Not available at this time

We often mean more than we say and pragmatics is the field concerned with how we come to understand what speakers really mean. This class provides an introduction to the main topics in Pragmatics within Linguistics. In short, we will be concerned with the study of the meaning of natural language utterances in context as well as with how context enriches meaning.

How does a child choose one grammar from a million possible grammars? How are grammar and thought alike and not alike. Stresses the child's use of an inborn linguistic mechanism to produce creative sentences. Acquisition of syntax and semantics from the one-word stage through complex utterances. Linguistic principles as a window to unconscious principles of mind. Recent discoveries in the area of complex syntax. Students learn to search naturalistic data and do a small experiment. Prerequisite: LINGUIST 201.

Provides hands-on experience in linguistic analysis. Students elicit language data from the speaker of an unfamiliar language, both in class and individually. Under the guidance of the instructor, students analyze various aspects of the phonology and syntax of the language.

This is a stand-alone independent study designed by the student and faculty sponsor that involves frequent interaction between instructor and student. Qualitative and quantitative enrichment must be evident on the proposed contract before consent is given to undertake the study.

Not available at this time

This course is a one-semester introduction to linguistics as a branch of cognitive science. Linguistics has been at the heart of cognitive science since the 1950's, and it's often said that language provides a privileged window on the inner workings of the mind. Throughout this course, we ask what exactly we learn about the mind by studying language. We will examine two classic arguments from linguistics that have been taken as informative about the structure of the mind: the argument for mental grammar, and the argument for innate knowledge.

African American English (AAE) is a linguistic variety with set rules governing sentence structure, sound structure, word structure, and meaning. We will investigate five areas related to the structure and use of AAE in social contexts: speech events, components of the grammar, history, educational issues, and representation in the media and literature. Satisfies the Integrative Experience requirement for BA-Ling majors.

This course fills the JYW requirement.

This is a stand-alone independent study designed by the student and faculty sponsor that involves frequent interaction between instructor and student. Qualitative and quantitative enrichment must be evident on the proposed contract before consent is given to undertake the study.