study other classes topics in semantics, like interrogatives and plurals.
LIN 380M
TBA
This course will analyze and evaluate explanations in diachronic Romance linguistics. After an overview of the field, the main changes in the Romance languages, and the main types of explanation, we will discuss explanations of various phenomena that occur in (most) Romance languages, relating the theory to the actual evidence: the details of the change, its linguistic context, its possible parallels in other (related) languages, as well as external factors. The following topics will be included: explanation of (1) word order change; (2) of case loss; (3) of the shift from synthetic to analytic structures, (4) of the development of theauxiliary system, (5) of the shift from Latin to Romance, and so forth. (Students will have the opportunity to suggest the topic of their own research in one of the romance languages [or Latin] to be included in this course).
Graduate standing.
Computation of grades: One written exam during the semester (30%); reading assignments and class discussion (20%); one preliminary paper (10%); paper and oral presentation (40%); no final exam.
Harris, Martin and Nigel Vincent, eds. 1990. The Romance Languages.
Oxford: Oxford University Press.
This seminar aims to provide an up-to-date review of the study of language change (historical linguistics), as it applies to the German language and the Germanic language-family. The course is aimed at linguists, anthropologists, Germanists, Classicists, and English specialists.
No mastery of particular linguistic concepts is presumed or required.
We will be surveying the changes that have taken place in methodology since the Neo-Grammarians and Saussure, and we will be assessing objectively the contributions of major ideas, theories and hypotheses in tackling central questions of language. The extension of the rule-oriented approach of generativism to historical problems, which profoundly affects the areas of historical syntax and phonology, will also receive special attention. Also taken into account is recent research on convergence, pidgins and creoles, dialectology, and the cardinal importance of language acquisition for understanding language change. The pathbreaking work of Lightfoot in historical syntax and Labov in sociolinguistics opens the way to rethinking the problems regarding the nature and motivation of linguistic change.
Sound change will be analyzed in detail as well as analogy, with German and Germanic examples. Internal reconstruction will lead the way to the comparative method and comparative reconstruction. Semantic, morphological and syntactic changes will then be examined, as well as the results of language contact ó lexical borrowing, dialects, areal convergence, creolization, etc. The emergence of Yiddish and other dialects within West Germanic will be carefully considered, as will the development of Standard German.
Course will be conducted in English. If you have any questions, contact m.southern@mail.utexas.edu.
Graduate standing, OR permission of the instructor. Also: an interest in language; willingness to surprise yourself.
Grades for the course will be distributed as follows:
Evaluation is mainly based on oral participation in activities, discussions, as well as a short individual research project and a final paper. Identical levels of linguistic expertise among the whole group are not expected. This means participation in discussions counts as much towards a grade as written assignments, the research project, and the final paper.
Bauer, Laurie & Peter Trudgill. Language Myths. Penguin:
1998.
McMahon, April. Understanding Language Change. Cambridge: 1994.
Robinson, Orrin. Old English and Its Closest Relatives: A Survey of the Earliest
Germanic Languages. Stanford: 1992.
Waterman, John. A History of the German Language. Waveland / U. Washington:
1991.
The Course-packet contains selections from the following, inter
alia:
Barbour, Stephen & Patrick Stevenson. Variation in German. Cambridge:
1993.
Clyne, Michael. The German Language in a Changing Europe. Cambridge: 1996.
Culler, Jonathan. Ferdinand de Saussure. Cornell: 1986.
DeGraff, Michel (ed.). Language creation and language change: Creolization, diachrony,
and development. MIT: 1999.
Dixon, Bob. The Rise and Fall of Languages. Cambridge: 1997.
Keller, Rudi. On language change: The invisible hand in language. Routledge:
1994.
Labov, William. Principles of Linguistic Change. Oxford: 1994.
Labov, William. The social motivation of a sound change. (In: Sociolinguistic
Patterns.) 1972.
Lightfoot, David. The Development of Language: Acquisition, change, and evolution.
Blackwell: 1999.
Ohala, John J. The listener as a source of sound change. Chicago Linguistic
Society: 1981.
