Courses

In This Section: Undergraduate Courses; Graduate & Other Undergraduate Courses; Courses Previously Taught from Autumn 2009

2012 Winter & Spring Courses at a Glance

Winter 2012 Timeschedules

Undergraduate Courses

Introduction to Linguistics
20001. This course offers a brief survey of how linguists analyze the structure and the use of language. Looking at the structure of language means understanding what phonemes, words, and sentences are, and how each language establishes principles for the combinations of these things and for their use; looking at the use of language means understanding the ways in which individuals and groups use language to declare their social identity and the ways in which languages can change over time. The overarching theme is understanding what varieties of language structure and use are found across the world's languages and cultures, and what limitations on this variety exist. John Goldsmith, Autumn. Staff, Winter. Staff, Spring.

Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology 
20101. PQ: LING 20001. This course is an introduction to the study of speech sounds and their patterning in the world’s languages. The course will focus on how speech sounds are described with respect to their articulatory, acoustic, and perceptual structures, as well as fundamental notions that have always been central to phonological analysis and that transcend differences between theoretical approaches: contrast, neutralization, natural classes, distinctive features, and basic phonological processes (e.g., assimilation). Alan Yu, Winter.

Language and Communication
20150/30150. This course can also be taken by students who are not majoring in Linguistics but are interested in learning something about the uniqueness of human language, spoken or signed. It covers a selection from the following topics: What is the position of spoken language in the usually multimodal forms of communication among humans? In what ways does spoken language differ from signed language? What features make spoken and signed language linguistic? What features distinguish linguistic means of communication from animal communication? How do humans communicate with animals? From an evolutionary point of view, how can we account for the fact that spoken language is the dominant mode of communication in all human communities around the world? Why cannot animals really communicate linguistically? What do the terms language "acquisition" and "transmission" really mean? What factors account for differences between "language acquisition" by children and by adults? Are children really perfect language learners? What factors bring about language evolution, including language speciation and the emergence of new language varieties? How did language evolve in mankind? This is a general education course without any prerequisites. It provides a necessary foundation to those working on language at the graduate and undergraduate levels. Salikoko Mufwene, Winter.

Introduction to Syntax 
20201. PQ: LING 20001. This course is an introduction to basic goals and methods of current syntactic theory through a detailed analysis of a range of phenomena, with emphasis on argumentation and empirical justification. Major topics include phrase structure and constituency, selection and subcategorization, argument structure, case, voice, expletives, and raising and control structures. Amy Dahlstrom, Autumn.

Introduction to Semantics and Pragmatics
20301. PQ: LING 20001. This course is designed to familiarize undergraduate students with what it means to study meaning and use in natural language. By "meaning" we refer to the communicative contents of words and combinations thereof (semantics), and by "use" we intend to capture how meaning is constructed and interpreted in discourse, and what kinds of additional or non-literal interpretations may arise from context (pragmatics). Students are introduced to some core concepts used in the analysis of meaning and context-based interpretation: denotation, reference, quantification, propositional meaning (compositionality), presupposition, speech acts (il-locution, perlocution), implicature, and context vs. contextual domain,. The main goal is to familiarize students with basic topics in semantics and pragmatics and to help them develop fundamental skills in semantic and pragmatic analysis. Salikoko Mufwene, Spring.

Language Policy and Planning
24210. This course offers an introduction to the field of language policy and planning, with particular focus on the Scandinavian Language Community. With Haugen's (1966) seminal book on language conflict and language planning, Norwegian language planning was brought to prominence. Haugen's writings will be taken as a point of departure, but the scope will expand to include language policy and planning in other parts of Europe as well. In particular the "linguistic climate" of the different Scandinavian countries will be compared and contrasted. We will look at how the Scandinavian languages and the linguistic landscapes of Scandinavia are influenced, primarily, by English, but also by other languages. Moreover we will see how the threat of national language loss within important social domains, such as business and academia, is dealt with and what measures are taken to strengthen inter- Scandinavian collaboration. Royneland, Spring.

Introduction to Pidgins and Creoles
24900. This course is an introduction to the study of Pidgin and Creole languages and to the field of language contact in general. We will discuss the social histories of speech communities where they arose, focusing on some English, French, and Portuguese colonies of the Atlantic, the Indian Ocean, and the Pacific. Students will be introduced to various theories of language birth which deal with questions of language acquisition, innovation, universals of language change, and language evolution. Students will also be trained to think about ways in which creoles and pidgins prompt us to think about the essence of language and the role of its social ecology in shaping it. We will discuss some of the structural features traditionally associated with creoles and assess whether they define "creoleness." Jacqueline Bunting, Autumn.

