Spring 2002
Linguistics for Non-Majors
To reduce file size, listings for undergraduate and graduate courses may be viewed
separately. This document contains undergraduate courses for nonmajors only. Graduate
courses are in a separate document. The complete list
of undergraduate courses, including those listed below, are also in a separate
document.
Click on the course name for the course description. Click on home icon 
to see the
home page for that course, if there is one. For more information on these courses
(including instructor, course time and course location), see the Linguistics
course schedule (undergrad).
LIN 306: Introduction to the Study of Language
Language is all around us: whatever else people do when they come together, they
talk. Language, more than any other attribute, distinguishes humans from other creatures.
Language pertains to scientific, medical, and therapeutic fields; business; education,
foreign languages, translation; formal systems, mathematics and logic; and law, argumentation,
and practical reasoning. It also relates to language use and social issues in such
areas as persuasion, gender, cultural diversity, and differences between political
and social groups. Finally, linguistics is essential in the growing, inter-disciplinary
areas of cognitive science and language acquisition.
In this course students learn what speakers know when they know a language: how
language is organized. Issues of language and how it is used in society, and language
change, are also discussed. Topics include: writing systems; phonetics, phonology,
morphology, syntax, semantics; pragmatics: discourse, language use, metaphor; sign
language, sociolinguistics: dialects and sociolects, language and gender; language
change, language families; animal communication.
See306 Home Page for prerequisites, requirements,
and texts.
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LIN 312: Language and the Law (McCartney)
Have you ever wondered why lawyers and judges talk the way they do? Now you can
learn what they're trying to say, what they're really saying, and how to use both
of these to your advantage.
This course looks at the role natural language plays in a variety of legal contexts.
We will start with the nature of legal language, or legalese, and its purposeful
exclusivity. Then, we will examine legalese using linguistic tools to see what it's
supposed to mean, what it does mean, how to interpret it, and what we can do about
it.
We will do this by looking at the syntax (sentence structure), semantics (word
meaning), and pragmatics (situational context) of both written language, such as
contracts and statutes, as well as the oral language of interrogation, direct- and
cross- examination, jury instruction, and judicial decisions. This will help you
understand legalese, and may also help you to communicate more clearly.
We will also consider the reciprocal effect that the law and socio-linguistics
have on each other. This includes how child language and minority- language are treated
in the judicial process, and the effect of legal language on how justice is implemented
for children and minorities, in both written and oral contexts.
Linguistics skills, along with some understanding of the theory behind how language
is structured, can better arm anyone who deals in communicating with people.
Prerequisites
None
Requirements
Readings, homeworks, short written papers (1-2 pp.), presentation,
final paper, participation
Texts
Course packet.
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LIN 312: Bilingualism (Walters)
What do we know about life with two (or more) languages? Are the similarities
across bilingual speech communities? How is language stored in the brains of bilinguals?
Does growing up with two languages retard language acquisition, as many people believe?
Does it help it along? Why do bilinguals often mix their languages when they speak?
Is there any system to this switching, or is it random, as monolinguals often believe?
What do we know about educating bilinguals and educating for bilingualism? How do
various countries around the world deal with questions of educating bilinguals? What
is life like for Deaf individuals who sign one language but write the language of
the larger society in which they live? Why do some argue that the American tradition
is really more a bilingual one than a monolingual one? In this class, weíll explore
all these issues and many more.
Prerequisites
None, except a willingness to be challenged about matters of language, language
structure, and identity. Monolinguals, bilinguals, and multilinguals will all be
welcomed!
Requirements
Two tests, a final, occasional homework, and a project involving collecting
information about bilinguals and bilingual behavior.
Texts
Romaine, Suzanne. Bilingualism, 2nd ed. and a packet of readings.
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LIN 312: Culture and Communication (Keating)
The goals of this course are to introduce students to the study of language use
cross-culturally and to develop skills (through data collection and analysis) in
investigating and understanding the role that language plays in the construction
of commonly shared cultural practices and ideas including the interpretation of what
is culturally appropriate behavior. Each student will collect language data from
a "speech community" in a setting chosen by the student. This data will
be used as a basis for examining and questioning concepts discussed in lectures and
readings, such as ethnicity, identity, power, status, and gender as they emerge in
everyday interactions between people.
Prerequisites
None
Requirements
There will be two mid-term exams (no final), and several short written analytical
exercises. Exams count 45% of the grade, and other assignments 45%. Class participation
counts 10%.
