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Linguistics course schedule (graduate).
| LIN380K | Phonology I | |
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LIN381L | Syntax II |
| LIN382 | Historical Linguistics | |
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LIN383 | Problems in Comparative Historical Linguistics |
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LIN384 | Structure of Modern Indo-Aryan Languages |
| LIN391.4 | Major Works of 20th Century Linguistic Theory | |
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LIN392 | Introduction to Language Acquisition |
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LIN392 | Tools for Linguistic Description |
| LIN393 | Book of Isaiah: Text & Language | |
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LIN393.4 | Neurolinguistics |
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LIN393.5 | Translation: Theory, History, Practice |
| LIN393P | Stress Theory | |
| LIN393S | Lexical Semantics | |
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LIN393S | Syntax of Case |
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LIN395 | Conference Course |
| LIN396 | Workshop in Theory and Method | |
| LIN396.2 | Intro to Graduate Linguistic Anthropology | |
| LIN396.7 | Grammar of Arabic Language |
This course provides an intensive introduction to generative phonology for graduate students in linguistics. The course will be conducted at an advanced level, and is not appropriate for students without the appropriate background in phonetics and/or phonology. Primary importance will be placed on the description and analysis of phonological phenomena occurring in natural languages. Our initial approach will be to gain experience in the identification and theory-neutral characterization of phonological patterns occurring in languages. As we progress, we will develop analyses of these phenomena using tools made available by current phonological theory, in this case, in the framework of Optimality Theory, a theory in which surface phonology is held to be the result of constraints that enforce stated relationships between inputs (underlying representations) and outputs (surface forms). Early in the semester we will cover the basics of phonological description and theory: segment inventories, phonological features, natural classes, and distributional patterns. The topics to be covered later in the semester are those relevant to prosodic phonology: syllables and syllable structure, word stress patterns, reduplication other phenomena generally included under the rubric of "prosodic morphology".
LIN 381M
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Readings will be made available in a course packet.
Back to graduate course index
This is the second semester course of the graduate requirement in syntax. The course takes an approach to syntactic analysis in which concepts from the Government and Binding framework are integrated with concepts from Minimalist approaches. In the introduction to the course, we will review general principles of modules of the grammar: Theta-Theory, Case Theory, Binding Theory and Control and Movement Theory. During this part of the course, we will consider the Principles and Parameters approach to problems in which the aim is to reduce descriptive statements to language-invariant and language-particular. The course will focus on two types of arguments in syntactic analysis: 1) empirical arguments and 2) theoretical arguments. Empirical arguments will be based on data, while theoretical arguments will be related to the restrictiveness of the system used to account for the data. In the course, we will formulate hypotheses based on data and consider additional data that may lead us to modify the hypotheses. As the course progresses, we will address topics such as argument structure and lexical rules of derivation, lexical and functional projections, and cross-linguistic variation related to morphological properties of languages. In the final section of the course, we will discuss the development of an alternative system which relies on the interface levels Logical Form and Phonetic Form and accounts inan economical way for the phenomena that were previously argued to apply at D-Structure and S-Structure.
The prerequisites for the course are LIN 380L and LIN 380M or consent of the instructor.
The grade for the course will be based on the following:
Chomsky, N. and H. Lasnik. 1993. The Theory of Principles and Parameters. In Syntax: An International Handbook of Contemporary Research, (eds.). Jacobs et al. Walter de Gruyter.
Larson, R. 1988. On the Double Object Construction. Linguistic
Inquiry 19, 335-331. Webelhuth, G. (ed.). 1995. Government and Binding Theory
and the Minimalist Program. Blackwell.
General Outline of Course:
LIN 480K (no substitutes without permission of the instructor). The basics of Optimality Theory will be assumed.
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Bloomfield, Language (1984).
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We will look at the comparative syntax of the Modern Indo-Aryan languages. Throughout the course, we will introduce data from the less studied Indo-Aryan languages such Marwari, Kumaoni, Magahi, Bhojpuri, Maithili, and Bundelkhandi. The course will focus on the various syntactic phenomena that appear in these languages. In particular, we will study correlativization and other relativization strategies, question formation, modal verbs and other modal constructions, case and agreement with special focus on Ergativity, and the tense-aspect system including marking of counterfactuality. Throughout the course, we will try to refine our hypotheses about what (if anything) constitutes a Modern Indo-Aryan universal and the domain of possible variation found in the constructions/phenomena under examination. This course will be a crosslinguistic course and we will not stop at the borders of South Asia. Constant comparison will be made to the somewhat more analyzed Germanic and Romance languages.
Twelve semester hours of upper-division coursework in Linguistics.
