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Linguistics course schedule (undergrad).
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LIN306 | Introduction to the Study of Language |
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LIN312 | Language, Myth and the Vampire Legend |
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LIN312 | Linguistics of Humor |
| LIN315 | Speech Science | |
| LIN321L | American English | |
| LIN322 | Gypsy Language and Culture | |
| LIN340 | Automata Theory | |
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LIN344K | Phonetics |
| LIN350 | Language and Thought | |
| LIN350 | Linguistics and Literature | |
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LIN350 | Native Languages of North America |
| LIN360K | Intro to English Grammar | |
| LIN364M | History of the English Language | |
| LIN372L | Syntax and Semantics: The Structure and Meaning of Utterances | |
| LIN373.3 | Language in Culture and Society | |
| LIN373 | Structure of German Language | |
| LIN374M | Sociolinguistics | |
| LIN379 | Conference Course in Linguistics |
This course is an introduction to the scientific study of language - the academic discipline known as linguistics. What does it mean to say that you "know" a language? How is language organized in the brain? What does it mean to a linguist to "analyze" a language? How do languages resemble each other, how are they different? Why and how do languages change? Do dolphins have language? Does language control our view of reality? What role does language play in society and in politics? What is the best way to learn a foreign language? What kind of language should be taught in schools? Is English the World Language? What are the different language families in the world?
In the first half of the course we survey formal linguistic theory: phonetics (speech sounds), phonology (sound patterns), morphology (word formation), syntax (sentence formation), and semantics (meaning). The rest of the course is given over to sociolinguistics (language in society) and historical linguistics (language change and language relationships).
See306 Home Page for prerequisites, requirements, and texts.
Back to undergraduate course index
The major objective of this course will be to explore the simultaneous development of two distinct types of 'language' in the modern vampire myth: (1) the symbolic language of the mythology itself (i.e., what the mythology means and how it can be seen as a language), and (2) the spoken language of the vampire as it is represented in literature and film. We will see that in many cases the two types are interdependent. That is, the style of spoken language attributed to the vampire is generally a function of specific mythologies which are attributed to it.
One of the primary course goals will be to compare the properties of mythological systems with those of human language. For example, both involve associating arbitrary meanings with symbols or signs (e.g., the mythological association between 'blood' and the essence of life; the linguistic association between the concept of blood and the sound [bl´d]). The relationship between meaning and the associated symbol/sign may also change over time in both systems (e.g., the cross once represented divine power over the vampire but has lost its significance in more recent versions of the myth; the word hound in an earlier stage of English referred to the general class of dogs but today only refers to a specific breed). It is hoped that by drawing such comparisons we will be able to arrive at a better understanding of what human language is and how it differs from other types of communication systems.
Throughout the course, we will be continually asking how one relates to the other. To this end, readings will be selected which will explore both themes. In addition, a portion of class time will be devoted to studying the portrayal of the vampire in literature and modern film. We will be reading Bram Stoker's classic Dracula and Ann Rice's novel Interview with the Vampire. In addition, we will compare two versions of the film Dracula, the 1931 version staring Bela Lugosi and the 1958 version staring Christopher Lee. These films will be shown out of class.
A major component of this course will involve the internet, specifically the newsgroup alt.vampyres, in addition to a number of other interesting web-sites. Many people who frequent these sites claim to be vampires and spend quite a bit of time arguing about the various mythologies. A class period early in the semester will be specifically devoted to assisting those who have no internet experience to get on-line.
None
Course requirements will include two exams, four short "internet reports", 1-2 page analyses of linguistic interactions on the newsgroup (i.e., the language of the internet vampire), and one 8-10 page paper which will be based on the readings and class discussions. A first draft of this paper will be due a week or so after the midterm exam, and a final draft will be due on the last class meeting. Grading will be based on satisfaction of the following requirements:
20% - Internet Reports (5% each)
20% - Midterm Exam
20% - Final Exam
30% - Paper (8-10 pages)
10% - Attendance, Participation
Stoker, Bram. (1897). Dracula
Rice, Ann. (1976). Interview with the Vampire
A Coursepack of additional Readings
I had a linguistics professor once who said that the capacity for language is what makes humans the dominant species on the planet. That may be. But I think there's something else. We aren't afraid of vacuum cleaners.
--Jeff Stilson, humorist
Humor is a basic part of human experience: we find it in one form or another in
every culture. We may not be the only mammals who seem to appreciate the humor of
a situation, but it is safe to say that we are the only ones who can create a comic
experience through language. Nearly every component of our linguistic system can
be exploited for the sake of a laugh, including morphology, syntax, semantics, phonetics,
prosody, pragmatics and the conventions of social interaction. What are the ways
in which language is used to create humor? What are the characteristics that make
an observation or a story funny? What abilities allow us to recognize humor when
we read it or hear it? What does it mean to "get a joke"?