Pinker, Steven. The Language Instinct. Morrow: 1994.
Pinker, Steven. Words and Rules: The ingredients of language. Basic Books:
1999.
Russ, Charles. The German Language Today: A linguistic introduction. Routledge:
1994.
Sapir, Edward. Language as a historical product: Drift. (In: Language.)
1921.
Stevenson, Patrick. The German Language and the Real World. Oxford: 1995.
This course is designed to provide graduate students of varying backgrounds with a thorough overview of the major features of German syntax from a theoretical linguistic point of view. We will generally follow the structure of the sole text required for purchase, A Comparative Typology of English and German by John A. Hawkins, making detours along the way to explore certain questions of German(ic) syntactic structure in more detail. As the title of Hawkins' book implies, our view of German syntax will be against the backdrop of English. The advantages of a comparative approach are basically twofold. First, German is probably the most thoroughly studied and historically documented language after English; thus, the data from these languages continue to be an important source for theoretical syntacticians. Second, a comparative approach is of use to those interested in teaching German for the fact that in most U.S. classrooms German grammar will be de facto taught in contrast to English.
The workload for the course will be straightforward. Students will be expected to keep up with the regular readings from Hawkins and the copy packet of articles. These materials will be supplemented by lectures and materials handed out in class. The final grade will be based on two take home essay exams in which students will be expected to recapitulate the theoretical arguments presented in the readings and in class. Ample time will be available in class for questions and discussion to explore relevant issues of tangential interest. All students are encouraged to make regular use of my office hours to informally discuss their progress in the course and to follow up on any questions which we might not have had time to deal with in class.
Graduate standing.
TBA
Hawkins, John A. 1986. A Comparative Typology of English and German:
Unifying the contrasts. Texas.
Hentschel, Elke & Weydt, Harald. Handbuch der deutschen Grammatik, Walter deGruyter,
2nd edition, ISBN 3-11-014566-9.
A Course Packet with additional articles will also be required
This course is an introduction to the sounds of English and the rules governing their distribution (i.e. which sounds can occur where n a word). Topics will include the following:
Graduate standing
The grade will be based on homework assignments and three quizzes.
Philip Carr. English Phonetics and Phonology: An Introduction. Oxford:
Blackwell.
This course is an introduction to Lexical-Functional Grammar (LFG), a lexicalist theory of syntax with no transformations. The framework is based on the factoring of grammatical description into categorial structure (phrase structure) and functional structure, based on the observation that grammars vary widely in the former but are similar in the latter. This makes LFG a good framework for studying typology and universals. We will survey some major issues in syntax, so the course will be about syntax itself and not just about a theory of syntax. The course is appropriate for students who have just taken Syntax I and II, or for more advanced students. A short introduction to another lexicalist theory, Head-Driven Phrase Structure Grammar (HPSG), will also be provided. (In a later year, probably Fall 2002, the course will be offered with the reverse emphasis: primarily on HPSG, with a short introduction to LFG. Students of syntax or semantics are expected to take at least one version of this course.) Students interested in computation will also find this course relevant, since many computational implementations employ HPSG, LFG, or related unification-based frameworks (however, this is not a course in computational linguistics, nor does it presuppose any knowledge of it).
For more information on LFG and HPSG see:
http://www-lfg.stanford.edu/bresnan/Book/prologue.html
(LFG)
http://hpsg.stanford.edu/hpsg/leading-ideas.html
(HPSG)
Introduction into the semantics of natural language (LIN380M)
Students will complete some problem sets and write a short paper.
--Joan Bresnan 2000. Lexical Functional Syntax. Blackwell Press.
--Selected articles.
(optional: Sag, Ivan and Thomas Wasow 1999. Syntactic Theory-- A Formal Introduction.
CSLI Press.)