Trends in Sociolinguistics
26010. Language variation can be conceived in different ways. In this course we examine the characteristic approaches of three discernible developments within sociolinguistics. Deeply influenced by the American linguist William Labov, the first stage of sociolinguistics focused on the correlation between macro-sociological variables and language variation. In a later development the relation between variation and local social practices has been a central topic. Finally, the presently dominant approach to variation studies takes as its primary object the social meaning of variables, conceived as styles linked to categories of identity. Royneland, Spring.

Psycholinguistics
27010. (=PSYC 27010). This is a survey course in the psychology of language. We ask the question how humans comprehend and produce a language, and what are the important theoretical questions and the standard research methodologies. The topics we will cover include speech perception, lexical access, lexical semantics and sentence level structure and meaning. In addition, the course will also offer hands-on experience in running psycholinguistics experiments. Ming Xiang, Winter.

Sign Language Linguistics
27910. PQ LING 20101 or 30101; LING 20201 or 30201; or permission of instructor. This course, intended for upper level undergraduates and graduate students, will cover a wide range of analyses of different sign languages, and from a variety of theoretical and methodological perspectives. The focus will be on how sign language linguistics has contributed to broadening general approaches to the study of language and to linguistic theory as a whole. Questions to be addressed include: "What impact does communication modality have on grammar?", "What is the relationship between sign language and gesture?", "How does the cross-linguistic study of sign languages help us understand the emergence of language?", and "How do phenomena in sign languages broaden our understanding of what is universal in language?" Previous knowledge of sign language is not assumed. Diane Brentari, Autumn.

Reading and Research Course
29700. PQ: Consent of instructor and undergraduate adviser. Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form.

B.A. Paper Preparation Course
29900. PQ: Consent of instructor and undergraduate adviser. Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form.

Graduate & Other Undergraduate Courses

Phonological Analysis-1
30101. This course introduces cross-linguistic phonological phenomena and methods of analysis through an indepth examination of fundamental notions that transcend differences between theoretical approaches: contrast, neutralization, natural classes, distinctive features, and basic non-linear phonological processes (e.g., assimilation, harmony, dissimilation). Alan Yu, Autumn.

Phonological Analysis-2
30102. PQ: LING 30101. This course is a continuation of Phonological Analysis 1 focusing on topics of current interest in phonological theory. Topics vary. Jason Riggle, Winter.

Syntactic Analysis-1
30201. This course is an introduction to basic goals and methods of current syntactic theory through a detailed analysis of a range of phenomena, with emphasis on argumentation and empirical justification. Major topics include phrase structure and constituency, selection and subcategorization, argument structure, case, voice, expletives, and raising and control structures. Karlos Arregi, Autumn.

Syntactic Analysis-2
30202. PQ: LING 30201. This course is a continuation of Syntactic Analysis-1. It expands our examination of the locality of various syntactic dependencies, especially the nature of unbounded dependencies in a wide variety of languages. Topics include A'-movement and nonmovement in interrogatives, relatives, and comparatives, partial wh-movement, wh-expletives, resumptivity, islands (selective and strong), reconstruction effects, intervention effects, and the nature of successive cyclic movement. The course will have a strong cross-linguistic aspect to it, examining data from Korean, Irish, Hungarian, Turkish, Tzotzil, Swahili, Chinese, Japanese, Greek, Slavic, Romance, and Germanic languages, Chamorro and other Austronesian languages, and varieties of Arabic, among others. Jason Merchant, Winter.

Semantics and Pragmatics-1 
30301. This is the first in a two-course sequence designed to provide a foundation in the scientific study of all aspects of linguistic meaning. The first quarter focuses primarily on pragmatics: those aspects of meaning that arise from the way that speakers put language to use, rather than through the formal properties of the linguistic system itself, which is the domain of semantics. However, a central goal of the course will be to begin to develop an understanding of the relation between pragmatics and semantics, by exploring empirical phenomena in which contextual and conventional aspects of meaning interact in complex but regular and well-defined ways, and by learning analytical techniques that allow us to tease these two aspects of linguistics meaning apart. Chris Kennedy, Autumn.

Semantics and Pragmatics-2
30302. PQ: LING 30301 This is the second in a two-course sequence designed to provide a foundation in the scientific study of all aspects of linguistic meaning. The second quarter focuses on the syntax-semantics interface and cross-linguistic semantics. The class will introduce in detail a theory of the way in which the meaning of complex linguistic expressions is formed compositionally from the meaning of constituent parts, and the interaction of semantic and syntactic composition. This theory will form the basis for exploring some empirical questions about the systematicity of cross-linguistic variation in the encoding of meaning. Anastasia Giannakidou, Winter

Morphology 
21000/31000. (=ANTH 37500). Looking at data from a wide range of languages, we will study the structure of words. We will consider the nature of the elements out of which words are built and the principles that govern their combination. The effects of word structure on syntax, semantics, and phonology will be examined. We will think critically about the concepts of morpheme, inflection, derivation, and indeed, the concept of word itself. Karlos Arregi, Spring.

