Courses

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 identities 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.

T Th 9:30am-10:50am

M W 12:30pm-1:50pm

This course is an introduction to the study of speech sounds and their patterning in the world's languages. The first half of the course focuses on how speech sounds are described with respect to their articulatory, acoustic, and perceptual structures. There are lab exercises both in phonetic transcription and in the acoustic analysis of speech sounds. The second half focuses on 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).

T Th 11:00am-12:20pm

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.

M W 3:00pm-4:20pm

T Th 11:00am-12:20pm

This course introduces us to the practice of linguistic fieldwork, where we will conduct a handson study of a non-Indo-European language, Sindhi. We will use a range of methods, including structured elicitations, text collection and analysis, and techniques for presenting complex linguistic data. Our aim is to explore and document the language’s grammar—covering its phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics. By working with our consultant to gather and analyze data, applying linguistic theories to describe their language and testing our hypotheses, we will refine our skills as linguists while gaining deep insights into a language new to us. Additionally, this experience will highlight the significance of language documentation for both scientific research and cultural preservation. Note that this course satisfied the non-Indo-European language requirement for linguistics majors.

W 9:30am-12:20pm

T Th 11:00am-12:20pm

Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form.

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.

M W F  10:30am-11:20pm, 11:30am-12:20pm

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).

T Th 9:30am-10:50am

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.

M W 4:30pm-5:50pm

T Th 12:30pm-1:50pm

This course continues to increase grammatical structure, receptive and expressive skills, conversational skills, basic linguistic convergence, and knowledge of idioms. Field trip required

M W F  12:30pm-1:20pm

This course explores definitions of race and ethnicity, asking how both are socially constructed through structures and institutions, as well as interpersonally. Further, we explore what linguistics can tell us about race and how language is used to racialize to individuals.

M W 3:00pm-4:20pm

In this seminar course we will review the "creole exceptionalism" tradition against the uniformitarian view, according to which creoles have emerged and evolved like other, natural and non-creole languages. We will situate creoles in the context of the plantation settlement colonies that produced them and compare their emergence specifically with that of languages such as English and the Romance languages in Europe. We will also compare these evolutions with those of new colonial varieties of European languages (such as Amish English, mainstream American English varieties, Brazilian Portuguese, and Québécois French) which emerged around the same time but are not considered creoles. Using the comparative approach (in evolutionary theory), we will assess whether the criteria used in the genetic classification of languages have been applied uniformly to creole and non-creole languages. In return, we will explore ways in which genetic creolistics can inform and improve genetic linguistics (including historical dialectology).

M W 1:30pm-2:50pm

Swahili is the most popular language of Sub-Saharan Africa, spoken in most countries of Eastern and Central Africa by more than 50 million people. Swahili is characterized by the typical complex Bantu structure. However, it is particularly easy to pronounce and fast learned. The Elementary Swahili series is designed to help students acquire communicative competence in Swahili and a basic understanding of its structures. The course presents basic phonological, grammatical, and syntactic patterns of Kiswahili. Through a variety of exercises, students develop communicative functionality in listening, speaking, reading and writing. Emphasis is put on dialogues and role-plays, individual and group presentations, and the use of audiovisual and web-based resources. Swahili culture and African culture in general are an important component of the course. At the end of the elementary course series, the students are able to communicate efficiently in everyday life situations, write and present short descriptive notes about elementary pieces of verbal creation (documentaries and video series in Swahili). This course allows fulfilling the non-Indo-European language requirement.

T TH 11:00-12:20 PM

This course serves as a graduate-level introduction to the study of sociolinguistic variation. We explore the three waves of linguistic variation and how differences in language-use connect with larger ideological categories such as race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality, and locality. This course is designed to explore sociolinguistics from a quantitative variationist approach, while drawing on theory from linguistic anthropology. Graduate students will read peer-reviewed journal articles in the field, design their own research project on a sociolinguistics' topic, as well as acquire practical skills in the field including performing sociolinguistic interviews, transcribing, and analyzing morphosyntactic or sociophonetic variables.