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The Indo-Aryan Languages (Cambridge Language Surveys) - Colin Masica, Cambridge Univ Pr (Short); ISBN: 0521299446
This is course is designed to provide students with a solid overview of the major works of linguistics and an understanding of how these classics have contributed to contemporary linguistics. The goal is to understand better twentieth-century linguistics. The method is first to survey linguistic theory prior to the nineteenth century, focusing primarily on Panini and ancient India. We will then examine writings of nineteenth-century linguists, mainly Humboldt, Baudouin de Courtenay, William Dwight Whitney, Osthoff, Brugmann, and Saussure, whose ideas both positively and negatively influenced later versions of linguistic (and critical) theory. Finally we will read works of Sapir, Whorf, Bloomfield, Jakobson, Chomsky, and Labov. As we move up to the present, we will consider a number of questions pertaining to the nature of human language and what the goals of a linguistic theory should be, e.g. social and individual aspects, synchrony and diachrony, mental and physical realities, public and private linguistics.
A selection of readings will be available at Speedway Copying (on the bottom floor of Dobie Mall). Primary texts will be placed on reserve in the PCL. These will form the basis for the class lectures.
Twelve semester hours of upper-division coursework in German, or consent of instructor.
The final grade will be based on writing assignments from the readings and geared to the studentís own personal research interests. Students are welcome to form discussion groups to discuss the questions, though the writing is an individual exercise.
Bickerton, Derek. 1995. Language and Human Behavior. University
of Washington Press. (paper).
Chomsky, Noam. 1988. Language and Problems of Knowledge. MIT Press. (paper).
Reader available at Speedway Copying in Dobie Mall.
This course is an introduction to the linguistic and psychological issues involved in the study of how children acquire a first language. Among the topics to be considered are Chomskyís discussion of the problem of language acquisition, the biological basis of language acquisition, infant speech perception, the relationship between language acquisition and the linguistic input to the child, research methods in language acquisition, the acquisition of American Sign Language, and the childís representation of grammatical categories.
Graduate standing.
Course requirements will include two research assignments involving the collection and analysis of data, several short "critical commentaries" on the assigned papers, and a final exam.
A packet of readings which will include many key papers in the field.
Presented in this course are the basic tools for describing a language you are documenting by linguistic field work, including phonetic transcription, some basics of text analysis,and the methods for the discovery and presentation of surface morphology, morphophonology,inflectional morphology, derivational morphology, grammatical categories, and syntax. There will be an emphasis on practice and drilling via transcription exercises and problem sets. In addition-where appropriate-we will study relevant aspects of linguistic typology in order to gain an advance idea of the kinds of structures and categories that can be encountered in field work.
This course is intended as a companion course to Lin 385, Field Methods in Linguistic Investigation, which gives hands-on field elicitation training and which will be offered in alternate years. It also serves as a companion to the "core" courses in Phonetics (381M), Phonology (380K, 381K), and Syntax (380L, 381L), which focus on largely complementary theoretical-analytic issues. While some students will have already taken field methods, or some or all of the core courses, none are a prerequisite. It is possible-though challenging-to take this course with little or no prior background in linguistics.
Graduate standing in Linguistics or Anthropology, or consult the instructor.
Problem sets and exercises, 100%
Eugene A. Nida 1949. Morphology
EITHER Robert D. Van Valin (to appear), Syntax: An introduction, Cambridge University Press; OR Thomas Payne (1998), Describing Morphosyntax: A guide for field linguists, Cambridge University Press.
This seminar is designed to introduce the students to the wonderful world of Biblical prophesy as well as to the language and style, at their best, of one of the greatest prophets of the Hebrew Bible (the "Old Testament"): Isaiah. He is noted for his national and universal prophetic message to the people of Israel and to the nations of the world, relentlessly demanding observance of the Law, justice, and loving-kindness toward their fellow men and women. He often resorted to harsh rebuke and prophetic warning of oncoming punishment. But he also prophesied consolation, redemption and world peace ñ all with the famous "prophetic thunder" and artistic excellence, in terms of style, employment of a variety of poetic devices, etc. Indeed, in addition to producing superb religious-moral-ethical "scriptures", this book has been recognized as a great work (and model) of art, illustrating the literary genius of the Hebrew prophets.
Accordingly, the texts will be read, analyzed and interpreted with those considerations in mind, trying to account for both the message and the medium, the contents and the art, the literary forms and the linguistic structures. Selected texts will also be accompanied with examples from the traditional commentaries.
Graduate standing. Interested students from other related disciplines (eg., Middle Eastern Studies, English/World Literature, Comp. Lit., Comparative Religion/Religious Studies, Classics) deficient in Hebrew proper are invited (indeed, urged) to contact Prof. Bar-Adon who will be glad to help them overcome this hurdle and fully benefit from this course. He may be reached at his office, in CAL 417, or by phone: 471-3594. If no answer there, please leave a message, with your phone number, at 471-1701. Please do.
Grade will be based mainly on assigned readings, class discussion, reports and a term paper.
The Hebrew Bible or a Hebrew ñ English Edition
Neurolinguistics is a survey-type course that explores subject areas related to the neurobiological representation of language in the brain. It begins with a complete review of basic neuroanatomy. Topics then include: cortical areas involved in language (brain stimulation studies); subcortical areas involved in language; a description of recent work on aphasia emphasizing what can be learned about language representation from empirical study of aphasic language vis-a-vis area of lesion; hemispheric specialization for language. The last topic includes anatomical differences of left and right hemispheres, split-brain subjects, bilingual speakers, and bilingual aphasics.