Introduction to Basque Culture
24700. When people hear the word Basque it usually brings to mind adjectives such as primeval, ancient, mysterious, isolated, unknown. But, although the Basque Country has maintained its cultural and historical legacy throughout the ages it is nowadays an open, modern and dynamic society. In this course we approach Basque culture from two perspectives: in Bernardo Atxaga's words (an internationally renowned Basque writer) will take a "perspective from within and from outside the city walls." The perspective from within the city walls will observe Basque culture as it manifests in the works of Basque writers, cinema directors, improvised verse singers, musicians, artists, anthropologists and gastronomists – through their books, films, verses, songs, art, and research into anthropology and gastronomy. We will concentrate on contemporary figures – so that the students become acquainted with the Basque Country as the modern old country that it is today. The perspective from outside the city walls will concern the Basque diaspora in the US: The nomadic Basque shepherds who inhabited California and left their mark on that landscape with their etchings on rocks and trees, on the one hand, but also the pelota courts that are present everywhere in New York and Boston, for example, and further down in Miami – where jai-alai, "the fastest sport in the world," is such a phenomenon. In other words, we will explore the Basque American legacy. Amaia Gabantxo, Spring.

Historical Linguistics
31300. This course deals with the issue of variation and change in language. Topics include types, rates, and explanations of change; the differentiation of dialects and languages over time; determination and classification of historical relationships among languages, and reconstruction of ancestral stages. Alan Yu, Spring.

Seminar: Computational Phonology
32850. This course will cover information-theoretic approaches to phonological grammar. We will focus on issues pertaining to model discovery and model selection, and on formal methods of model evaluation. Jason Riggle, Spring.

Linguistic Typology
25000/35000. PQ: LING 2001 or consent of instructor. This course explores the core assumptions and methods of the field of linguistic typology, describing and defining the relationships between forms and functions in the world's languages. This view of typology is based on the assumption that linguistic diversity needs to be study in a cross-linguistic context, and this study must be based on a reliable empirical database coming for solid descriptive work. Topics will include a review of typologies based on word order and morphology and an examination a variety of grammatical categories and constructions including tense/aspect, case, clause structures, transitivity, parts of speech, and inflectional systems, among others. Against the background of a corpus of data, we will examine the limits of linguistic variation and the explanations proposed for typological patterns, including information management, cognitive processing, and interactional language use and examine the relationship of typology to genetic and areal linguistics. Lenore Grenoble, Autumn.

Structure of Yiddish
35510. Yiddish grammar has provides evidence that has challenged various theoretical assumptions in syntax and morphology. The basic structure of Yiddish will be outlined and theoretical literature by Prince, Perlmutter, Vikner, Santorini, den Besten, among others will be discussed. Jerry Sadock, Spring.

Seminar: Sociolinguistics
Topic: Current Directions in the Study of Sociolinguistic Variation

36010. Readings in and discussions of several contemporary frameworks for analyzing the "inherent variability" of linguistic form and its significance for the synchrony/diachrony divide. Among these: "Third Wave" variationism; language evolution; "exemplar based" approaches; discourse-based grammatical functionalism; "fuzzy category" theory. Salikoko Mufwene, Michael Silverstein; Winter.

Discourse Analysis
37300. Graduate level survey of approaches to analyzing language in context, including interactional sociolinguistics, politeness theory, ethnography of communication, speech act theory, information structure, topic and focus, empathy and deixis, cohesion and narrative structure. Amy Dahlstrom, Winter.

Computational Linguistics
28600/38600 (= CMSC 25020/35050). This is a course in the Computer Science department, intended for upper-level undergraduates, or graduate students, who have a good C++ background. We will look at several current topics in natural language processing, dividing our time between discussing material in the textbook and material in current research papers, and getting our hands dirty with code and corpora. In line with most current work, our emphasis will be on systems that draw conclusions from training data rather than relying on the encoding of generalizations obtained by humans studying the data. As a consequence of that, in part, and also because we will stand to learn more about natural language if we do so, we will make an effort not to focus on English, but to look at a range of human languages in our treatments. John Goldsmith, Autumn

Experimental Methods
40310. This course will cover the basic methods for experimental studies, including experimental design, data collection and statistical analysis. To demonstrate different design and analysis tools, we will focus on two basic types of linguistics data sets: reading studies for continuous data and acceptability judgment studies for categorical data. Ming Xiang, Autumn.