T, 2:00 PM-4:50 PM

What is the relationship between physical processes in the brain and body and the processes of thought and consciousness that constitute our mental life? Philosophers and others have puzzled over this question for millennia. Many have concluded it to be intractable. In recent decades, the field of cognitive science--encompassing philosophy, psychology, neuroscience, computer science, linguistics, and other disciplines--has proposed a new form of answer. The driving idea is that the interaction of the mental and the physical may be understood via a third level of analysis: that of the computational. This course offers a critical introduction to the elements of this approach, and surveys some of the alternative models and theories that fall within it. Readings are drawn from a range of historical and contemporary sources in philosophy, psychology, linguistics, and computer science. (B) (II)

T Th 9:30am-10:50am

T Th 12:30pm-1:50pm

With more than a quarter of the languages of humanity, the linguistic diversity of Africa represents a richness in terms of world heritage and linguistic description, but also a challenge for trans-community communication and for the integration of small minorities in larger national communities. Additionally, the persistent use of former colonial languages in most official functions may constitute an impediment, with regard to productive communication between educated elites and ordinary community members and the involvement of the latter in national development. The present course addresses these different issues in a descriptive perspective and through open discussions about potential resolutions in terms of language valorization and language planning. 

At the end of the course, the students will be able to classify African languages of wider communication in their respective families and identify key features of the latter; identify and discuss potential issues and / or advantages relating to the use of those languages in connection with endogenous development of African communities.  

This is a general introductory course with no specific prerequisites. 

T Th 2:00pm-3:20pm

The field methods course is a two-quarter course, taken by graduate students and advanced undergraduates. (Students may elect to take the course more than once.) This course is devoted to the elicitation, transcription, organization, and analysis of linguistic data from a native speaker of a language not commonly studied. Students will also gain practical experience in the use of fieldwork equipment. Language chosen may vary from year to year.

M W 3:00pm-4:20pm

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.

M W F 11:30am-12:20pm

M 12:30pm-1:00pm

This seminar will include readings from recent work on the morphosyntactic and phonological structure of sign languages. Discussion will focus on how the distribution of key structures and constraints can be employed to reveal systematic variation in a wide range of contexts. Language emergence, sociolinguistics, historical linguistics, and language typology are among the contexts that will be addressed.  3 credits. Pre-requisites: One course in phonology and one course in syntax, or permission of the instructor.

T 2:00pm-4:50pm

This course is an independent study under the guidance of a faculty advisor, indicated by the section number. Please consult with the faculty member in question before enrolling.

T Th 12:30pm-1:50pm

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.

Mon Wed Fri : 10:30 AM-11:20 AM

This course continues to increase grammatical structure, receptive and expressive skills, conversational skills, basic linguistic convergence, and knowledge of idioms. Field trip required.

Mon Wed Fri : 12:30 PM-01:20 PM

M W 11:30am-12:20pm

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 identities 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.

Tue Thu : 12:30 PM-01:50 PM

This course is an introduction to the study of speech sounds and their patterning in the world's languages. The first half of the course focuses on how speech sounds are described with respect to their articulatory, acoustic, and perceptual structures. There are lab exercises both in phonetic transcription and in the acoustic analysis of speech sounds. The second half focuses on 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).

T Th 11:00am-12:20pm

This course expands on the material presented in MOGK 20100, enabling students to speak about topics related to employment, current events and issues of public and community interest.

Mon Wed Fri : 12:30 PM-01:20 PM

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.

M W 3:00pm-4:20pm

Why is the plural of child in English children and not *childs? Why is undoable ambiguous ((i) 'unable to be done', (ii) 'able to be undone'), while unkillable isn't (only 'unable to be killed')? Unhappier is intuitively composed of several, smaller pieces: un-, happy, and -er; but what about unkempt? These questions are the purview of MORPHOLOGY, the field of linguistics devoted to studying the internal structure of words and how they are formed. Consequently, in this course we will investigate the nature of morphemes, in all their cross-linguistic shapes and guises. Key concepts which will frame our discussion include inflection, syncretism, allomorphy, and blocking. The only prerequisite for this course is LING 20001: Introduction to Linguistics.

T Th 9:30am-10:50am

T Th 3:30pm-4:50pm

This is a survey course in the psychology of language. We will focus on issues related to language comprehension, language production, and language acquisition. The course will also train students on how to read primary literature and conduct original research studies.

