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Date
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Topics
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Readings
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Assignments
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Feb 9
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Administrivia (i.e., boring stuff)
Part I: Introduction to linguistic typology
How many languages are there?
The language-dialect distinction: linguistic or sociopolitical?
Lecture slides in .pdf
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Anderson on "How many languages are there in the world": An LSA online article
Optional:
Birner: Why do some people have an accent? Another LSA online article
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Open the INTD0111_questionnaire file either by clicking on the link here, or in the "shared" directory of the course folder, and follow the instructions there.
Visit ETHONOLOGUE online and learn more about the range of linguistic diversity in the world.
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Feb 11
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Introduction to linguistic typology cont.
Classifying languages: genetic, areal, and typological classifications
What is a "possible human language"?
Language universals (absolute and implicational).
Lecture Slides in .pdf
You can see N. Y. Falk's language classification diagrams here.
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Winford on language contact: An LSA article.
O’Grady et al: Chapter 8 on the classification of languages
Read 347-49 and 365-81.
Optional:
Comrie on linguistic diversity: An LSA online article
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Feb 16
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Variation in basic word order
Explaining language universals: A brief look at the functionalist-formalist debate
The "design features" of human language vs. animal communication systems
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Baker Chapters 1 and 2
Payne Chapter 1, pp. 1-9
Whaley Chapter 3 pp. 30-53
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Feb 18
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Human language vs. animal communication systems cont.
Language as a biological system: Chomsky's "Plato's problem"
Evidence for language as a biological system
Lecture Slides in .pdf
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Baker Chapters 2 and 3
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First talk in the "Language Works" series by yours truly:
"On linguistic diversity, child language, and the notion 'possible human language'"
In RAJ conference room at 4:30pm
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Feb 23
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Part II: Aspects of syntactic and morphological typology
Introducing Principles and Parameters theory
Structure-dependency
Baker's "atoms" of language: Introducing parameters: The null subject parameter: (English/ French vs. Italian/Spanish)
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Baker Chapter 3 cont.
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Feb 25
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Introduction to syntax: constituency, phrase structure rules, and structural “trees”
Word order variation revisited: The head directionality parameter
SOV vs. SVO languages: English/Edo vs. Japanese/Navajo
Lecture slides in .pdf
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Payne Chapter 6 and Chapter 7 (Syntactic typology)
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| Feb 27 |
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Second talk in the "Language Works" series by Professor David Stoll, Associate Professor of Anthropology:
"Endangered Languages and the Strange Case of the Summer Institute of Linguistics"
In RAJ conference room at 12:15pm
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March 2
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VSO languages: Irish/Welsh
Verb placement in English vs. French.
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Baker Chapter 5: Alloys and compounds: pp. 123-140
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March 4
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VOS/OVS/OSV languages: Malagasy/Hixkarayana/Nadëb
Languages with freedom of word order (aka nonconfigurational languages): Mohawk
A quick introduction to morphology: morphemes (bound vs. free / inflectional vs. derivational)
Morphological typology:
Synthesis and fusion continua/ head-marking vs dependent-marking
Lecture slides in .pdf
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Baker Chapter 5 cont.: Alloys and compounds: pp. 123-140
Baker Chapter 5 pp. 140-143 on verb serialization
Payne Chapter 1: Some basic concepts in morphology, pp. 16-20
Payne Chapter 7 (Morphological typology)
Start reading Baker Chapter 4: Baking a polysynthetic language
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March 9
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Polysynthetic languages: complex word structure, noun and verb incorporation, freedom of word order, subject and object drop: The case of MOHAWK
The dislocation analysis of free word order languages (aka as "The pronominal Argument Hypothesis")
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Baker Chapter 4 cont.
Payne Chapter 2, pp. 32-45, on conceptual categories and morphological processes
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March 11
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Optional polysynthesis: Chichewa, Slave, and absence of Reverse Chichewa
"The Agreement Principle": Animacy and definiteness effects in Swahili
Baker's parameter hierarchy
Lecture slides in .pdf
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Baker Chapter 5 (section on optional polysynthesis pp. 143-156)
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| March 14 (Saturday) |
REVIEW AT 10AM
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READ EVERYTHING!