Seminar: Semantics

Topic: The nominal projection

Itamar Francez, Chris Kennedy, Autumn.

42100. This seminar will cover topics in the semantics of nominals, including (but not limited to): the mass/count distinction; plurality; attributive modifiers and the relation between their position and their interpretation; measure constructions and partitives; classifiers and numerals.

Topic: Modality

Anastasia Giannakidou, Spring.

42100. In this seminar, we discuss the meaning of various expressions in language claimed to be associated with modal meaning. We will discuss modal verbs-- but also the modality associated with imperfective aspect, the future, as well as dependencies created by modal expressions, such as the licensing of negative polarity and free choice indefinites. We will also discuss the interaction between modality and temporal structure. The perspective will be intensely crosslinguistic, the main languages of study being Greek, Slavic, and English.

Bilingualism
43000. Bilingualism (or multilingualism more generally), as a phenomenon, is a pervasive reality— with more than 6000 languages spoken, and at most 200 countries in the world today, more than half of the world’s population is (at least) bilingual today. Popular approaches to bilingualism, however—and indeed those that often dictate education policy and curriculum—have long been dominated by views that treat bilingualism as a disadvantage; and these are in tension with recent scientific developments in linguistics and cognitive psychology showing that bilingualism brings cognitive advantages that relate to general intelligence, metalinguistic awareness (i.e. the ability to bring into explicit consciousness linguistic form and structure in order to produce the underlying meaning of utterances), and cultural flexibility. In this seminar, we will study bilingualism with the intent to dispel the myths about it, and to bridge the gaps in the disciplines that study it, by raising the central question of how languages co-exist in the brain, in conversation, and in culture. How is bilingualism perceived in creative processes, in films, song lyrics and literary texts? And what is the impact of bilingualism in the self-perception of individuals and social groups? Studying bilingualism, we speculate, has broad implications for our understanding of language, cognition, literature and culture, and has the potential to (at least partly) redefine the disciplines that study it. Anastasia Giannakidou, Na‘ama Rokem, Spring.

Seminar: Lexical Function Grammar
44400. PQ: LING 30201, LING 30202, or consent of instructor. This is an intermediate level syntax class. The course covers the non-transformational, lexicalist approach to syntax developed by Joan Bresnan and colleagues since 1982. Amy Dahlstrom, Spring.

Seminar: Syntax
Topic: Long distance Dependencies: Parsing and Syntactic Theory

46000. This course is an advanced graduate seminar on the nature of agreement. We examine a variety of phenomena and a variety of approaches to them. Phenomena covered include predicate agreement (with subjects, objects, and obliques), nominal concord, agreement ad sensum and ad formam, agreement between elements of different categories, agreement on pronouns (relative, anaphoric, and other), phi vs Case vs wh agreement, and more controversial phenomena that have been labelled agreement (negative concord, clitic doubling, etc.). We begin by looking at simple recurrent network approaches to agreement and bigram models, and then at more complex feature-based models and others (including feature co-occurrence, unification-based, geometric, and DM models). Karlos Arregi, Jason Merchant, Autumn.

Research Seminar
47900. The course aims to guide students on their research in a structured way and to present professionalization information crucial to success in the field. The course is organized largely around working on the research paper, with the goal of making it a conference-presentable and journal-publishable work. Topics covered include abstracts, publishing, handouts, presentation skills, course design, creating and maintaining a cv, cover letters, webpages, and in general everything that is required for you to successfully compete for jobs in linguistics. Jason Riggle, Winter.

Seminar: Psycholinguistics
Topic: Long distance Dependencies: Parsing and Syntactic Theory

50510. This course covers the recent development in the field of Neuroscience of Language, with a focus on electrophysiology research. We will look at the major findings in speech perception, lexical semantics and sentence processing and discuss how formal linguistics can help moving the field forward. Basic methodological tools will also be introduced and students will practice on actual ERP data collection and analysis. Ming Xiang, Spring

Seminar: Phonology
Topic: The Phonology-Morphology Interface

52400. PQ: LING 30102 or consent of instructor. This seminar focuses on the question of how phonology and morphology interact. Topics to be covered include the consistency of phonological exponence of morphemes, morpheme realization, ungrammaticality, lexical phonology and cyclicity effects, and the diachronic origins of morpho-phonological patterns. Alan Yu, Winter.