Mon Wed : 01:30 PM-02:50 PM

The general public has long been alarmed about the number of languages that disappear from use and are no longer spoken in the world. Their speakers shift to other languages. Linguists have long have long explored these situations of shift. At the same time, social groups have mobilized to document, revitalize and archive their resources of communication. That is one kind of language politics and dialectic we will explore. Others include: the choice of pronouns by youthful speakers; the standardization of languages that are indigenous or with small population of speakers; the reform of sexist and racist language; and the analysis of political speech designed to persuade in democratic and authoritarian regimes.

T Th 2:00pm-3:20pm

This class examines the history and methodology behind the creation of constructed languages or "conlangs". We will explore how and why languages are constructed, critically assess the design of existing conlangs (e.g. Klingon, Esperanto), and discuss conlanging both as an art form and as a tool to study the properties of natural human language, connecting this to the field of linguistic typology. Throughout the course, students will each build their own conlang, combining knowledge across various linguistic subfields to produce a workable grammar. They will explore the patterns seen in natural languages, developing a deeper understanding of how phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics interact and applying this towards language construction.

T Th 2:00pm-3:20pm

Languages change in a variety of ways over time: pronunciations shift, new words are borrowed and old words stop being used, etc. In this course, we explore a particular type of language change-grammaticalization-from a cross-linguistic perspective. Grammaticalization refers to a lexical item such as a verb or noun coming to serve a grammatical function. For example, the English future 'going to/gonna' is an instance of grammaticalization from the verb 'go' to a future marker, a change we also find in Spanish, French, Irish, Arabic, etc. In this class, we focus on how this type of change happens across languages: What its steps are, how they are ordered, etc. We begin with an introduction to the phenomenon of language change in general and learn about the mechanisms behind grammaticalization. Then, we look at how change usually proceeds (unidirectionally and in a cyclical fashion). The rest of the class is dedicated to case studies showing how grammaticalization operates with regards to specific phenomena. We will talk about negation, copulas, tense/aspect changes as well as grammaticalization from pronouns to agreement markers. The students will become familiar with the most studied grammaticalization clines as well as how linguists have modeled them.

T Th 12:30pm-1:50pm

A foundational principle of cognitive science is that the workings of cognitive systems--whether biological, mechanical, or digital--can be productively represented by the operation of formal computational models. This course provides a survey of popular modeling frameworks (such as Bayesian rational agents, connectionist networks, dynamical systems, etc.), as well as the cognitive phenomena that these models have been used to simulate. We will discuss the theoretical commitments of these models, assess strengths and weaknesses of each framework for addressing different types of cognitive questions, and analyze the implications of these models' successes and failures for our understanding of the mind.

Mon Wed : 03:00 PM-04:20 PM

This course is intended for students with a strong background in phonology. We will explore the major themes of phonological theory from 1870 to today, focusing on such questions as the distinction between phonology and morphophonology, the nature of phonological representations, and the character of hard and soft contraints on phonological representations.

T Th 9:30am-10:50am

This course offers a rapid review of the basic patterns of the language and expands the material presented in MOGK 10100/30100.

Mon Wed Fri : 03:30 PM-04:20 PM

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.

T Th 12:30pm-1:50pm

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.

T Th 12:30pm-1:50pm

This course familiarizes students with what it means to study meaning and use in natural language. By "meaning" we refer to the (for the most part, logical) content of words, constituents, and sentences (semantics), and by "use" we intend to capture how this content is implemented in discourse and what kinds of additional dimensions of meaning may then arise (pragmatics). Some of the core empirical phenomena that have to do with meaning are introduced: lexical (i.e., word) meaning, reference, quantification, logical inferencing, presupposition, implicature, context sensitivity, cross-linguistic variation, speech acts. Main course goals are not only to familiarize students with the basic topics in semantics and pragmatics but also to help them develop basic skills in semantic analysis and argumentation.

Tue Thu : 12:30 PM-01:50 PM

This is an advanced introduction to the field of psycholinguistics. We will do an in-depth overview of both the empirical findings and the methodologies used on various topics in language comprehension/production, including areas of speech perception, lexical processing, syntactic parsing, and semantic/pragmatic processing. Models at both the computational and the mechanistic levels will also be examined.

 Mon Wed : 04:30 PM-05:50 PM

This course is an advanced survey of topics in morphology examining current morphological theory through detailed analysis of a range of phenomena and readings from the primary research literature. The topics covered include blocking, inflectional features, syncretism, allomorphy and suppletion, and morpheme order.

