*Linguistics 97r. Group Tutorial — Sophomore Year
Catalog Number: 1791
Bert Vaux and members of the Department
Half course (fall term; repeated spring term). M., Tu., or W., 3–5.
Intensive study in a selected linguistic area such as phonology, syntax, historical linguistics, phonetics, morphology, semantics, psycholinguistics, acquisition, sociolinguistics, creole studies, or computational linguistics. Meets as two six-week small-group tutorials, in both the fall and spring terms.
Note: Required of concentrators.
*Linguistics 98a. Group Tutorial — Junior Year
Catalog Number: 4222
Bert Vaux and members of the Department
Half course (fall term). M., Tu., or W., 3–5.
Meets as two six-week small-group tutorials, both held in the fall term, each covering one of the areas of linguistics listed under Linguistics 97r.
Note: Required of concentrators.
*Linguistics 98b. Tutorial — Junior Year
Catalog Number: 7273
Bert Vaux and members of the Department
Half course (spring term). Hours to be arranged.
Individual tutorial with a faculty member.
Note: Required of concentrators.
*Linguistics 99. Tutorial — Senior Year
Catalog Number: 3082
Bert Vaux and members of the Department
Full course. Hours to be arranged.
Individual tutorial with a faculty member for research and writing of the Linguistics honors thesis. Graded Satisfactory or Unsatisfactory. An honors student who expects not to complete the thesis should consult with the Head Tutor about completing other substantial work to receive credit for the course.
Note: Required of honors concentrators.
Linguistics 81. Language and Gender
Catalog Number: 4668
Lisa Lavoie
Half course (fall term). M., W., at 2. EXAM GROUP: 7
This course explores connections between language use, sex, and gender. Do sex and gender affect the ways we speak and the ways we interpret and evaluate speech? How do differences in people’s sociocultural positions, particularly their degree of power, affect how they use language, how others interpret what they say or write, and their relation to linguistic change? How does conversation structure the social worlds of men and women? How do linguistic practices support or challenge gender arrangements? We will explore a range of aspects of language use that have been claimed to interact significantly with gender. These include: apologies, compliments and complaints, gossip, asking for/giving directions, metaphors, bragging, elaborate use of adjectives, use of conversation particles (such as “like” or “you know”), conversational turn-taking, media messages, self-help literature, widespread use of question intonation, and “verbal hygiene” practices. Students will collect their own data to challenge or support published findings and put forth new generalizations.
[Linguistics 85. English Etymology]
Catalog Number: 1081
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Half course (spring term). Hours to be arranged.
Introduction to the historical study of English with an emphasis on words and their histories, and what information they can give us about the sociocultural history of the English-speaking people. The course will discuss the origins and development of the English language, the historical science pd etymology, the study of Indo-European roots, and the position of English in the Indo-European family. Other topics addressed will be the impact on English of such languages as Old Norse, Norman French, Latin, and Greek, with an investigation of attendant sociolinguistics issues. No prior knowledge of linguistics, historical linguistics, Old English, or Indo-European will be assumed.
Note: Expected to be given in 2000–01.
Linguistics 110. Introduction to Linguistics
Catalog Number: 1498
Susanne Gahl
Half course (spring term). M., W., F., at 10. EXAM GROUP: 3
An introduction to contemporary linguistic theory and methods of linguistic analysis. Emphasis will be on acquiring the basic skills of linguistics: phonetic transcription, phonological, morphological, and syntactic analysis, the methodology of comparative and historical linguistics. Some psycholinguistic aspects of language will also be briefly examined. Discussions of theoretical issues, as well as weekly problem sets, will draw on data from a wide variety of languages.
Linguistics 112a. Introduction to Syntactic Theory
Catalog Number: 7318
Maya Arad
Half course (fall term). M., W., F., at 12. EXAM GROUP: 5
Phrase-structure analysis, motivation for transformations, constraints on rule application and conditions on representations.
