Linguistics - Winter 1998

Phonetics was called the "indispensable foundation" for the study of language by Henry Sweet, the real-life model for Henry Higgins in Shaw's Pygmalion. What he meant was that phonetics studies the only direct physical manifestation of human language use. Writing is only an indirect manifestation&emdash;an attempt made by some culture (but no all) to record acts of speech in convenient and permanent form. Phonetics studies human speech itself.

This course emphasizes the acquisition of three related skills: recognition, transcription, 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&emdash;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..

There are no profound conceptual difficulties inherent in understanding and mastering phonetics. There are no prerequisites or even recommended prerequisites for the course other than belonging to the human species.

The work will involve learning a highly useful universal phonetic alphabet, doing drills and problems that require use of it, and learning the technical terminology for speech sounds and for the means of their production.

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IH (Introduction to Humanities)

Linguistics 52 is an introduction to generative/transformational grammar. It is also a course in English syntax and semantics (principles of sentence construction and interpretation).

This course is required of linguistics majors, and constitutes the entry course to the syntax sequence. There are no prerequisites, and no prior linguistic or other training is presupposed.

The work for the course consists entirely of homework problems. These problems will be designed to involve students in observation and analysis of linguistic data, and in the construction and testing of syntactic theories. At two times during the quarter, the problems will be more comprehensive and time-consuming, and will be called "take-home exams".

There is no text. The homework will require time and careful attention, and will usually be rather challenging. An assignment will be given at every class, due at the following class, and returned the class after that. It will be impossible to follow the course without doing the homework, and it must be done ON TIME, because the next class discussion will depend on it.

Though it is part of the required core sequence for linguistics majors, Syntax I is designed for all students interested in an introduction to a rigorous, scientific approach to language study, a better understanding of the structure of English and of language in general, or just plenty of exercise in precise thought and writing.

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IH (Introduction to Humanities)

W (Writing Intensive)

This course is an introduction to the study of linguistic meaning and its role in communication through language. The study of meaning in language covers a wide range of topics, ranging from the connection between an individual's use of language and his or her cultural knowledge and particular beliefs to the investigation of the principles which explain the meaning of a sentence based upon the meaning of its component words.

Semantics narrowly construed studies the representation of lexical (word) meaning and compositional (sentence) meaning. The study of the interpretation of language use in context is often termed pragmatics This course deals with both area.

Here is a tentative list of topics that we hope to cover: The relationship between the meaning of a sentence and one's understanding of an utterance; working out the implications of what is said; the complex meanings of some small words; how the meaning of a sentence is based on the meaning of its parts.

Work for the course includes reading approximately four papers and submitting answers to weekly problem sets and a final essay. The course will (probably) have obligatory once-a-week discussion sections.

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IH (Introduction to Humanities)

Phonetics and Phonology are the two branches of linguistics that deal with sound structure. While phonetics focuses on the physical manifestations of sounds and on theories of speech production and perception, phonology is concerned with the systems of rules that determine how the basic sounds of a language combine.

We will begin by discussing the internal structure of sounds and developing a precise formalism (the distinctive feature system) for representing this internal structure. We will then consider the kinds of systematic regularities in sound-combination that motivate phonological rules. The rest of the course will be devoted to three fundamental questions that can be raised about phonological rules: What is the form of these rules? How do they interact with one another? And what are the properties of the representations to which they apply?

Because phonological rules can depend on word structure, any rigorous investigation of phonology inevitably touches on this area as well. Thus, this course also constitutes an introduction to morphology (word structure).

There will be one or two homework problems per week, a midtern, and a final exam.

Ling 20 (Introduction to Linguistics) or Ling 51 (Phonetics I).

W (Writing Intensive)

This course will be a supervised experience with acoustic speech analysis equipment. Students learn to make and interpret wave forms, spectrograms, pitch tracks, etc., based on live recorded speech. Some reading required.

Ling 51 (Phonetics I).

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Linguistics 113 continues the investigation of generative/transformational grammar begun in Linguistics 52 (Syntax I). Several complex constructions of English grammar are introduced: constituent questions, relative clauses, topicalizing, clefting. We will first formulate rules that describe the basic properties of these constructions and then go on to examine the constraints on their operation. As the quarter proceeds, we will use these constraints to arrive at a version of generative syntax in which there are no specific transformational rules.

Syntax II differs little from Syntax I in organization: though there will be some reading, the course will be driven principally by class discussion and by the homework. There will be several homework assignments per week, a take-home midterm, and a take-home final.

At the end of this course, you should be in a position to read much of the classic work in Transformational Grammar. You will also be familiar with some important assumptions made in more recent generative work. Your control over argumentation and analysis will be stronger, and you will be able to carry out syntactic investigation of your own. Whether you intend to continue work in syntax or not, this course rounds out your understanding of syntactic structure, completing the picture sketched out in Syntax I.

Ling 52 (Syntax I).

W (Writing Intensive)

In this course we will examine the linguistic structure of American Sign Language (ASL), as well as cultural issues involving language learning and use in the Deaf community. The linguistic analysis will cover ASL phonetics and phonology (rules for forming and combining the smallest units), morphology (rules for forming words), and syntax (rules for forming sentences). We will consider the ways in which ASL and other signed languages are analogous to spoken languages, and the ways in which they are unique, with a special focus on the use of space in ASL. Linguistic and cultural aspects of the acquisition of ASL will also be examined.

In investigating Deaf culture, emphasis will be placed on the implications of characterizing Deaf people as members of a linguistic and cultural minority, rather than as disabled. Cultural aspects studied will include the history of ASL, the education of the deaf in the United States, and the use of ASL versus English or signed English systems.

Reading, weekly homework assignments, final paper.

Ling 20 (Intro to Linguistics), Ling 52 (Syntax I), Ling 53 (Semantics I), Ling 55 (Syntactic Structures), Ling 80A (Languages of the World), Ling 80B (Modern English Grammar), or Ling 80C (Language, Society & Culture).

E (Ethnic Studies/Third World Courses)

A continuation of Phonology A, this course deals with issues related to the prosodic hierarchy (mora, syllable, foot, prosodic word, phonological phrase), the theory of Prosodic Morphology (root-and-pattern morphology, reduplication, etc.), and the structure of the lexicon.

Currently debated issues in these areas will be discussed and evaluated. Participants will learn to critically read and understand recent work, as well as to do empirical and theoretical research in phonology.

Weekly readings, short homework assignments, and two research squibs.

Ling 211 (Phonology A).

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This seminar will deal with advanced issues in phonological theory.

One research paper.

Ling 212 (Phonology B).

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The syntax of unbounded dependencies, including constituent questions, relative clauses, clefts, focus constructions, comparatives, and the like. Topics to be covered include: island constraints and subajacency, licensing conditions on gaps, the uniformity or not of different unbounded dependencies.

Approximately five problem sets, some reading, a final short paper.

Ling 221 (Syntax A).

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The course investigates the semantic typology of Noun Phrases with the following questions in mind: (a) what type of noun phrases is one led to expect, given various theoretical assumptions concerning semantics and the interface between syntax and semantics?; (b) which semantic distinctions are encoded in syntax and which in morphology?; (c) how do semantic properties of a noun phrase affect its syntactic realization?

Active participation in seminar discussion and a term paper on a topic that engages in some way the issues raised in the course.

Ling 231 (Semantics A).

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Revised 7/12/04.