M W 3:00pm-4:20pm

T 12:30pm-3:20pm

Swahili is the most popular language of Sub-Saharan Africa, spoken in most countries of Eastern and Central Africa by more than 50 million people. Swahili is characterized by the typical complex Bantu structure. However, it is particularly easy to pronounce and fast learned. The Elementary Swahili series is designed to help students acquire communicative competence in Swahili and a basic understanding of its structures. The course presents basic phonological, grammatical, and syntactic patterns of Kiswahili. Through a variety of exercises, students develop communicative functionality in listening, speaking, reading and writing. Emphasis is put on dialogues and role-plays, individual and group presentations, and the use of audiovisual and web-based resources. Swahili culture and African culture in general are an important component of the course. At the end of the elementary course series, the students are able to communicate efficiently in everyday life situations, write and present short descriptive notes about elementary pieces of verbal creation (documentaries and video series in Swahili). This course allows fulfilling the non-Indo-European language requirement.

Tue Thu : 11:00 AM-12:20 PM

Spoken in ten countries of Eastern and Central Africa, Swahili has more speakers than any other language in the Bantu family, a group of more than 400 languages most prevalent in sub-equatorial Africa. Based on Swahili Grammar and Workbook, this course helps the students master key areas of the Swahili language in a fast yet enjoyable pace. Topics include sound and intonation patterns, noun class agreements, verb moods, and sentence structures. Additionally, this course provides important listening and expressive reading skills. For advanced students, historical interpretations are offered for exceptional patterns observed in Swahili, in relation with other Bantu languages. 

Tue Thu : 02:00 PM-03:20 PM

T Th 2:00pm-3:20pm

Language is a powerful tool for communication proceedig through various channels including private and public forms of communication such as mass and social media, political, literary, and scientific discourses. It is generally accepted that the way speakers chose to describe something reveals their stance toward truth as well as their rhetorical intention about the message. This affective (Giannakidou and Mari 2021) use follows from the communicative function of language: successful communication requires maximum efficiency, and as speakers choose their words, audiences recognize the intentions behind them and form veridicality judgments (i.e., judgments about the truth or not of the content conveyed, its reliability, and the like). Veridicality judgments are based on knowledge, beliefs, experiences, and ideology (i.e., a set of fixed and non-negotiable beliefs). Non-negotiable beliefs can distort the veridicality judgment and potentially damage, intentionally or unintentionally, the relation to truth. The class includes some classical readings from Plato's Cratylus, Gorgias and Aristotle's Rhetoric, as well as more contemporary readings (Giannakidou and Mari 2021, A linguistic framework for knowledge, belief and veridicality judgment, and the phenomenon of concept creep (Haslam2016) where meaning is extended in warranted or unwarranted ways to manipulate emotion.

The field methods course is a two-quarter course, taken by graduate students and advanced undergraduates. (Students may elect to take the course more than once.) This course is devoted to the elicitation, transcription, organization, and analysis of linguistic data from a native speaker of a language not commonly studied. Students will also gain practical experience in the use of fieldwork equipment. Language chosen may vary from year to year.

T Th 9:30am-10:50am

This course covers the theory and methods in language documentation and description, with an emphasis on the role of language endangerment in the field, with discussion and hands-on work involving data collection, annotation, archiving, and presentation of results (including scholarly publications and the production of community-focused materials). Students will work with a native speaker of a lesser-studied language to conduct an actual digital documentation project. (This course complements but does not supplement LING 40301/40302 Field Methods.)

W 3:00pm-5:50pm

In this Topics course, we will focus on social, political, and economic implications of research and education on Language, Gender, and Sexuality.

F 2:30pm-5:20pm

Economy: This course is an advanced graduate seminar in theoretical syntax. Through readings from the primary research literature, we will make as much progress as we possibly can on answering the following questions, among others: Is syntax governed by principles of economy? If so, what kind of economy do they enforce: derivational economy, representational economy, some other kind, or more than one of the above-and why? And, insofar as syntax does exhibit economy effects, are any of them attributable to "third-factor" principles or principles of natural law-ones not specific to language? We will read and discuss in detail approximately one research article per week, and every enrolled student will write a final squib on a syntactic topic of their choice, approved by the instructor (which need not be related to syntactic economy specifically).