Seminar in Sociolinguistics
Topic: Dialect Levelling, Koineization, and the Emergence of Multiethnic Speech Styles in Present Day Europe

57202. In this course we examine some of the results of dialect and language contact in present day Europe. We will look at the most recent developments of the dialect-standard relation, as well its historical background. We will also study the emergence of koines and new multiethnolectal speech styles among urban adolescents across Europe. Royneland, Winter.

Basque Linguistics Seminar
Topic: Basque Sound Patterns

59700. In this course we will be dealing with the phonology of Basque, its main characteristics and some of its dialect-specific features. We will work on issues of particular interest within the theoretical framework of Natural Phonology. We will discuss some consequences of sociolinguistic historical factors on the present phonological knowledge of Basque speakers. Special attention will be given to the fact that the language is spoken by bilingual speakers whose other language is either French or Spanish. Onederra, Spring.

AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE (ASLG)

American Sign Language I, II, III
10100-10200-10300. American Sign Language is the language of the deaf in the United States and much of Canada. It is a full-fledged autonomous language, unrelated to English or other spoken languages. This introductory course teaches the student basic vocabulary and grammatical structure, as well as aspects of deaf culture. Drucilla Ronchen. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

Intermediate American Sign Language I, II, III
10400-10500-10600. PQ: LGLN 10300. In this course we continue to increase grammatical structure, receptive and expressive skills, conversational skills, basic linguistic convergence, and knowledge of idioms. Field trip required. Drucilla Ronchen. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

BASQUE (BASQ)

Elementary Basque-1
12000. (=LGLN 12000). The Basque language is spoken in the Basque Country, a region in Northeastern Spain and Southwestern France. It is a language isolate: as far as we know, it is not related to any other language in the world. This course offers an introduction to reading, writing, and speaking in Basque. The teaching methodology will take on a communicative perspective – we will work on vocabulary, comprehension and communicative skills in pragmatic and strategic ways. Students will acquire basic Basque language skills that will enable to master the communicative functions which have been set for the course. The lessons will have a sense of continuity, and, in that context, the main aim will be for the students to witness and take command of their own progress. Amaia Gabantxo, Autumn.

Elementary Basque-2
12100. (=LGLN 12100). A continuation of Elementary Basque 1, advancing the students' knowledge of grammatical structure and their receptive, expressive and conversational skills. The module uses a task-based approach to learning Basque. By means of this methodology, the accumulation of task cycles promotes the acquirement of communicative goals. We will work on different tasks on each lesson, and the progressive build-up of those tasks will cause the gradual improvement of the students’ communicative skills and overall fluency. By the end of the quarter the student should be able to produce grammatically accurate short texts in Basque, interact with speakers of Basque at a basic level while employing a variety of complex cases and tenses, understand a range of basic written and oral texts in Basque, and understand a range of cases and the difference between them. Amaia Gabantxo, Winter.

Elementary Basque-3
12200. (=LGLN 12200). A continuation of Elementary Basque 2, with more emphasis in reading/writing and conversation. To consolidate linguistic competence in Basque and expand knowledge of specific areas of grammar. Emphasis will be placed on oral and written competence. Teamwork and personal input will be essential aspects of this module. We will work on practical objectives, and will enact real-life situations in groups. Our final aim will be to achieve a relevant and useful command of the Basque language. Amaia Gabantxo, Spring.

GEORGIAN (GEOR)

Elementary Georgian 1-2-3
22100-22200-22300/32100-32200-32300. This course introduces students to Modern Georgian grammar primarily through reading exercises that relate to Georgian historical, social, and literary traditions. Supplemental activities that encourage writing, speaking, and listening skills are also included in this course. Tamra Wysocki. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

Advanced Georgian 1-2-3
22700-22800-22900/32700-32800-32900. This course emphasizes advanced language skills and vocabulary building through independent reading and writing projects as well as class exercises involving media such as newspaper and magazine articles, videoclips, radio programs, movies, and additional sound recordings and online materials. Tamra Wysocki. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

SWAHILI (SWAH)

Swahili I, II, III  
25200-25300-25400/35200-35300-35400. This course is designed to help students acquire communicative competence in Swahili and a basic understanding of its structures. Through a variety of exercises, students develop both oral and writing skills. Fidele Mpiranya. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

Intermediate Swahili I, II, III
26800-26900-27000/36800-36900-37000. PQ: SWAH 25400/35400 or consent of instructor. This course is focused on broadening students' listening, speaking, reading and writing skills. Students are trained in using sophisticated sentence structures and expression of complex ideas in Swahili. They are assigned advanced readings and essay writing based on their own interests. Fidele Mpiranya. Autumn,Winter, Spring.

The Department of Linguistics

Division of the Humanities | The University of Chicago