COME WITH QUESTIONS. |
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March 16
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Toward a periodic table of human languages: A few more parameters
Verb serialization: Edo
The Adjective Neutralization Parameter: Mohawk vs. Mayali
The Ergative Case parameter: Nominative-accusative vs. ergative-absolutive languages
The Topic-prominent Parameter: Japanese vs. English (again)
The wh-parameter: Japanese vs. English (yet again)
Implications of the parameter hierarchy for language acquisition
Lecture slides in .pdf
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Baker Chapter 6
Payne Chapter 8 on "Grammatical Relations"
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Third talk in the "Language Works" series by Hannah Washington (University of Texas, Midd ’08) :
"Metaphony: A Contrastive Cross-linguistic Study within Southern Romance"
In RAJ conference room at 4:30pm
HW#2 due
Midterm exam assigned
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March 18
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The Anaphor Domain Parameter: Japanese vs. English (it's true; again)
Wrap-up: Why parameters?
Issues of language and culture
Language and evolutionary biology
Any questions, anybody?
Lecture slides in .pdf
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Baker Chapter 7
Against UG: The Piraha debate
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Language Adoption Project (LAP) assigned
Click here for LAP guideline questions
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Friday
March 20 |
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Midterm exam due by 11:30am
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March
21-29
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HAVE FUN!
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March 30
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PART III: Diversity over time
Language change:
Lexical, semantic, and morphological change
Lecture slides in .pdf
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An LSA article by Thompson
Fromkin et al's chapter 11 on language change: Part 1
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April 1
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Syntactic change
Basic introduction to Phonetics
Lecture slides in .pdf
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Fromkin et al chapter 11 Part 1 cont.
Payne Chapter 3
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Fourth talk in the "Language Works" series by Stefano Mula, Assistant Professor of Italian:
“Historical Linguistics: A Philologist’s Perspective”
In RAJ conference room at 4:30pm
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April 6
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Phonological change
Lexical diffusion
Lecture slides in .pdf
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Fromkin et al's chapter 11 on language change: Part 2
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LAP proposal due, specifying language of project, and typological aspects of syntactic and morphological diversity of interest
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April 8
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Reconstruction, the comparative method, cognates.
Why do languages change?
Lecture slides in .pdf
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April 13
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PART IV: Diversity over space
Explaining language change under the parametric approach
- Baker: OV to VO in the history of English
- Lightfoot: Loss of verb-second in English
Sociolinguistic diversity:
Language, dialect, idiolect, accent
Dialectal variation of English: lexical, phonological, morphological, and syntactic
Lecture slides in .pdf
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Fromkin et al's chapter 10 on "Language in Society" Part I
Fromkin et al's Part II
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April 15
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Sociolinguistic diversity cont.
So, what's a "Standard" dialect exactly?
African American English
On some "myths" regarding language variation
Lecture slides in .pdf
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Fromkin et al's chapter 10 cont.
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April 20
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Styles, slang, and jargon
Language and gender
Lecture slides in .pdf
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Fromkin et al's chapter 10 cont.
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HW#3 due
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April 22
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Language emergence: The case of pidgins and creoles
Lecture slides in .pdf
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David Crystal's Encyclopedia: chapter on pidgins and creoles, pp. 334-339.
Jackendoff 1993: Patterns in the Mind, Chap 10, pp. 130-139
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April 27
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PART V: Diversity in "modality"
Minority languages: Sign languages
American Sign Language (ASL): phonology, morphology, syntax, acquisition, historical change, and dialectal variation.
Lecture slides in .pdf
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Chapter on sign languages from David Crystal's Encyclopedia.
Jackendoff 1993: Patterns in the Mind, Chap 7, pp. 83-98
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April 29
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PART VI: Diversity endangered
Language death and endangered languages
Lecture slides in .pdf
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Articles from the journal Language in 1992 on endangered languages.
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HW#4 due
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April 30
(Thursday) |
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Fifth talk in the "Language Works" series by
Andrei Barashkov, Assitant Professor of Italian
“How to Keep Romance Alive: The Place of Romance Linguistics in the Modern Curriculum”
In RAJ conference room at 4:30pm
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May 4
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May 6
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LAP Presentations cont.
Review: List of the topics we covered in this class
Course evaluation forms
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Read everything!
Come to class with questions.
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| May 8 |
LAP Due by 1pm
FINAL EXAM ASSIGNED
.pdf
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May 12
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FINAL EXAM Due
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