M 1:30pm-4:20pm

This course is a graduate seminar in theoretical syntax, and its intersection with comparative contact linguistics. In this course, we will be considering the issue of universality within the language module from a generative perspective, by examining both primary literature as well as empirical evidence from contact languages (with a focus on Singlish). The primary desideratum is to develop a deeper appreciation of the theoretical and empirical value of contact languages in adjudicating on theoretical proposals concerning the specifications of Universal Grammar.

Tues 3:30pm-6:20pm

Wieboldt 230

This course deals with a variety of topics specific to Linguistic Pedagogy.

Th 3:30pm-4:50pm

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.

M W F 11:30am-12:20pm

Reading and research course conducted under the supervision of the approved faculty member.

This is a survey course in the psychology of language. We will focus on issues related to language comprehension, language production, and language acquisition. The course will also train students on how to read primary literature and conduct original research studies.

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.

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.

This course continues to increase grammatical structure, receptive and expressive skills, conversational skills, basic linguistic convergence, and knowledge of idioms. Field trip required.

This is the third course in the Intermediate series. 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.

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 identities 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.

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 identities 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.

This course aims to enable students to attain conversational fluency and to become independent users of the language who deal effectively and with a good deal of accuracy.

This course, based primarily on insights from the field of linguistic anthropology, focuses on the relationship, in theory and in practice, between language, gender, and sexuality. We begin with a brief overview of the field and some of its major theoretical developments. Then, we expand on themes of social change, desire and identity, difference, kinship, and the significance of global, transnational and postcolonial connections in our understandings of gender and sexuality. The practical component of the course includes critical analysis of language and other signs that are used to enact gender and sexuality (e.g., in drag shows, communities you belong to personally, online communities, and current events). Throughout this course, we will emphasize the importance of ethnographic approaches to languages and communication-a hallmark of linguistic anthropology that requires a reflexive and critical attentiveness to how researchers co-participate in everyday social interactions with their interlocutors. Beyond the categories of gender and sexuality as studied in Western academic contexts, this course invites students to pay close attention to how non-normative forms of alterity are produced and circulated in the Global South under conditions of political and economic inequality.

This course focuses on the relationship, in theory and in practice, between language, gender, and sexuality. We begin with a brief overview of the field and some of its major theoretical developments. Then we expand on themes of desire and identity; binaries and normativities; embodiment; “interstices”; and performativity. The practical component of the course includes critical analysis of language used to construct gender and sexuality (e.g. in drag shows, communities you belong to personally, social media, and current events). We also consider binary language reform, abolition of linguistic gender systems, and emergence of identity categories as practices of everyday relationality that contest hegemonic systems. Readings are interdisciplinary and draw from fields including Linguistics, Anthropology, Performance Studies, Literary Studies, and Queer Studies.

In this course we will examine the language of deception and humor from a variety of perspectives: historical, developmental, neurological, and cross-cultural and in a variety of contexts: fiction, advertising, politics, courtship, and everyday conversation. We will focus on the (linguistic) knowledge and skills that underlie the use of humor and deception and on what sorts of things they are used to communicate.

Language tends to follow predictable patterns, from what sounds and words are about to be uttered, to what grammatical structures are likely, to be used to what broader implications are about to be suggested, and more. One prevailing hypothesis is that the human mind can take advantage of this predictability to help maintain the rapid pace of language comprehension. This course will explore critical questions surrounding the nature of prediction processes during language comprehension. What do people predict? How are their predictions constrained? How can we study the inherently internal process(es) of prediction? What are the consequences of prediction? Perhaps most importantly, what do the answers to these questions suggest about the mechanisms and computations of prediction? Readings will primarily consist of contemporary articles from peer-reviewed journals, and class meetings will be a mix of lectures and student-led discussions.

This is a survey course in the psychology of language. We will focus on issues related to language comprehension, language production, and language acquisition. The course will also train students on how to read primary literature and conduct original research studies.

This course introduces linguistic patterns of speech play and verbal art (SPVA), including parallelism, jokes, language games, sound symbolism, puns, ideophones, poetry, and other expressive strategies. We examine how speakers of indigenous and minority languages around the world use these strategies in everyday speech, and discuss how native intuitions and interpretations of SPVA data provide a key to understanding epistemologies, social identities, power and inequalities, and language ideologies. Through a humanistic and scientific lens, we will theorize how SPVA pushes the boundaries of iconicity, creativity, and variation. The everyday use of SPVA becomes central to understanding the language, culture, society, and individual nexus.