Linguistics 112b. Intermediate Syntax
Catalog Number: 4730
Maya Arad
Half course (spring term). M., W., F., at 12. EXAM GROUP: 5
Continuation of 112a. Fundamental principles and parameters of Government and Binding Theory.
Prerequisite: Linguistics 112a.
Linguistics 114. Introduction to Morphology
Catalog Number: 1289
Susanne Gahl
Half course (fall term). M., W., F., at 11. EXAM GROUP: 4
An introduction to the analysis of word structure. The focus will be on analyzing morphological phenomena in a wide range of typologically diverse languages. Topics to be addressed include the place of word formation in relation to phonological and syntactic phenomena, as well as the contribution of morphological analysis to our understanding of lexical processing.
Prerequisite: Linguistics 110 or consent of instructor.
Linguistics 115. Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology
Catalog Number: 2791
Lisa Lavoie
Half course (fall term). M., W., at 10. EXAM GROUP: 3
Analysis of phonetic and phonological data from a wide variety of languages. Theoretical issues covered include deep structure and abstract representations, phonemes, distinctive features, rules and their ordering, language acquisition and change, and the sources of foreign accents.
[Linguistics 116. Semantics]
Catalog Number: 6115
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Half course (fall term). Hours to be arranged.
An introduction to semantic analysis. Topics to be covered include set theory and logic, transformational approaches to quantifier interpretation, theories of meaning, and lexical semantics.
Note: Expected to be given in 2000–01.
Linguistics 117r. Linguistic Field Methods
Catalog Number: 8401
Lisa Lavoie
Half course (spring term). M., 3–6. EXAM GROUP: 8, 9
Instruction in the elicitation of phonological, morphological, and syntactic information from a native speaker of an unfamiliar language. Participants work directly with the informant, both individually and as a group, with the assistance of the instructor.
[Linguistics 118. Introduction to Discourse Analysis]
Catalog Number: 8709
Susumu Kuno
Half course (fall term). Hours to be arranged.
An examination of various principles that govern communication between the speaker/writer and the hearer/reader. Topics include presupposition, point of view, discourse and sentence themes, discourse deletion, and reference and honorification. Data from English and Japanese.
Note: Expected to be given in 2000–01. No previous knowledge of Japanese required.
Linguistics 120. Introduction to Historical Linguistics
Catalog Number: 8486
Jay H. Jasanoff
Half course (spring term). M., W., F., at 11. EXAM GROUP: 4
Methods and goals of linguistic reconstruction. Topics include the regularity of sound change, types of linguistic change, the relationship between linguistic reconstruction and synchronic analysis, language contact and borrowing, and mechanisms of linguistic change, including recent theoretical hypotheses.
[Linguistics 122. Introduction to Indo-European]
Catalog Number: 1336
Jay H. Jasanoff
Half course (spring term). Hours to be arranged.
An introduction to the historical study of the Indo-European languages, using the comparative method to arrive at a picture of the parent language of the family, Proto-Indo-European.
Note: Expected to be given in 2000–01.
[Linguistics 124. The Origins of the Romance Languages]
Catalog Number: 7113
Half course (spring term). Tu., Th., at 12. EXAM GROUP: 14
A survey of the historical grammar and history of the Romance languages. Attention will be paid to the place of Latin and Romance within the Indo-European family, and to the earliest Romance documents. Special emphasis will be placed on Italian: the standard language vs. the dialects, and the earliest dialectal documents.
Note: Expected to be given in 2000–01. Conducted in English.
Linguistics 150. Introduction to Aphasia
Catalog Number: 5681
Susanne Gahl
Half course (fall term). Tu., Th., at 12. EXAM GROUP: 14
An introduction to the study of aphasia and related language disorders. Topics include the effects of brain injuries and dementing illnesses on language abilities, organization of language functions in the brain, how these issues are investigated in both normal and clinical populations, and how research in linguistics can contribute to theories of brain function.
Prerequisite: Linguistics 110 or consent of instructor.