This course will be a survey of themes in cognitive science. Since cognitive science spans the disciplines of philosophy, linguistics, computer science, and psychology, the course will be interdisciplinary. After a philosophical overview concerning theories of mind, we'll look at neuroscience's view of cognitive processes with particular emphasis on vision. We'll then turn to linguistic abilities from the view of psychology and linguistics. The next part of the course will give an overview of the symbolic approaches to reasoning and planning in artificial intelligence. The last part of the course will be devoted to connectionism. Some of U.T.'s many active and interesting researchers in cognitive science will be invited to give talks on their fields of specialization.
Graduate standing.
TBA
TBA
SY Agnon (1888-1970) is the Israeli Nobel Prize Winner in literature.
The aim of this course (seminar) is to expose the students to the art of this outstanding literary master of the Hebrew language and to his special art and style of writing.
Agnon's novels and stories reflect various themes and developments in late 19th century and early 20th century life and letters in traditional Jewish society in Eastern Europe, as well as modern Jewish life and letters in Turkish and British-Mandate Palestine (1907-1948) and subsequently in the independent State of Israel (1948-). His cunning irony covers all facets of life and society. Concurrently, his work reflects the interesting linguistic and sociolinguistic developments in the newly revived modern Hebrew language ñ from a language of individuals to a language of society at large and all the way to its becoming a full-fledged native language. Yet, his own style has remained, throughout his literary life, his unique classic style, which combines the earlier ìYereicî or Chasidic story style with modern plasticity ñ an awesome amalgamation, which others have found hard to imitate.
We will read representative samples of his works, of the different types and periods, critically analyze them, examine his language and style, and ponder the reflection of life and letters in Israeli society during the various periods.
Graduate standing.
TBA
TBA
The goal of this course is to let the students do their own small research projects. Experimental work in the lab will be encouraged.
With respect to organization, the course will continue where the 381M lectures ended. That means that, initially, there will be classes in which we will further pursue what we began in the final part of 381M, namely the review of current work on speaking, listening and learning to speak. Topics for projects usually suggest themselves during this part. Once students have their own projects, we will abandon the lecturing and switch to a one-on-one format.
LIN 381M or consent of instructor.
Written term paper and a presentation of project in class towards the end of the semester.
No text
The seminar will investigate how discourse is structured, focusing on written texts. We will consider discourse at different levels of detail, from relatively global to local unit, but concentrating on the latter. This is interface work. The analysis will draw on syntax, semantics, and pragmatics: understanding discourse requires them all. Topics to be considered include discourse modes, discourse coherence relations, topic and comment and related notions, and point of view.
Students will choose a research project and present their findings, first for group discussion and then as a paper; projects may be a focus on spoken or written discourse.
Syntax I, Semantics I
regular discussion notes; research paper
Local Structure in Texts, CSSmith (pre-publication form); selected articles and book chapters
The different viewpoints of sociolinguistics and core linguistics have led to different types of developments in the two fields. Sociolinguistic research has focused on linguistic variation and language change, and core linguistics has been concerned with the structural properties of language and the views of language as a property of the mind. This course raises questions about the relationship between the two fields of the study. In doing so, it explores the ways in which the two areas, one with a focus on real time data and speech communications and the other with a focus on internal grammars, may be brought together in accounts of the coexistence of different grammars in a speech community. In answering questions about the way syntactic theory and sociolinguistics relate to each other, we address issues such as parametric variation, the limits of dialect variation and syntactic characteristics of language as a social phenomenon.
Readings during the first part of the course will survey the historical development of the two fields and provide the basis for discussion about their goals and the criticisms leveled against them. The study of variation and its relation to geographical region, social class, age and sex has always been a major focus in sociolinguistics. Variation has also become more important in core linguistics, especially in Principles and Parameters Theory and its descendants, in which one goal is to account for the ways in which languages idffer. As the course progresses, we will consider linguistic analysis that takes in to consideration variation asit relates to social constraints and internal grammatical processes.
In addition we will discuss models of codeswitching (e.g., Woolford (1983), (Belazi et al (1994), Myers-Scotton and Jake (1995, 2000)), paying particular attention to the syntactic and sociolinguistic approaches the researchers take. We will evaluate constraints such as the Functional Head Constraint (Belazi et al. 1994) and raise questions about the role of social functions and the way they should be incorporated into a theory of codeswitching.
