11 - 20 of 129 results for: LINGUIST

In this class, we learn about the principles and patterns that govern how sounds function in languages of the world. At first glance, the sounds of language sometimes seem random. We will see how they exhibit a fascinating range of highly organized patterns, and we will learn how to analyze and understand those patterns, and how to use them to understand similarities and differences across various languages. We learn all this through the investigation and analysis of both classic and more recent phonology problems. Overall, the course focuses on problem solving in phonological analysis, presenting insights from current phonological theories and applying them to a range of natural language data. This course uses universal design principles, building in flexibility to class structure to accommodate students with varying needs.

This course provides an introduction to word formation in the world's languages. It investigates the notion of word, the internal structure of words, the relation between a word's structure and its meaning, and processes for forming new words. Data will be drawn from a range of languages with an emphasis on English. Prerequisites: One of Linguist 1, 20N, 110, 121A, 121B, 130A, or 130B, or permission of instructor

An introduction to the scientific study of human language syntax. Students collectively construct a formal theory of syntax which models individuals' implicit knowledge of language. Draws on data from a variety of languages, including but not limited to English. Emphasis is on exploring how languages are systematically alike in their syntactic structures, and the ways in which they are systematically different. Students engage in hands-on analysis of natural language data as well as the construction and evaluation of syntactic theories. Prerequisites: none, and no experience with linguistics is assumed. The discussion section is mandatory. Satisfies the WAY-FR requirement and the WIM requirement for Linguistics.

Engages students in the scientific study of human language syntax at the intermediate level, building on LINGUIST 120A. Students collectively construct a formal theory of syntax which models individuals' implicit knowledge of language, drawing on data from a variety of languages, including but not limited to English. Emphasis is on exploring how languages are systematically alike in their syntactic structures, and the ways in which they are systematically different. Students engage in hands-on analysis of natural language data as well as the construction and evaluation of syntactic theories. The course focuses on formal developments in the theory of phrase structure (such as X-bar theory) and transformations (such as locality and other constraints on syntactic dependencies). Specific topics covered include head and phrasal movement, case and agreement, raising and control, and the structure of clauses and nominals. Can be taken as LINGUIST 220 by co-term MA students or advanced undergraduates.

[This course is no longer offered - please consider LINGUIST 120A and 120B instead.] A data-driven introduction to the study of generative syntax through an in-depth investigation of the sentence structure of English. Emphasis is on central aspects of English syntax, but the principles of theory and analysis extend to the study of the syntax of other languages. The course focuses on building up syntactic argumentation skills via the collective development of a partial formal theory of sentence structure, which attempts to model native speaker knowledge. Satisfies the WIM requirement for Linguistics and the WAY-FR requirement. Prerequisites: none (can be taken before or after Linguistics 121B). The discussion section is mandatory.

[This course is no longer offered - please consider LINGUIST 120A and 120B instead.] A data-driven introduction to the study of syntax through the investigation of a diverse array of the world's languages, including but not limited to English. Emphasis is on understanding how languages are systematically alike and different in their basic sentence structure. The course focuses on building up syntactic argumentation skills via the collective development of a partial formal theory of sentence structure, which attempts to model native speaker knowledge. Satisfies the WIM requirement for Linguistics and the WAY-FR requirement. Prerequisites: none (can be taken before or after Linguistics 121A). The discussion section is mandatory.

Linguistic meaning and its role in communication. Topics include logical semantics, conversational implicature, presupposition, and speech acts. Applications to issues in politics, the law, philosophy, advertising, and natural language processing. Those who have not taken logic, such as  PHIL 150  or 151, should attend section.

Introduction to basic concepts and issues in the linguistic study of word meaning. We explore grammatical regularities in word meaning and the relation between word meaning and the conceptual realm. The questions we address include the following. How is the meaning of a word determined from its internal structure? How can simple words have complex meanings? What is a possible word? How does a word's meaning determine the word's syntactic distribution and what kind of reasoning does it support? What kind of information belongs to the lexical entry of a word? The course will show that the investigation of the linguistic and semantic structure of words draws on the full resources of linguistic theory and methodology. Prerequisites: SYMSYS1, LINGUIST1, LINGUIST35, or equivalent or permission of the instructor. LINGUIST 130A is not a prerequisite for this course.

This course surveys how languages express members of the basic conceptual categories entity, event, property, and spatial relation. It examines strategies languages use to name members of these categories, and factors that might influence the choices languages make. Relatedly, it explores similarities and differences among languages in the sets of words they have to express notions within various conceptual domains. Restricted to undergraduates.