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Spring 2002
This information effective
for Spring 2002.
Check with instructor the first day of class for any changes.
Spring 2002
Instructor: Caro Struijke
MWF 12:30–1:40
p.m.
Social Science 1 110
E-mail: struijke@ling.ucsc.edu
Phonetics is the study of
human speech sounds. This course emphasizes the acquisition of four related
skills: recognition, transcription, description, and production of speech sounds.
The focus is not on any particular language. Given a good grasp of phonetics,
one can listen to any human language and record accurately on paper the way
it sounded so that any other phonetician could read it back. This skill is extremely
useful for anyone who ever plans to be in a foreign language environment, and
is also applicable in a number of other domains, for instance, speech therapy,
research work on machine recognition and synthesis of speech, dialect acquisition
for actors, foreign pronunciation for broadcasters, and of course the study
of linguistics. The work will involve learning a highly useful phonetic alphabet,
and acquiring an understanding of the articulatory and acoustic properties of
speech sounds. In addition, students will apply this knowledge in order to better
understand facts about language sound systems, e.g., why certain sounds are
common or uncommon.
Prerequisites: none. General Education Code: IH (Introduction to Humanities)
Spring 2002
Instructor: Geoffrey K. Pullum
MWF 11:00–12:10 p.m.
Social Science 2 75
E-mail: pullum@ling.ucsc.edu
This course will provide
a critical survey of the theorizing on language that has been published over
the last 45 years by the most influential linguist of the twentieth century,
Noam Chomsky. It will emphasize the influence of that theorizing on disciplines
outside linguistics—in particular, psychology and philosophy, but to some
extent anthropology, biology, education, artificial intelligence, and computer
science.
We will begin by examining the goals that Chomsky laid out for the study of
language and the novel methodology that he advocated for the pursuit of those
goals—his rejection of the idea that linguistics was or ever could be a
behavioral science (and his concomitant encouragement of the post-1960 emergence
of cognitive psychology). We then examine the principal claims about the nature
of language that have emerged from that work, among them being (i) the claim
that there are universal features of human language design that are surprising
in that they are neither coincidental nor logically necessary in all languages,
but systematically present in the ones that humans use; (ii) the claim that
those universal features stem from a species-specific genetic endowment, i.e.
that babies do not figure out how languages can be learned, they inherit a predesigned
human-only capability for language learning from their parents; and (iii) the
claim that language-learning is fundamentally different from other kinds of
learning in the way it proceeds. Some broader implications will then be examined:
the revival of rationalist epistemological views about innate ideas, the issue
of whether species other than humans have linguistic capacities, and Chomsky’s
claims of implications about intrinsic and inescapable limits on human understanding.
At each step, the strategy pursued will be to reach as clear an understanding
of the Chomskyan position as possible, and then to confront that understanding
with critiques from various perspectives.
Evaluation will be based on a combination of class participation and written work. Written work will consist of three short papers, which will be based on reading and on class discussions. In the papers, students will be expected to survey and critically evaluate some of the debates with which the course is concerned, basing their arguments on the content of the lectures and the interchanges in class and in discussion section meetings.
Prerequisites: none (but interests in languages, philosophy, or psychology will be an advantage).
General Education Code: T5 ((Topical-Humanities & Arts or Social Sciences)
Spring 2002
Instructor: Christopher Potts
MWF 2:00–3:10 p.m.
Crown 203
E-mail: potts@ling.ucsc.edu
This course investigates how sentences mean what they mean and how they can be used to communicate more than what they mean. We will be interested in developing precise ways of describing the possible interpretations of a sentence and how that range is related to its syntactic structure. We pursue this goal by considering three topics: (i) the lexical semantics of verbs and a theory of the semantic information in a lexical entry, (ii) the semantics of quantification and the description of scope ambiguities, and (iii) classical problems involving sense and reference and proposed solutions involving the construction of models of discourse reference. We will also make a survey of the development of the study of semantics within generative linguistic theory. Course requirements: Written work for the course consists chiefly of two problem sets corresponding to a midterm and a final. Additionally, students must submit (and revise as directed) two short essays (squibs) on some problem of interest.
Prerequisites: Semantics I (LING 53); Syntax I (LING 52) or Syntactic Structures (LING 55).
Spring 2002
Instructor: Armin Mester
MWF 12:30–1:40 p.m.
Social Science 2 71
E-mail: mester@ling.ucsc.edu
This course is an introduction to historical linguistics. It focuses on basic questions in phonological and morphological change: Is sound change regular? What are the strengths and the limits of the comparative method? What does the study of linguistic variation and of language acquisition tell us about the sources and the trajectories of changes in language? What does the contemporary theory of phonology (and of grammar) have to say about the ways linguistic systems change over time? Course requirements: Weekly homeworks, weekly quizzes, midterm and final.
Prerequisite: Phonology I (LING 101)
Spring 2002
Instructor: Jorge Hankamer
TTH 8:00–9:45
a.m.
Stevenson 151
E-mail: hank@ling.ucsc.edu
This course will address a particular problem in language engineering, chosen for its practical and theoretical interest and its tractability. The entire course will focus on a team project to design a solution to the problem. Students must enroll for this course for both quarters (Winter and Spring 2002) to receive full credit (6.0 units).
Prerequisite: LING 160A; Interview only (see department adviser).
Spring 2002
Instructor: Sandra
Chung
TTH 10:00–11:45 a.m.
Cowell 134
E-mail: schung@cats.ucsc.edu
This is a class in comparative grammar, which has a dual purpose. We first seek to systematically survey major phonological, morphological, and syntactic properties of several Romance languages. By doing so, we will also develop an appreciation of the goals and methods of constructing grammatical explanations. Students entering the course should have one Romance language other than English whose structure they intend to explore. The course will satisfy the ‘Structure of’ requirement for Language Studies students, who will focus on their major language.
Prerequisites: As preparation
for this course, students should have taken LING 20 or some equivalent linguistics
courses in syntax and phonology. Some knowledge of either Italian, French, or
Spanish is also required.