Texts
TBA
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LIN 312: Language of Cartoons and Comics (Brody)
By means of examining the human voices of animated cartoons and the representations
of speech and sounds in comic books, this course will introduce some of the basic
concepts and tools of linguistics. In addition to English language materials, we
will use cartoons and comics in several other languages. Among the questions to be
explored will be: What is linguistics and how can we use it to learn about ourselves
and the world? How is cartoon speech different from ordinary speech and why should
it be so? Are there sounds that suggest meaning, like in the words splash or
plop? Is onomatopoeia universal? What are some of the challenges of translating
sound and speech to writing? How do different kinds of comics take that challenge?
CARTOON SPEECH
Including: basic phonetics and phonology; speech features in the storytelling
customs of selected other cultures; speech analysis of selected cartoon characters;
regional/social dialects in cartoon speech; sound changes; language and gender; and
sound symbolism (speech sounds that suggest meaning).
PRINT COMICS
Including: survey of conventions for representing speech/dialogue in writing (punctuation
etc.); cross-linguistic material (speech balloons in Maya glyphs, etc.); basic Conversation
Analysis involving features such as affective characteristics represented in print
(italics, UPPER CASE, etc.) and representation of discourse features (pauses,
overlap, repair); visual organization of information; sound effects (BAM, PFFFFT,
OOF!, etc.), all with particular emphasis on sound symbolism, onomatopoeia, and cross-linguistic
data.
Prerequisites
None
Requirements
Course packet of readings and comic pages
Texts
Weekly homework, a few quizzes, 2 short tests (2 papers for the Substantial
Writing Component section), 10-minute presentation, participation
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LIN 312: History of English Words (Lee)
This course offers an introduction to the etymological study of the English language,
tracing not only the historical emergence of English, but also the histories of other
Germanic languages and other Indo-European languages (especially French, Latin, and
Greek) back to their Proto Indo-European roots. In addition to language-internal
developments, the cultural, economic, political and social contexts that have influenced
the history of the English language will also be examined. Basic linguistic tools
for analyzing English etymology will be introduced. Specifically, students will learn
fundamental concepts of historical linguistics such as sound change and analogical
change, internal reconstruction and the comparative method. Morphological, syntactic,
and semantic changes will also be discussed.
No knowledge of specific languages other than English is required.
Topics we will consider include the following: Why does English have plurals like
feet, children, brethren, foci, phenomena, and verbs like sing-sang-sung,
keep-kept-kept? How can eat, tooth, edible, dentist be etymologically
related? How about short, skirt, shirt? What are the origins of day-names
and month-names like Wednesday and August? Celtic speakers inhabited
Britain before English-speaking groups arrived: so why does English have so few Celtic
words? Who were the Vikings? What does viking mean, and how did the Vikingsí
occupation of England influence English? Who were the Normans, and what linguistic
impact did the Norman Conquest have on English? How did printing, the Renaissance,
and the Reformation shape English? Why is English spelling so chaotic?
Prerequisites
None
Requirements
- Writing component
- Class participation: 20%
Two take-home quizzes: 30%
Two written analyses: 20%
One final paper: 30%
- Non-writing component
- Class participation: 30%
Two take-home quizzes: 40%
One final paper: 30%
Texts
- Millward, C. M. A Biography of the English language. 2nd edition. 1996. Holt,
Rinehart and Winston, Inc.
- Watkins, Calvert (rev. and ed.) The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European
Roots, 2nd edition. 2000. Houghton Mifflin Company.
- Course packet.
- (Available at I.T. Copies @ M.L.K and Whitis. Hours: M-F 8-6, Sat.10-2. Tel:
476-6662.)
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LIN 323L: English as a World Language (Hancock)
[same as E 323L]
This course begins with a general discussion of the nature and use of English;
the origin and spread of language, and the development of modern linguistics. Discussion
of English in terms of where it is now spoken, and by how many people, and how useful
it has become. The spread of the Indo-European peoples is examined, and the westward
migration of the Celts, Italic speakers and Germanic people, and the earliest Indo-European
settlement of the British Isles. The history of later settlements is dealt with (Romans,
Scandinavians, Normans) from a historical point of view, paying attention to the
social situation, then the same time-period is covered again from the linguistic
perspective. A brief sketch of the main lexical and grammatical characteristics of
Old English is given, and the factors leading to the emergence of Middle and Early
Modern English. The reason for the Renaissance, and its impact upon trade and exploration
are discussed, and the social nature of the first contacts overseas. The social background
of the first English speakers to carry the language out of American, South African,
Australian and New Zealand English dialects are examined, newer hypothesis discussed,
and the lexical, grammatical and phonological characteristics of each presented,
together with many handouts and tape-recorded passages. Some time is given to the
divergence from, and later convergence towards, a World Standard. Non-Native English
(in India, Malaysia and Hong Kong) is also looked at briefly, and the modern descendants
of the other stream of overseas English, viz., Afro-English, which has representatives
in the Atlantic and Pacific areas.