Graduate standing.
1) Critical review of syntactic-sociolinguistic study; 2) Research project
TBA
Individual instruction. Prerequisites: Graduate standing. Consent of instructor must be obtained. Requirements: You must have the prior written consent of the instructor before you register for or add this course. Graduate Conference Course Agreement forms are available in Calhoun 508. Please see Kathy Ross, Graduate Coordinator, for information.
This is an interdisciplinary graduate seminar. It seeks to bring in students from various disciplines who are interested in the study of language as a social practice, particularly those who are interested in exploring the role of language in the construction and articulation of individual/group style and identity. The goal of this course is to consider the diverse theorizations of language in its linkages to style, identity, and community, as well as cross-fertilizations between theories of language and contemporary social theory. We will also discuss the impact of globalization on the ways in which identities and communities are grounded. Seminar discussion will involve frequent references to literature on sociolinguistics, linguistic anthropology, cultural anthropology, and sociology. Participants are expected to have basic knowledge of linguistics and have their own research project(s) in mind.
Linguistics 380SóIntroduction to Sociolinguistics (graduate level), or other graduate level courses related to language and culture/society, or consent from the instructor.
TBA
Required Readings (preliminary):
Optional Readings:
As the graduate core course in linguistic anthropology, it consists of lectures and class discussions in a seminar format, introducing major topics in linguistic anthropology (the study of language in relation to culture and society). Topics covered include: Language Structure and Function; Language and World View; Ethnosemantics; Speech Socialization; Ethnography of Speaking; Speech Play and Verbal Art; Language and Social Structure; Variation in Language and Speech; Language Change and Reconstruction; Nonverbal Communication (including Writing Systems). No prior training in linguistics is presupposed.
Graduate standing required. Contact the instructor (jsherzer@mail.utexas.edu) for permission to register for this course.
Course grade determined by final examination, three assigned projects, grant proposal, and by class preparation and participation.
D. Shaul and L. Furbee, Language and Culture. (required)
B. Blount (ed.) Language, Culture, and Society [2nd Edition] (required)
K. Basso Portraits of "The Whiteman (optional)
P.P. Giglioli, Language and Social Context (optional)
R. Bauman and J. Sherzer, Explorations in the Ethnography of Speaking (optional)
Packet: Many of the assigned readings can be found reprinted at Longhorn Copies on
Guadalupe, The remainder are in the PCL library, most are on reserve.
This course will focus on important, though sometimes overlooked, aspects of language and society: language and politics and language planning, which may not be sufficiently accounted for otherwise. It has to be recognized that nations and other political entities do have a significant impact on language behavior and language planning. Whereas, it is especially prominent in societally patterned language behavior and language planning of emerging and developing nations, it may be present, though less overtly, in developed and established nations and societies, as well (including the US).
The study of the reflection of various aspects of language and politics in literature (both prose and poetry) is likely to add another interesting dimension to this seminar. The same applies to aspects of language of politics... Needless to say, in addition to the study of general trends and practices, special attention will be given to representative case studies, across nations. Among the topics to be discussed in this seminar are the following:
I. Introductory:
II. Language and Politics:
III. Language Planning in Theory and in Practice:
IV. Societal Biligualism/Multilingualism and Socio-Political Implications:
V. Language Politics and Education:
VI. Belles-Lettres and Language Politics: The Reflection of Language and Society and of Language-Politics in Literature (in Prose and Poetry):
VII. Cross Cultural Communication:
VIII. On Language of Politics
Graduate standing.
Class participation, oral report, discussion of articles, and a term paper.
TBA
The purpose of this course is to help graduate students develop certain skills that will be useful to them in their careers as linguists. These include:
To meet the first goal listed above, students will give several oral presentations of their work on one of their Ph.D. qualifying papers, which they are expected to finish during the course of the semester.
Graduate standing. Consent of instructor.
Oral presentations of your own research, class participation, short written assignments, and progress on your qualifying paper. This course is only offered on a credit/no credit basis.
None.
Graduate standing required. Prerequisite: Appointment as a teaching assistant.
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