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Usama Soltan - nobody@example.net — Mon, 25 May 2009 19:44:04 -0400

This is the (tentative) class-by-class schedule that I envisage for this course. As usual, there will be changes here and there as the term unfolds, but it should you give you a clear idea on what we intend to cover over the semester. This is also where a lot of the course materials will be uploaded (readings, assignments, exams). It's a convenient way of grouping (almost) everything in one table on a single page. So, check here often.

Date	Topics		Readings	Assignments
Feb 9	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		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	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.
Feb 11	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.		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
Feb 16	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 Lecture Slides in .pdf		Baker Chapters 1 and 2 Payne Chapter 1, pp. 1-9 Whaley Chapter 3 pp. 30-53
Feb 18	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		Baker Chapters 2 and 3	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
Feb 23	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) Lecture slides in .pdf		Baker Chapter 3 cont.	HW#1 assigned: .pdf
Feb 25	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		Payne Chapter 6 and Chapter 7 (Syntactic typology)
Feb 27				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
March 2	VSO languages: Irish/Welsh Verb placement in English vs. French. Verb placement in German/Scandinavian: V2 effect Lecture slides in .pdf		Baker Chapter 5: Alloys and compounds: pp. 123-140
March 4	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		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	HW#1due
March 9	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") Lecture slides in .pdf		Baker Chapter 4 cont. Payne Chapter 2, pp. 32-45, on conceptual categories and morphological processes	HW#2 assigned: .pdf
March 11	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		Baker Chapter 5 (section on optional polysynthesis pp. 143-156)
March 14 (Saturday)	REVIEW AT 10AM		READ EVERYTHING! COME WITH QUESTIONS.
March 16	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		Baker Chapter 6 Payne Chapter 8 on "Grammatical Relations"	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
March 18	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		Baker Chapter 7 Against UG: The Piraha debate	Language Adoption Project (LAP) assigned Click here for LAP guideline questions
Friday March 20				Midterm exam due by 11:30am
March 21-29	SPRING BREAK!		HAVE FUN!
March 30		PART III: Diversity over time Language change: Lexical, semantic, and morphological change Lecture slides in .pdf	An LSA article by Thompson Fromkin et al's chapter 11 on language change: Part 1
April 1		Syntactic change Basic introduction to Phonetics Lecture slides in .pdf	Fromkin et al chapter 11 Part 1 cont. Payne Chapter 3	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
April 6		Phonological change Lexical diffusion Lecture slides in .pdf	Fromkin et al's chapter 11 on language change: Part 2	LAP proposal due, specifying language of project, and typological aspects of syntactic and morphological diversity of interest
April 8		Reconstruction, the comparative method, cognates. Why do languages change? Lecture slides in .pdf
April 13		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	Fromkin et al's chapter 10 on "Language in Society" Part I Fromkin et al's Part II	HW#3 assigned: .pdf
April 15		Sociolinguistic diversity cont. So, what's a "Standard" dialect exactly? African American English On some "myths" regarding language variation Lecture slides in .pdf	Fromkin et al's chapter 10 cont.
April 20		Styles, slang, and jargon Language and gender Lecture slides in .pdf	Fromkin et al's chapter 10 cont.	HW#3 due
April 22		Language emergence: The case of pidgins and creoles Lecture slides in .pdf	David Crystal's Encyclopedia: chapter on pidgins and creoles, pp. 334-339. Jackendoff 1993: Patterns in the Mind, Chap 10, pp. 130-139	HW#4: .pdf
April 27		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	Chapter on sign languages from David Crystal's Encyclopedia. Jackendoff 1993: Patterns in the Mind, Chap 7, pp. 83-98
April 29		PART VI: Diversity endangered Language death and endangered languages Lecture slides in .pdf	LSA article on endangered languages Articles from the journal Language in 1992 on endangered languages.	HW#4 due
April 30 (Thursday)				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
May 4		LAP Presentations
May 6		LAP Presentations cont. Review: List of the topics we covered in this class Course evaluation forms	Read everything! Come to class with questions.
May 8		LAP Due by 1pm FINAL EXAM ASSIGNED .pdf
May 12		FINAL EXAM Due

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