Linguistics 152. Introduction to Syntactic Parsing
Catalog Number: 3166
Susanne Gahl
Half course (spring term). M., W., at 2. EXAM GROUP: 7
An introduction to recent investigations of sentence processing. Topics to be considered include the influence of lexical, syntactic, and discourse factors on sentence comprehension and production, the role of working memory in processing, the nature of syntactic deficits in patients with language disorders, and cross-linguistic differences in sentence processing.
Prerequisite: Linguistics 112a.
Linguistics 158r. From Indo-European to Old Irish
Catalog Number: 3801
Calvert Watkins
Half course (spring term). Tu., Th., at 10. EXAM GROUP: 12
Essentials of Celtic historical and comparative grammar.
Prerequisite: Some acquaintance with either Indo-European or Old Irish.
[Linguistics 168. Introduction to Germanic Linguistics]
Catalog Number: 7925
Jay H. Jasanoff
Half course (fall term). Hours to be arranged.
A combined introduction to Gothic and the comparative grammar of the older Germanic languages.
Note: Expected to be given in 2000–01.
Linguistics 172. Topics in Semitic Syntax
Catalog Number: 5565
Maya Arad
Half course (spring term). Tu., 1–3. EXAM GROUP: 15, 16
This course explores a number of phenomena characteristic of the Semitic languages (especially Hebrew and Arabic), including verbal morphology and verbal patterning, copular constructions, nominal forms and functional categories, such as tense, aspect, and negation. Emphasis will be placed on the language—particular facts and their interaction with principles of Universal Grammar, as well as comparison with similar phenomena in Indo-European languages, such as Russian, Irish and Romance.
Note: No prior knowledge of Hebrew or Arabic is required.
Prerequisite: Linguistics 112b or permission from instructor.
[Linguistics 173. Linguistic Issues in the Teaching of Japanese]
Catalog Number: 4208
Wesley M. Jacobsen
Half course (spring term). Hours to be arranged.
An examination of selected phenomena in Japanese phonology, morphology, and syntax with special attention to difficulties encountered in the acquisition of Japanese by adult native English speakers.
Note: Expected to be given in 2000–01.
Prerequisite: Japanese 101b or its equivalent. Familiarity with basic linguistics concepts desirable.
[Linguistics 174. Tense and Aspect in Japanese]
Catalog Number: 1856
Wesley M. Jacobsen
Half course (spring term). Hours to be arranged.
Examination of phenomena of tense and aspect in Japanese, with special attention to verbal semantics and the interaction of temporal categories with modality and transitivity.
Note: Expected to be given in 2000–01.
Prerequisite: Knowledge of Japanese equivalent to Japanese 101b, or familiarity with the linguistic structure of a non-Indo-European language, or permission of instructor.
[Linguistics 175. Structure of Japanese]
Catalog Number: 6658
Susumu Kuno
Half course (fall term). Hours to be arranged.
Examination of syntactic and semantic features of Japanese from the point of view of language typology and language universals.
Note: Expected to be given in 2000–01. No previous knowledge of Japanese required.
Prerequisite: Linguistics 112a or equivalent.
Linguistics 176. History of the Japanese Language
Catalog Number: 4861
Wesley M. Jacobsen
Half course (spring term). Th., 3–5. EXAM GROUP: 17, 18
An examination of evidence from the comparative method, internal reconstruction, and written documents for reconstructing prehistoric stages of the Japanese language and an overview of major developments in Japanese phonology and grammar from the Nara period through the present day.
[Linguistics 177a. First Language Acquisition]
Catalog Number: 2890
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Half course (fall term). Hours to be arranged.
Acquiring a first language is the greatest intellectual achievement of most human beings, yet it is something that only a child can do. Moreover, it is accomplished rapidly and without effort or instruction by every normal human being. This course will survey contemporary thought in the generative grammar tradition on first language acquisition, and will examine what is currently known about the development of child language. Theoretical issues discussed will include the learnability problem, the nature of the input to the child, the Innateness Hypothesis, the Continuity Hypothesis, and the role of universal grammar in first language acquisition. The empirical focus will be on the development of syntactic competence, with some attention also given to phonological, morphological, and lexical acquisition.