Prerequisites
Completion of at least 30 hours of coursework, including E 316K or
the equivalent.
Requirements
TBA
Texts
TBA
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LIN 344K: Phonetics:The Production and Perception of Speech
(Myers)
[fulfills the Area C requirement in the College of Liberal Arts]
This course is an introduction to phonetics, the area of linguistics concerned
with how speech sounds are produced, how they are perceived, and how they differ
acoustically. There is some laboratory work. These questions involve anatomy, aerodynamics,
acoustics, and speech perception. The topics are relevant to speech technology, in
particular to speech synthesis, speech recognition, speaker recognition, and speech
understanding.
The first part of the course is concerned with the production of speech sounds
and their phonetic transcription. Students learn about the anatomy and physiology
of the vocal tract, and the basics of aerodynamics (Boyle's Law, Bernoullis's Effect)
in order to understand how speech sounds are made.
The second part of the course deals with how humans perceive speech sounds, and
the properties of sound waves. Students learn basic acoustics: amplitude, fundamental
frequency, frequency spectra, resonance. There are weekly lab assignments in which
students use acoustic analysis software to perform simple experiments based on acoustic
analysis of their own speech.
Fundamental findings on speech perception from experimental psychology are also
presented. These include categorical perception, speaker normalization, trade-off
among cues, and the McGurk effect.
Prerequisites
Linguistics 306 or consent of instructor
Requirements
TBA
Texts
Ladefoged, A Course in Phonetics
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LIN 350: Language and Gender (Zhang)
TBA
Prerequisites
TBA
Requirements
TBA
Texts
TBA
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LIN 350: Language and People (King)
This course deals not with formal theory but with those topics in linguistics
that touch most directly on peopleís livesñand which I have found to be most interesting
not only for linguistics majors but for students in other majors who are interested
in language. The topics range from "big" to "small." Some of
the bigger topics are: bilingual education, language and ethnicity, language and
nationalism, and the origin of language. Some of the smaller topics are: dyslexia,
animal language, metaphors and behavior, the language of gender interaction and dating,
names, language fascism, and politics and the English language (George Orwell). Part
of the course will be made up as we go: what you are interested in about language
is what we will talk about in class.
Prerequisites
LIN 306
Requirements
Grades will be based on a couple of short essay-type tests and a couple
of short (2-3 pages) papers.
Texts
Either Clark, Escholz, and Rosa; Language: Introductory Readings
Or Bauth and Sherzer; Language in Use.
Also: set of readings available at Speedway Copy.
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LIN 350.1: Language and the Brain (Sussman)
[same as CSD 350]
Ever wonder why the brain has been called "an alien structure"?? How
do 150 billion nerve cells (give or take 10 billion) bring about such human activities
such as vision, sound processing, motor control, language acquisition, language functions,
yada yada yada..... Well, you're in luck because this course tackles these sticky
issues. This is a beginning level course in cognitive neuroscience taught by a UT
professor of both the Linguistics Dept and Communication Sciences and Disorders.
No previous background in linguistics is necessary, just a curiousity and love for
that adorable yet wrinkled 1700 grams of nervous tissue called the brain.
Prerequisites
None
Requirements
Grading is based on four exams. No term paper.
Texts
None
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LIN 360K: Introduction to English Grammar (Smith)
Have you ever wondered how your language works? Whether there's any logic to the
way words are put together into sentences? How and why people speak differently?
This course will introduce you to the some of the mysteries of English, especially
syntax and morphology. Morphology is the study of word formation; syntax deals with
how words group together to form phrases and sentences. We will use the general framework
of generative grammar developed by Noam Chomsky.
We will learn the basic principles of structure and techniques of syntactic analysis
as well as the facts. We will also discuss the differences between dialects of English:
what makes a dialect different, whether some dialects are better than others, what
people think they should say and what they actually do say.
Prerequisites
None
Requirements
Homework assignments, class participation; midterm and final examinations.
Texts
Morenberg, Max. Doing Grammar, Oxford University Press.
Berk, Lynn. English Syntax, Oxford University Press.
Handbook about word structure.
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13-Nov-01
Comments to: linclass@www.utexas.edu