Class is officially over. All links have been deactivated.
This is the (tentative) class-by-class schedule that I envisage for this course. This initial schedule is simply meant to give you an idea on what we intend to cover over the semester, but the page will be updated after every class to reflect what we cover as the semester unfolds. This page is also where a lot of the course materials will be uploaded (lecture slides, readings, assignments, event announcements, etc.). It’s a convenient way of grouping (almost) everything in one table on a single page. So, do check here often.
| Date | Topics | Readings | Assignments’ (tentative) dates and other information |
| Feb 14 | Introduction to linguistic theory — Also administrivia (course info, syllabus, etc.) Lecture slides |
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| Feb 16 | A crash course in phonetics and the IPA Lecture slides |
Read pp. 15-37 of Dobrovolsky’s introductory chapter on phonetics in O’Grady et al’s (2005) | |
| Feb 21 | Language vs. dialect
Introducing morphology The mental lexicon Lecture slides |
Read this short article on ‘How many languages are there in the world?’
Lieber Chapters 1-2 |
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| Feb 23 | Taxonomy of morphemes
Morphological analysis exercises Lecture slides |
Lieber Chapter 3, pp. 35-50. Lieber Chapter 5, pp. 87-94. |
Assignment 1: .doc and .pdf |
| Feb 28 | Language endangerment
Approaches to the representation of word knowledge in the mental lexicon Lecture slides |
Read this FAQ section from the Linguistic Society of America on endangered languages
Read this article by Anastasia Riehl on “Why are languages worth preserving?” Lieber Chapter 3, pp. 50-67. |
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| March 2 | Morphological structure and morphological trees
Compounding and other word-formation processes Lecture slides |
Finish reading Lieber Chapter 5, pp. 95-101.
You can get a head start on reading Lieber Chapter 4 |
Assignment 1 due by 3pm on Friday March 4 in your google drive folder
Assignment 2: .doc and .pdf |
| March 7 | On key issues in the study of African American Language
Reduplication, Templatic morphology (Semitic) An exercise on word formation in English Morphology exercises Lecture slides |
Read this online article about African American English
Read Lieber chapter 4 if you haven’t done so already |
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| March 9 | Productivity and creativity
Inflection Lecture slides |
Lieber Chapter 6 | Make sure to attend Prof. Lisa Green’s lecture on African American English on Thursday March 10 @ 4:30-6:00pm via this Zoom Webinar link.
Assignment 2 due by 3pm on Saturday March 12 in your google drive folder |
| March 14 | Inflection cont.
Allomorphy Lecture slides |
Lieber Chapter 7
Lieber Chapter 9 |
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| March 16 | Allomorphy exercises
Morphological typology A note on blocking Lecture slides |
Lieber Chapter 8
Lieber Chapter 10 |
Assignment 3: .doc and .pdf |
| March 19-27 |
SPRING BREAK |
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| March 28 | Syntax: Introduction to generative grammar
Lecture slides |
Baker Chapter 1
Carnie Chapter 1 |
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| March 30 | UG: principles and parameters theory
Syntactic categories (aka parts of speech) Lecture slides |
Baker Chapter 2
Carnie Chapter 2 |
Assignment 3 due by 3pm on Friday April 1 |
| April 4 | Constituency
Phrase structure: Take 1 Syntactic Trees Lecture slides |
Carnie Chapter 3 | Assignment 4: .doc and .pdf |
| April 6 | Grammatical diversity in the English of North America
Phrase structure grammar cont. Lecture slides |
Read this short news report before class.
Visit this site, choose one grammatical phenomenon, read the section about it, and come to class with information to share. Make sure to click on the links on the left-side of the page for data and a short linguistic discussion of the phenomenon you’ve chosen. |
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| April 11 | Garden path sentences
Tree geometry: Formal structural relations and why they matter Phrase structure Take 2: X-bar Theory Lecture slides |
Carnie Chapter 4
Carnie Chapter 6 |
Assignment 4 due on Mon April 11 |
| April 13 | X-bar Theory cont.: Heads, complements, adjuncts, and specifiers
Lecture slides |
Finish reading Carnie Chapter 6, if you haven’t done so already
Carnie Chapter 7 |
Assignment 5 .doc and .pdf |
| April 18 | Parameters of word order variation: Head directionality
Lecture slides |
Baker Chapter 3 and Chapter 5 | |
| April 20 | More on word order variation: Polysynthesis
Lecture slides |
Baker Chapter 4 | Assignment 5 due by 11:59pm on Fri April 22 |
| April 25 | Aspects of syntactic diversity
Lecture slides |
Check your assigned reading HERE.
If you’re in Group 1, read this chapter on Polar questions: https://wals.info/chapter/116 If you’re in Group 2, read this chapter on Predicative possession: https://wals.info/chapter/117 If you’re in Group 3, read this chapter on the Zero copula: https://wals.info/chapter/120 If you’re in Group 4, read this chapter on Content questions (aka wh-questions): https://wals.info/chapter/93 |
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| April 27 | Historical linguistics (comparative reconstruction)
The languages of Europe Also: The syntax of question-formation Lecture slides |
– Read Sections 1.2 and 1.3 of Pereltsvaig’s Chapter 1 (Introduction)
– Read Pereltsvaig’s Chapter 2 (Languages of Europe) – Prepare responses to these questions in preparation for our class discussion. |
150-word paper proposal due by 11:59pm in your Google drive folder
Assignment 6: .doc and .pdf |
| May 2 | Group work to finalize and practice linguistic diversity presentations | ||
| May 4 | Linguistic Diversity Presentations
– Languages of Iran and South Asia – Languages of the Greater Middle East – Languages of Eastern Asia |
Pereltsvaig’s Languages of the World
Information and instructions for the Linguistic Diversity Group presentations |
Homework #6 due by 11:59pm on Friday May 6 |
| May 9 | Linguistic Diversity Presentations
– Languages of the South Sea Islands – Aboriginal Languages of New Guinea and Australia – Native Languages of the Americas |
Pereltsvaig’s Languages of the World
Information and instructions for the Linguistic Diversity Group presentations |
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| May 11 | A few more parameters
Baker’s parameter hierarchy Final thoughts on linguistic diversity Course response forms Lecture slides |
Baker Chapter 6 and Chapter 7 | |
| Monday May 23 |
Final essay is due in your Google drive folder at 1pm |