Spring 2003

This information effective for Spring 2003. Check with instructor the first day of class for any changes.

Linguistics

[LING-020] [LING-051] [LING-080D] [LING-088B] [LING-116] [LING-140] [LING-163] [LING-181] [LING-190]

20. Introduction to Linguistics

MWF 9:30-10:40a.m.
Cowell 134
Instructor: Line Mikkelsen
E-mail: mikkelse@ucsc.edu

This course is a general introduction to the nature of language, its complexity, and its diversity. The first part of the course will focus on the core areas of language study: phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics. The second part of the course will focus on issues in language and society. These may include such topics as dialects, American Sign Language, the acquisition of language, and the official English language movement. By the end of the course you should be acquainted with systematic methods of studying language, be aware of the fundamental similarities of all human languages as well as their startling diversity, and have an informed perspective on how issues of language impact our society. This course does not satisfy any named requirement for the linguistics major. Course requirements: class participation, weekly homework assignments, a midterm, and a final exam.

Prerequisites: none.
General Education Code: IH

51. Phonetics I

MWF 8:00-9:10
Nat. Sci. Annex #101
Instructor: Geoffrey K. Pullum
E-mail: pullum@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)

80D. Language and Mind: Chomsky's Program

MWF 11:00-12:10
Social Science 2 #75
Instructor: Jim McCloskey
E-mail: mcclosk@ling.ucsc.edu

Noam Chomsky is often said to have revolutionized thinking about language and language ability. This course provides a critical overview of Chomsky's theorizing about language and about the influence that theorizing has had outside linguistics—in psychology and philosophy especially, but also to some extent in anthropology, biology, education, artificial intelligence, and computer science. Larger implications (whether there is or is not a 'human nature' and the role of freedom in human life and social organization) will also be considered.

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. 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 neither coincidental nor logically necessary, (ii) the claim that those universal features stem from a species-specific genetic endowment, and (iii) the claim that language-learning is fundamentally different from other kinds of learning. 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)

88B. Where Do Words Get Their Meanings?

Freshman Discovery Seminar

W 5:15-7:00
Cowell 216
Instructor: Bill Ladusaw
E-mail: ladusaw@ling.ucsc.edu

Semantics is the study of meaning in language. In this seminar we will explore how words develop their meanings and change over time. We'll be particularly interested in investigating how new words and meanings arise and cases where they acquire negative (and positive) judgments from the social context.

Prerequisites: priority enrollment to first year students.

116. Semantics II

TTH 10:00-11:45
Stevenson 152
Instructor: Donka Farkas
E-mail: farkas@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).

140. Language Change

TTH 8:00-9:45
Nat. Sci. Annex #101
Instructor: Armin Mester
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 homework, weekly quizzes, midterm, and final.

Prerequisite: Phonology I (LING 101)

163. Computational Phonology and Morphololgy

MWF 9:30-10:40
Social Science 1 #135 (MAC lab)
Instructor: Adam Albright
E-mail: albright@ling.ucsc.edu

An introduction to the computer simulation of phonological and morphological knowledge. This course is intended for linguistics and computer science majors who have an interest in natural language analysis.

Prerequisite: Phonology I (LING 101), or instructor approval

181. Structure of Romance Languages

MWF 12:30-1:40
Cowell 131
Instructor: Judith Aissen
E-mail: aissen@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.

190. Senior Research

MWF 3:30-4:40
Stevenson 221
Instructor: Junko Ito
E-mail: ito@ling.ucsc.edu

Provides opportunity and guidance to develop independent and group research projects in linguistics and language studies.

Prerequisites: Interview Only