This course is an introduction to linguistic perspectives on the languages native to the Americas (their nature and distribution, typological similarities and differences), with an emphasis on North America. The diverse languages of this region will be examined from the point of view of particular linguistic phenomena, such as phonology, morphology, and syntax; and in addition we will study their historical development and their place in culture and society.
See also the schedule page.
Professor: Gene Buckley
Meeting time: MW 2–3:30
Meeting place: Williams Hall, room 29
There is one textbook, available at the Penn Book Center (corner of 34th and Sansom Streets).
Shirley Silver and Wick R. Miller (1997), American Indian Languages: Cultural and Social Contexts, University of Arizona Press. For a description visit this page.
Numerous additional readings will be made available on the web, linked from the schedule page.
There are four components to the course grade.
You should do the assigned readings given in the course outline before each meeting, and regular attendance is required. Questions and discussion will be encouraged in class. In many cases, the reading will be presented briefly by a student; all students are required to make two such presentations.
Each student will "adopt" a particular language to examine from various perspectives throughout the semester. Rather than writing up a report for the professor to read, students will instead edit a Wikipedia page about the language so that the fruits of these efforts will be shared by others. As you can see by following a few of the links from this page, a great many Wiki pages on Native American languages need such work.
There will be frequent homework assignments (handed out Wednesday, due the following Monday at the beginning of class). They give practice in applying the principles studied in class and in analyzing particular languages. They are graded on a scale of 0–10. When possible, the corrected assignments will be returned two days later in the next meeting. The lowest-scoring homework assignment for each student will automatically be dropped from the grade calculation, and as a result no extra credit assignments will be offered.
You are permitted to discuss the assignments with other students in the class, but you must write up independent answers and indicate the name(s) of the other student(s) you worked with on your assignment. Email submissions are not accepted without special reason and prior approval.
Every student will write a term paper on a topic germane to the course. It is due May 12th, by 5pm. We'll talk more about topics later in the term, but you can get started with these ideas.