In this course, we will explore these questions and others that connect our ability
to create and appreciate humor to our ability to use language. We will consider humor
as a genre of written and spoken expression from Shakespeare to stand-up, in texts
and recorded performance. We will examine the ways in which people manipulate aspects
of language and context for comic effect, identifying the conventions (and anti-conventions)
of comic language. Basic principles of linguistics will be covered so that we will
be able to do a thorough analysis of humorous discourse.
None
General requirements will include readings in articles on linguistics, discourse analysis and discourse processing and, of course, the occasional humorous text. Students will be required to gather humorous linguistic data for discussion in short observational writing assignments. A midterm exam will be given. Students will write a term paper on a topic appropriate to the class, and present their work to their classmates in a class presentation.
TBA
Speech Science is the field of study exploring the neuromuscular, aerodynamic, and acoustic bases for speech production and speech perception. Topics discussed include: respiration, phonation, coarticulation, vowel & consonant production and acoustic cues underlying speech perception. [This course fulfills the Area C (Science) requirement.]
None
TBA
Recommended: Borden & Harris, Speech Science Primer
This course is concerned with American English as a unique "branch" of the English language that is, in turn, composed of several distinctive "sub-branches" or varieties. It begins with an analysis of the historical development of American English and the way in which such recognizable varieties as "standard American English," "Black English," etc., have evolved. This analysis has two components--internal history and external history. The internal history attends to matters of structure (i.e., differences in pronunciation, morphology, syntax, and semantics), whereas the external history studies the interrelations between language and society.
Of particular interest are the issues of linguistic imposition, status, power, and domination. American English developed from several transplanted varieties of British English, which competed with one another for acceptance and approval. These varieties also competed with and were influenced by many other languages. The American English that consequently developed became unique but not uniform, and each of the new varieties of American English developed its own status or lack of status. Just as "standard American English" became dominant over other varieties of American English, American English itself became dominant over other languages spoken within the boundaries of the U.S.
The second half of the course focuses on the issue of linguistic domination by focusing on efforts to make English not just the "national" language but the "official" language of the U.S. It examines the history of compulsion and coercion--both overt and covert, official and unofficial--to turn speakers of other languages into speakers of English. It examines the arguments for and against the establishment of English as the official language of the U.S., considers the consequences of such an establishment, and studies alternatives to an official language. The analysis extends to symbolic implications of language conflict, the rights of linguistic minorities, linguistic diversity and education, and language politics.
Credit for E 306, E 316K, and 30 semester hours of credit
Each student must take two objective 50-minute tests and participate in two group projects, each constituting 25% of the grade.
James Crawford, Language Loyalities.
J.L. Dillard, A History of American English.
This course presents the linguistic history of the Romani ("Gypsy") people, from 5th Century BC India to the present day. Theories relating to this exodus out of the Subcontinent and the subsequent migrations into Europe are discussed on the basis of the social and linguistic evidence available to us. In addition to studying aspects of the lexicon and syntax of the modern American and European dialects of the Romani language, an introduction to Gypsy history and culture will also form part of the course. We will examine the sociology of this diaspora people, the Indian roots of their music, cuisine and social traditions, external linguistic and cultural influences, and interactions with non-Gypsy peoples. The reasons for the persistence of the stereotypical image of the Gypsy among non-Gypsies will be discussed, and also examined will be the five hundred years of slavery, transportation to the American plantations, the fate of the Romani people in the Holocaust, and the current struggle for civil and political rights since Gypsies gained admittance to the United Nations Organization in 1979.
None
TBA
Required: Hancock, Pariah Syndrome; Hancock, Handbook of Vlax Grammar
Recommended: Crowe & Kolsti, Gypsies of Eastern Europe; Fraser, The Gypsies
This course is an introduction, on the undergraduate level, to automata theory, formal languages, and theory of computation. We will primarily follow the materials in the first six chapters of the textbook listed below. Specific topics to be covered are: Finite Automata and Regular Languages, Push-Down Automata and Context-Free Languages, Turing Machines, Church's Thesis, and Uncomputability.
CS 336 or consent of the instructor.
TBA
Lewis & Papadimitriou, Elements of the Theory of Computation.
An introduction to the study of speech sounds in human languages: how they are produced, and how they are perceived. Students will learn how to identify and produce a wide variety of speech sounds, and how to use computers for acoustic analysis of speech. We will consider, among other things, why some sounds are more common than others, how people's voices vary, how children learn to speak their language, and how computers can deal with human speech.