Note: Expected to be given in 2000–01.
Prerequisite: Linguistics 110 or permission of the instructor.
[Linguistics 177b. Child Language and Linguistic Theory]
Catalog Number: 8970
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Half course (spring term). Hours to be arranged.
Competing hypotheses in theoretical linguistics generally describe adult linguistic performance with roughly equivalent empirical adequacy. In this circumstance, it can be useful for evaluating the relative explanatory adequacy of such hypotheses to examine the different predictions they make about the linguistic performance of children. This course will focus on the use of experimental research on child language for this purpose. After a careful examination of issues concerning experimental methodology, a variety of specific case studies will be presented in which child linguistic performance can be seen to shed light on competence theory. A central requirement of this course will be the design and completion of a psycholinguistic experiment of the sort discussed in the course.
Note: Expected to be given in 2000–01.
Prerequisite: Linguistics 177a or permission of the instructor.
[Linguistics 203. Topics in UG]
Catalog Number: 8292
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Half course (spring term). Hours to be arranged.
Focuses on a particular topic in current syntactic theory, addressing the nature of linguistic universals and language-particular parameters, and drawing on data from a number of languages. This year’s topic: Case and phi-features and their role as triggers of movement operations in the GB and Minimalist Frameworks. Special emphasis will be on Japanese, Germanic, and Slavic languages.
Note: Expected to be given in 2000–01.
[Linguistics 211. Topics in Historical and Theoretical Phonology]
Catalog Number: 1518
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Half course (fall term). Hours to be arranged.
An investigation of the linguistic development of phonological systems from a theoretical point of view. Topics considered include feature geometry, syllabification, and vowel harmony.
Note: Expected to be given in 2000–01.
[Linguistics 213r. Topics in GB Theory]
Catalog Number: 0849
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Half course (spring term). Hours to be arranged.
A detailed examination of specific aspects of Government and Binding Theory. The precise formulation of a number of principles is investigated. Topics include Binding theory, determination of empty categories, and conditions on chains, among others.
Note: Expected to be given in 2000–01.
Prerequisite: Linguistics 112b or permission of instructor.
Linguistics 215. Phonological Theory
Catalog Number: 5612
Lisa Lavoie
Half course (spring term). Th., 3–5. EXAM GROUP: 17, 18
Major issues in generative phonology with particular emphasis on nonlinear models: feature geometry, syllable structure, tone and stress systems, harmony, locality, and interaction of phonological and morphological processes. Attention will also be given to structure of phonemic inventories, status of phonological underspecification, and structure preservation.
Linguistics 219r. Advanced Phonology
Catalog Number: 2154
Bert Vaux
Half course (spring term). Tu., 1–3. EXAM GROUP: 15, 16
In-depth analysis of current issues in theoretical phonology, including Optimality Theory. Emphasis will be placed on the typology of assimilation phenomena.
Linguistics 220ar. Advanced Indo-European
Catalog Number: 3428
Jay H. Jasanoff
Half course (fall term). Th., 2–4. EXAM GROUP: 16, 17
Close study of selected problems in Indo-European comparative phonology and morphology.
[Linguistics 221r. Workshop in Indo-European]
Catalog Number: 1008
Jay H. Jasanoff
Half course (fall term). Hours to be arranged.
Intensive study of a selected early Indo-European language or language group, with emphasis on its significance for the comparative reconstruction of Proto-Indo-European.
Note: Expected to be given in 2000–01.
Linguistics 224. Historical and Comparative Linguistics
Catalog Number: 2967
Jay H. Jasanoff
Half course (fall term). W., 3–5. EXAM GROUP: 8, 9
An introduction to diachronic linguistics at the graduate level. Theory of language change: sound change and analogy, syntactic and semantic change, change in progress. The comparative method: proving genetic relationship, reconstruction, subgrouping.
