(Fall 2011)
Follow the links in the middle column for lecture notes.
In this course, these are notes for the lecture,
rather than notes on the lecture, so that they
serve as an on-line textbook. As such, they generally provide a larger
volume of material than is presented in the lectures. In class, I'll
give an overview of the day's topic, and work through examples and sample
problems in detail, typically in ways that are not entirely covered
in the lecture notes.
The right-hand column provides links to additional
course readings. These are articles or book chapters that provide useful
background. In many cases, additional links will be provided within
the main page of lecture notes.
As an experiment, this year we'll try using Piazza to mediate course-related discussion.
[We will try to keep the links on this schedule active a week or two ahead of time. If you want to read further ahead, you can look at the links for the Fall 2010 edition of the course. But note that the schedule is subject to change, and this year's lecture notes and other material are likely to change at least to some extent, even when the topics remain essentially the same.]
1. We 09/07 |
Introduction to the
course |
(video) |
2. Mo 09/12 |
Perspectives and approaches |
Miller, George
A. "The Scientific Study of Language."
Ch. 1 of The Science of Words. (1991). |
3. We 09/14 |
Prescriptive and descriptive
linguistics |
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4. Mo 09/19 |
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5. We 09/21 |
Communication: philosophical
perspectives |
[see links in lecture notes] |
6. Mo 09/26 |
The pronunciation of English |
(Slides from the lecture) |
7. We 09/28 |
Basic elements of linguistic form: morphology
[slides from lecture] |
(Just for fun:
"Psycholinguistics in the logging industry"
"All your base are belong to which lexical category?"
"Linguists boycott Intelligent Design hearings"
"Fearful (also nauseous, addictive, dubious, suspicious...) symmetry"
"Not a brillantological invention"
"W's conundrum"
"Euphony and usefulness"
"Cracking down on the Hezbollians"
"Playing with your morphology"
"Bogosity" -- and more...) |
8. Mo 10/03 |
The sound of linguistic structure: phonetics
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9. We 10/05 |
The structure of linguistic sound: phonology |
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Mo 10/10 |
FALL BREAK |
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10. We 10/12 |
Syntax I
(lecture slides) |
Read & study HW6 (and answers) from 2005
(note that you aren't required to turn this in.)
(just for fun:
"Crash blossoms"
"Compared"
"Fucking shut the fuck up"
"Not propping open the door"
"Insufficient agency"
"He must can parse"
"Adverbial modification at the Supreme Court today"
"Elliptical sin"
"'Passive Voice' -- 1397-2009 -- R.I.P."
"Hot Dryden-on-Jonson action"
"Those who are not authorized are not authorized" ) |
11. Mo 10/17 |
Syntax II
|
Beatrice Santorini's Syntax Text , Chap. 2:
"Constituent
structure". |
12. We 10/19 |
Meaning I: semantics
|
(Just for fun:
"The reality could not be further from the truth"
"Cannot underestimate" = "must not underestimate?"
"Why are negations so easy to fail to miss?"
"Rarely better than de re"
"No post too obscure to escape notice") |
13. Mo 10/24 |
Meaning II: pragmatics |
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14. We 10/26 |
Language in society: sociolinguistics
(lecture slides) |
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15. Mo 10/31 |
Language and gender |
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16. We 11/02 |
Linguistic form in art, ritual
and play |
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17. Mo 11/07 |
Patterns and performances in speech and music |
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18. We 11/09 |
Language production and perception
(lecture slides) |
(Just for fun:
"Finger spoonerisms and conservation of caps"
"Reverse English"
"Phonetics quiz"
"Notes from the ESL trauma unit"
"Noi lai and contrepets"
"Get your boyfriend to move it: a speech perception story"
"The doors of infant perception"
"Escher sentences"
"The Wason Selection Test"
"Halfalogues onward"
"This delayed and dominating echo"
)
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Mo
11/14 |
Midterm |
(Study guide, 2007 Midterm, answers) |
19. We 11/16 |
Languages of the World
[lecture slides] |
Gibbs, W. W. "Saving Dying Languages". Scientific American, August 2002.
"Experiencing language death" |
20. Mo 11/21 |
Brain and language |
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We 11/23 |
[Thanksgiving: No lecture] |
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21. Mo 11/28 |
Language Change |
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22. We 11/30 |
Reading and writing |
"The globalization of educational fads and fallacies"
"Reading corruption"
"Mark Seidenberg on the Reading First controversy"
"Ghoti and choughs again" |
23. Mo 12/05 |
Child language acquisition |
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24. We 12/07 |
The Language of Law |
Justice Antonin Scalia, "Law and Language: Review of 'Law's Quandary'", First Things, Nov. 2005.
Lawrence Solan, "Private Language, Public Laws: The Central Role of Legislative Intent in Statutory Interpretation", Georgetown Law Journal, 93(2), Jan. 2005
Geoffrey Nunberg, "The Book of Samuels", Fresh Air commentary.
"Is marriage identical or similar to itself?" |
Tu 12/20 |
Final Exam
(2009 exam for reference) |
Time 12:00-2:00
Location: Stiteler B6 |
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home
homework
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