ASSIGNMENTS - Content

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Usama Soltan - nobody@example.net — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 16:25:29 -0400

On this page are posted the homework assignments for the class. These assignments are meant to test your understanding of the material covered in class and to help you work on aspects of cross-linguistic variation on your own, applying the same reasoning and analytical tools that we’ll be discussing in class.

There will be a total of FIVE homework assignments. Each homework counts for 5% of your overall grade. So, take each one seriously!

While I do not mind you discussing assignment questions with your colleagues, bear in mind that the work you turn in has to be yours, and yours alone. Copying someone else’s work will be treated as cheating, will receive no credit, and will be subject the consequences of violating academic integrity, as described in the College’s Academic Honesty Statement.

Policy on delay in turning in assignments:
        5% off if turned in after the deadline on the day it’s due (that means prior to midnight).
        10% off if turned in on the next day after the deadline.
        20% off if turned in later than that.
        Not accepted after I post the solutions (I know that's self-evident, but just in case)

Projected dates for assigned homework are listed in the table for the syllabus. Notice that you'll typically have one week to work on each assignment. I'm very reluctant to give extensions, except for academically legitimate reasons.

Before you answer the first assignment, please take a few minutes to read the guidelines for answering questions on homework HERE.

Assignment 1: .pdf

Assignment 2: .pdf
Suggested Solutions

Assignment 3 .pdf
Suggested Solutions

Assignment 4: .pdf
Suggested Solutions

Assignment 5: .pdf
Suggested Solutions

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Usama Soltan - nobody@example.net — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 16:26:29 -0400

Midterm Exam: .pdf

Final Exam: .pdf

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Usama Soltan - nobody@example.net — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 12:12:00 -0400

Introduction and Resources

In the Language Adoption Project, you're supposed to study a language of your choice, as long as the language is unfamiliar or endangered. There's plenty of these out there, so you shouldn't have trouble finding one. The goal of the project is for you to get to know a language that you haven't known much about before, and apply some of the concepts and analytical tools we discussed in class to that language to test our theory of grammar. Of course, you're also expected to give some basic information about the language, where it is spoken, by how many speakers. if it's endangered, etc. A link to some guidelines questions for the LAP can be accessed HERE.

THE LAP IS DUE Dec 4th by 1pm. PLEASE LEAVE IT IN MY MAILBOX IN FARRELL HOUSE.

A good resource on languages of the world which I mentioned in class is the “The world atlas of language structures”, which is available in the main library at the Main Atlas Case G1046.E3 W6 2005.

I also put my personal copy of the Dictionary of Languages on reserve in the library. You may find that useful.
An extensive list of languages and assoicated descriptive grammars is available here:

http://linguistics.buffalo.edu/people/faculty/dryer/dryer/atlas.bib

A shortened list that I created from online resources is available here.

Also, the catalogue I had in class is available online here: https://ssl.kundenserver.de/www.s83009615.einsundeinsshop.de/sess/utn;jsessionid=15452e7b540df1d/shopdata/index.shopscript

As you can see there’s no shortage of languages to work on; just make sure you choose an unfamiliar or endangered language. If you’re not sure if a language is suitable for the LAP, check with me first.

Also try to do some basic online search on the language you initially choose, and see if it interests you still.

LAP guideline questions

You can see a list of some guideline questions that you might want to consider when looking at your LAP language by clicking HERE. Some of the questions will be relevant, some will not, but the list should at least give you an idea of what you are expected to be looking for regarding your LAP language.

LAP languages

	Name of Student	LAP language
	Jeff Ferraro	Flemish (Germanic)
	Raina Lynn Crawford	Leonese (Romance)
	Elma Burnham	Hausa (Afro-asiatic)
	Juliana Kay	Inuit (Eskimo-Aleut)
	Scott Wehrwein	Quechua (Quechuan)
	Martina Bonolis	Irish (Celtic)
	Chris Allen	Welsh (Celtic)
	Neil Goodman	Tlingit (Na-Dene)
	Lucas Braun	Nkore-Kiga (Niger-Congo)
	Zack Withers	Swahili (Bantu)
	Ali Hamdan	Syriac (Semitic)
	Adam Kritzer	Unserdeutsch (German-based Creole)
	Julianna Mauriello	Hawaiian (Austronesian)
	Chris Chung	Nyanja/Chichewa (Niger-Congo)
	James Landenberger	Romani (Indo-Aryan)
16.	Toby Norden	Anindilyakwa (Gunwingguan)
17.	David Fouhey	Khmer/Cambodian (Khmer)
18.	Amy Scanes-Wolfe	Makhunwa Enahara (Niger-Congo/Bantu)
19.	Kyle Olsen	Qawasqar (Alacalufan)
20.	Riley Ertel	Halh (Mongolian)
21.	Sarah Bellingham	Ukrainian (Slavic)
22.	Whitney Obr	Franco-Provençal (Romance)
23.	Simone Dinshaw	Sanskrit (Indo-Aryan)
24	Stephen Powell	Cappadocian Greek (Greek)
25	Ben Goldstein	Tagalog (Austronesian)