Linguistics 225a. Introduction to Hittite
Catalog Number: 8206
Calvert Watkins
Half course (fall term). Tu., Th., at 11. EXAM GROUP: 13
Grammar and reading of texts in cuneiform and in transliteration; essentials of the comparative grammar of the Indo-European languages of Anatolia.
Note: No previous knowledge of cuneiform presumed.
Linguistics 226r. Advanced Hittite
Catalog Number: 0858
Calvert Watkins
Half course (spring term). Tu., Th., at 11. EXAM GROUP: 13
Texts of various genres.
Note: Provisions will be made for any student who wishes to begin Hittite this semester.
Linguistics 241r. Practicum in Syntax and Phonology
Catalog Number: 4260
Bert Vaux and members of the Department
Half course (spring term). W., 3–5. EXAM GROUP: 8, 9
Presentation of reports on current research or assigned topics.
Note: Required of both second- and third-year graduate students concentrating in syntax or phonology.
Linguistics 242r. Practicum in Historical Linguistics
Catalog Number: 5569
Jay H. Jasanoff and Calvert Watkins
Half course (spring term). W., 3–5. EXAM GROUP: 8, 9
Presentation of reports on current research or assigned topics.
Note: Required of both second- and third-year graduate students concentrating in historical linguistics.
Linguistics 247. Topics in Germanic Linguistics
Catalog Number: 3693
Jay H. Jasanoff
Half course (spring term). Th., 1–3. EXAM GROUP: 15, 16
Investigaton of selected topics in Germanic historical linguistics. Problems to be discussed in 1999-00 include the origin of the dental preterite, the history of the n-stem inflection, and the creation of class VII strong verbs in North and West Germanic.
Linguistics 250. Old Church Slavonic
Catalog Number: 8449
Michael S. Flier
Half course (fall term). Tu., Th., 10–11:30. EXAM GROUP: 12, 13
History of the first Slavic literary language, its role in Slavic civilization; phonology, morphology, syntax, and vocabulary of Old Church Slavonic; reading from canonical texts.
[Linguistics 252. Comparative Slavic Linguistics]
Catalog Number: 3571
Michael S. Flier
Half course (spring term). Hours to be arranged.
Introduction to the historical phonology and morphology of the Slavic languages with special attention to relative chronology and linguistic geography.
Note: Expected to be given in 2000–01.
Prerequisite: Linguistics 250.
[Linguistics 275r. Japanese Syntax: Seminar]
Catalog Number: 8921
Susumu Kuno
Half course (spring term). Hours to be arranged.
Selected topics in sentence structure and meaning in Japanese.
Note: Expected to be given in 2000–01.
Prerequisite: Linguistics 174, 175 or equivalent.
[Linguistics 291. Functional Approach to Syntax]
Catalog Number: 5046
Susumu Kuno
Half course (spring term). Hours to be arranged.
Discourse-oriented analysis of syntax based on the functional sentence perspective (theme and rheme) and on the “point of view” perspective (the speaker’s attitude toward participants in an event). Examines pronominalization, reflexivization, and various deletion and movement processes.
Note: Expected to be given in 2000–01.
[Linguistics 292r. Functional Syntax and Theories of Grammar ]
Catalog Number: 2994
Susumu Kuno
Half course (spring term). Hours to be arranged.
A critical review of past research results in the framework of GB Theory, Checking Theory and the Minimalist Program, and presentation of alternative solutions in the framework of Functional Syntax.
Note: Expected to be given in 2000–01.
*Linguistics 301. Reading or Special Topics Course
Catalog Number: 0861
Maya Arad 2286, Alfonso Caramazza 1871, Michael S. Flier 2878, Susanne Gahl 2856, Wesley M. Jacobsen 3443, Jay H. Jasanoff 1661, Susumu Kuno 1083 (on leave 1999-00), Lynn Nichols 3613 (on leave spring term), P. Oktor Skjaervo 2869, Bert Vaux 1452, and Calvert Watkins 2553