Graduate standing.
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Outside reading list and note packet.
This seminar concentrates on various historical, theoretical, and practical aspects of translation. Among the topics to be covered:
Graduate standing.
Assigned and optional readings, class discussion, oral reports, and a term paper.
A list of required and optional texts will be provided in class.
The theme of this advanced graduate seminar is metrical phonology: Patterns of word stress and phonological theories that have evolved to account for these patterns. The overall approach to be adopted in studying stress will be broadly typological; Hayes (1995) will be used as a reference for the types of stress systems found in the world's languages. The seminar will begin by examining the general properties of stress, a variety of attested stress patterns discussed as case studies in Hayes (1995). After this introduction, we will progress to the theoretical. Time will be taken for a historical overview of metrical theory, with primary emphasis on versions of parametric metrical theory (e.g. Prince 1983; Hayes 1985, 1995; Halle & Vergnaud 1987) and Optimality Theory (Prince & Smolensky 1993). In the last third-to-half of the seminar, we will concentrate on the recent optimality theoretic literature on stress.
Graduate standing required
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This seminar will investigate the syntax of case-marking. Among the topics to be covered are: semantic, lexical, and default case assignment; case and aspect; nominative-accusative, ergative-absolutive, and active case systems; oblique subjects and nominative objects; 'case preservation' in passive and raising; case stacking; case concord; morphological realization of case; interactions between case, agreement and configurationality; and the 'constructive case' approach to non-configurational languages(Nordlinger 1998).
Graduate standing required.
A term paper and class presentation; summaries of assigned readings.
A reading packet with selected papers from the linguistics literature.
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 course is a workshop in research design and proposal/prospectus writing. Among the topics to be considered are epistemology; ethics; problem definition; research methodologies in the social sciences and humanities; anthropological research methods in the field, the archive, and the interview; data analysis and textual interpretation; and effective styles of presentation. Various methodologies will be discussed in addition to more traditional approaches.
The workshop is for students actively preparing research proposals and/or a dissertation prospectus. Class time will be divided between discussion of the readings and discussion of student work.
Graduate standing required.
--write, revise, and present a complete research proposal or dissertation
prospectus
--evaluate proposals on file or those written by other students in the class
--attend job talks and other lectures and dissertation and prospectus defenses
The grade will be based on:
written proposal or prospectus: 60%
written evaluations of proposals: 30%
class participation: 10%
Michael H. Agar. 1996. The Professional Stranger: An Informal Introduction to Ethnography. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
H. Russell Bernard, ed. 1998. Handbook Of Methods In Cultural Anthropology. Walnut Creek, CA: Altamira, 1998. [Please note: this is not the same book as Bernardís single-authored Research Methods In Anthropology, which is, however, recommended as a resource.]
Charles L. Briggs. 1986. Learning How To Ask. A Sociolinguistic Appraisal Of The Role Of The Interview In Social Science Research. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Akhil Gupta and James Ferguson, eds. 1997. Anthropological Locations: Boundaries And Grounds Of A Field Science. Berkeley: University of California Press.
George Marcus, 1998. Ethnography through thick and thin. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Roger Sanjek. 1990. Fieldnotes: The Makings of Anthropology. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press.
Course packet
An Anthropology Core Course, this course is an introduction to the theoretical and methodological foundations of the study of language from a sociocultural perspective. Topics discussed include linguistic, philosophical, psychological, sociological and anthropological contributions to the understanding of verbal and non-verbal communication as a social activity embedded in cultural contexts. No prior training in linguistics is presupposed. Readings include both ethnographic studies and theoretical work about language.
GRADUATE STANDING REQUIRED. RESTRICTED ENROLLMENT, CONTACT THE ANTHROPOLOGY DEPT. FOR PERMISSION TO REGISTER FOR THIS COURSE.
A seminar paper
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The course will comprise a systematic, formal analysis of the grammar of Standard Arabic (Fusha), Modern and Classical, including its more complex syntactic and morphological structures, which students have been exposed to functionally but which they need to have presented to them systematically, formally and cogently. Students will be introduced to the methods and terminology of traditional Arabic grammatical analysis. Arabic texts will be analyzed in terms of not only their syntactic structures, but also their discourse structure and their stylistic devices such as parallelism, repetition, and redundancy. All instruction and discussions will be in Arabic.
Two years of Arabic (i.e. the sequence ARA 506 - ARA 412L), or the equivalent.
Class participation, daily assignments, two tests, and a final take-home
Homework Assignments (50%), Tests and take-home (50%)
No prescribed textbook. Readings will be given in various grammars of Arabic, including 'Abbas Hasan, al-Shartuni, al-Samarra'i, Dahdah, Wright and others.
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