LIN 306
TBA
Ladefoged, A Course in Phonetics
One classic question about language is the relation between language and thinking. Languages vary in many ways, yet the minds of speakers are arguably quite similar. What aspects of language structure are most likely to affect how a person thinks? and more generally, Do people who speak different languages think differently? another related question is Does language depend on general cognitive development?
We will consider such questions in this course. At the level of words, there is reason to believe that the words people use both affect and reflect the way they think. There are classic studies which show that words available in a language, and words used consistently, make a difference. We'll consider studies of word use in several areas, including war, politics, women.
At the level of structure, we will consider competing views. Linguists such as Edward Sapir and Benjamin Whorf believed that the structure of a language affects the way people think. Recent generative views have instead emphasized the similarity of people's thinking, no matter what their language. We will look at some competing claims, and at supporting and dissenting studies in fields such as color, time, and space.
In studying the relation of language and cognition, we will look at normal and pathological cases (e.g. spina bifida, Williams syndrome). For each we will ask whether language is dependent on cognition, or dissociated from it in some way.
None
3 short papers, one on each of the main topics; 2-3 essay examinations. This is a substantial writing component course.
A packet of selected articles and book chapters, available at Jenn's, 2200 Guadalupe (downstairs).
This class applies some results of modern linguistic methods in syntax and semantic theory to the analysis of the language in literary texts, both poetry and prose. Among these will be poems by PabloNeruda, César Vallejo, García Lorca, Miguel Hernández, as well as prose selections from Borges, Cortázar, Baroja and Azorín. The object is to gain a better understanding of the structure and meaning of the texts selected for analysis, to enrich the students' knowledge of Spanish, and at the same time develop their appreciation of the style of these major writers.
Considerable insight has been recently attained on languages that have a rich explicit system of agreement inflections which allows the omission of subject and object pronouns (or Pro-drop phenomenon), as in Spanish. Such feature is but an aspect of the use of stress contrast oppositions in both lexical and functional words. To witness, the expression of subject and object pronouns in a pro-drop language assumes a discourse function which equates that of focussed constituents, and is comparable to the use of stressed pronouns in non Pro-drop languages, such as English. Focused constituents must be understood as fronted terms and in contrast (or relative) to other discourse constituents, much as the syntactically overt focused terms in the so-called 'cleft' sentences in English, such as, It's a house that they bought. In general, phenomena involving focal terms relate to aspects of meaning which are discourse dependent and that go beyond the truth values of the individual sentences that contain them. Therefore, analysis of such elements crucially elucidates textual structure and the meaning content of narrative discourse in either poetry or prose form. The study of how writers utilize and create new means of expressions on the basis of what a particular language system has to offer throws light in turn into the nature of the language faculty.
Class is conducted primarily in Spanish, and in a work-shop form. Class attendance & participation is required. Students must work individually or in groups in the preparation of 2 assignments (Trabajos Prácticos). These must be first orally presented, and are due in typewritten form 02/25 and 04/25. There is no Final Exam. The final grade is assigned by averaging the grades obtained in (a) Trabajos Prácticos, (b) Oral presentations (c) Class participation and (d) Peer evaluation.
Bordelois, Ivonne, Perspectiva de la Estilística.
Luján, Marta, La Expresión y Omisión del Pronombre Personal.
Other selected readings to be made available.
This course is an introduction to the Native languages of North America. We will pay particular attention to the ways in which these languages are special, including:
Diversity. How many languages were and are there, who speaks them, where
are they spoken, and what are they like? Are they descended from a single parent
language, or from many unrelated parent languages? Are they related to any of the
languages of Eurasia? What does the history of Native American languages say about
the history of human habitation of the Americas?
Language Use and Verbal Art. What are some of the distinctive patterns of
language use in Native American communities, including storytelling, ceremonial language,
and informal interaction?
Language Endangerment, Death, and Prospects of Maintenance. What are the prospects
for Native American language survival? What political, economic, and social factors
are involved?
Each week, we will devote one class meeting to lectures and discussion, and the other to the study of particular Native American languages and their use in Native speech communities. I am hoping that we can cover three languages in the course of the semester. The languages will be selected to sample some of the continent's linguistic diversity.
None
Weekly assignments (40%), final paper (50%), class participation (10%).
Silver & Miller, American Indian Languages in Cultural and Social Context
An informal introduction to the rules of English sentence construction. After developing rules for simple sentences, we will examine several basic types of sentential complements and then go on to discuss various types of modifying structures. We will also look at a number of special constructions in English, including existential sentences, cleft sentences, and direct questions. Finally, we will discuss several topics (for instance, tense and aspect) which have to do with the way English sentences are interpreted. From time to time, we will examine parallel constructions in other languages.
Upper division standing.
TBA
TBA
This course aims to present the historical development of English by striking a balance between the internal history--sounds, inflections, vocabulary--and the external history--the political, social, and intellectual forces that have determined the course of that development at different periods. The main topics (which will be covered fully in class lecture-discussion) include the Indo-European Family of Languages, Old English, The Norman Conquest and the Subjection of English (1066-1200), The Re-establishment of English (1200-1500), The Renaissance (1500-1650), The Appeal to Authority (1650-1800), The Nineteenth Century and after, and the English Language in America.
Upper division standing and E 316K or the equivalent.
There will be occasional homework exercises on vocabulary, phonological change, etc. The course grade will come from two hour tests, 25% each; a final exam, 35%; and homework, quizzes, and class participation, 15%.
Baugh & Cable, A History of the English Language.
Cable, A Companion to Cable & Baugh's History of the English Language.
Words can be put together to form meaningful sentences, and different arrangements of words can yield different meanings. For example, the words, as they are arranged in the string The the likes student teacher do not form a meaningful sentence, but if the words are arranged as The student likes the teacher or The teacher likes the student, they form meaningful sentences and convey different meanings. This course introduces basic principles in syntactic theory and considers the ways in which they are used to account for grammatical sentences. In addition, it reviews claims about the relation between rules and principles and universal grammar. In this course, we pay particular attention to description of language data and basic linguistic analysis.
Upper division standing.
The grade for the course will be based on homework assignments, a midterm exam, and a final exam.
Cook & Newsom, Chomsky's Universal Grammar, 2nd ed.
The goals of this course are to introduce students to the study of language use from a sociocultural perspective and to develop skills (through fieldwork and data analysis) in analyzing the role that language plays in the structure and interpretation of human interaction. Students will collect language data from a "speech community" in a setting of their choice either by audiotaping or videotaping and will use this data: 1) collectively as a basis for examining and questioning concepts discussed in lectures and readings, such as ethnicity, identity, power, and gender as they are constructed through language; and 2) individually as a basis from which to generate an analytical paper, which shows an understanding of the major ideas covered in the course but which is specific to student interests.
Upper division standing.
TBA
TBA
This course will provide upper-division students possessing a basic knowledge of and interest in German with a thorough overview of the structure of the language from a theoretical linguistic point of view. The focus will not be limited to the standard language, but will include data from non-standard varieties as well. The implicit approach will be contrastive, viewing the German data against the background of English. Previous coursework in linguistics is desireable, though not required. The course will be taught in English and divided into the following general parts:
Six semester hours of upper-division German or fourteen semesters hours of lower-division German and six semester hours of linguistics.
5 quizzes @ 10%--50%; 2 quizzes @ 20%--40%; class participation--10%. Attendance is mandatory; three or more unexcused absences may result in dropping the final grade by one-half a letter; six or more by a full letter.
König, Werner. dtv-Atlas zur deutschen Sprache. Deutscher Taschenbuch
Verlag.
Russ, C.V.J. The German Language Today: A Linguistic Intro. Routledge, 1994.
Copy packet of selected readings.
Sociolinguistics is that branch of linguistics that seeks to understand the complex relationships between language and society. On the one hand, language is often a resource for defining social groups and even societies. In the United States, for example, social classes, ethnic groups, females and males, people from different regions, religions, and professions, and those of different sexual orientations often use language (or most often, bits and pieces of the linguistic system) as markers of in-group affiliation. On the other hand, the shape and nature of social structures within a society ultimately affects the language(s) used there, influencing macro-level social issues like what languages are used in the society and micro-level linguistic phenomena like sound change in progress. German used to be widely used in Texas but no longer is because of the changing nature of Texas society; in contrast, Spanish has played a very different role in the stateís history and continues to be widely used in certain communities. With respect to sound change in progress, in-migration to the state beginning after WWII helps account for why native Texans, though still sounding Texan, do not sound like their grandparents (even their Texan grandparents). In Linguistics 374M, we will consider these and other issues relating the study of language in society as well as issues that students suggest.
ANT 302 or LIN 306
An inquiring mind, a willingness to read and think, a journal (20%), a mid-term (20%), a final (20%), a term project (25%), and class participation (15%). The term project will grow out of journal assignments and other class activities; students will be required to submit a draft of the project and revise it at least once.
Wardaugh, Introduction to Sociolinguistics, 1998 ed.
Photocopied articles.
Individual instruction. Prerequisites: Six hours of upper-division Linguistics. 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. Undergraduate conference course agreement forms are available in Calhoun 503.
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