This course introduces linguistic patterns of speech play and verbal art (SPVA), including parallelism, jokes, language games, sound symbolism, puns, ideophones, poetry, and other expressive strategies. We examine how speakers of indigenous and minority languages around the world use these strategies in everyday speech, and discuss how native intuitions and interpretations of SPVA data provide a key to understanding epistemologies, social identities, power and inequalities, and language ideologies. Through a humanistic and scientific lens, we will theorize how SPVA pushes the boundaries of iconicity, creativity, and variation. The everyday use of SPVA becomes central to understanding the language, culture, society, and individual nexus.

The Iberian Peninsula is host to a number of languages. These include not only Spanish and European Portuguese, the dominant languages in Spain and Portugal, respectively, but also minoritized languages such as Galician, Basque, Catalan, and others. This class will investigate the morphosyntax of minoritized Iberian languages, drawing comparisons with the dominant languages in the area (Spanish, Portuguese, and French), which have exerted enormous influence on the minoritized languages due to centuries of contact. The focus will be the morphosyntax of these languages, but we also aim to better understand the complex social, historical, and political forces that have shaped them, as well as the way they continue to be affected by these forces and their long and sometimes fraught relationship with the dominant languages.

This course introduces students to experimental and computational methods used in linguistic research. Students will gain foundational knowledge of experimental design, stimuli creation, procedure, and data collection and analysis through hands-on practice. Students will design their own research projects, identify appropriate experimental and/or computational methods, and apply them to investigate their questions. Students will learn to use PCIbex (a web-based platform for constructing experiments), R, and Python throughout the process. Familiarity with R/Python/JavaScript is helpful but not required.

How are contemporary global communication technologies and the rapid rise of large-scale generative communicative models transforming how we use and understand language? This interdisciplinary seminar course explores the intersections of these technological advancements with the semiotic and discursive analysis of communication in sociocultural life-a methodology developed within linguistic anthropology and sociolinguistics since the 1980s. We will investigate topics such as how digital and AI-driven environments interact and mediate communication, power dynamics, and institutional structures; how contemporary communicative technology reshapes discursive practices and, in turn, is influenced by them; how political economy underpins and shapes emerging forms of communicative labor; and how diverse communities negotiate, adapt, or re-create their linguistic practices in response to various existing and emerging forms of globalized media. Particularly, we will explore the application of theories and concepts from linguistic anthropology, pragmatics, and sociolinguistics to analyze and reflect on recent textual and discursive materials arising from generative AI and new forms of human-machine interaction. Readings and materials will be drawn from linguistic anthropology, sociolinguistics, cognitive science, computer science, the history of science, and Science Studies. Graduate students and 3rd and 4th-year undergraduates; consent required for others.

In this seminar we explore the relationship between race and place, honing in on the question of how race dynamics have affected linguistic variation in the Chicago landscape for African American speakers. We examine sociohistorical texts on the migration of African Americans to Chicago, while constructing a sample on which to perform an analysis of one to two linguistic features. This analysis will form the basis of a project that we can potentially use to submit as coauthors for a presentation or paper.

A foundational principle of cognitive science is that the workings of cognitive systems--whether biological, mechanical, or digital--can be productively represented by the operation of formal computational models. This course provides a survey of popular modeling frameworks (such as Bayesian rational agents, connectionist networks, dynamical systems, etc.), as well as the cognitive phenomena that these models have been used to simulate. We will discuss the theoretical commitments of these models, assess strengths and weaknesses of each framework for addressing different types of cognitive questions, and analyze the implications of these models' successes and failures for our understanding of the mind.

This course is a continuation of Syntax I. The emphasis will be on A'-movement and ellipsis operations within the framework of Principles and Parameters and the Minimalist Program. Although we will examine different types of movement and ellipsis constructions, as well as their interactions, the objective will be to understand to what extent we can develop a general theory of syntax. The course will have a strong cross-linguistic aspect to it, examining data from Irish, Austronesian languages, Mayan languages, Wolof, Russian, Romance, Germanic, and others. The topics will include wh-movement in questions, relative clauses, and other constructions, islands and other constraints on movement, sentence fragments (sluicing, split questions), VP-ellipsis, and gapping.

This course is a continuation of Syntax I. The emphasis will be on A'-movement and ellipsis operations within the framework of Principles and Parameters and the Minimalist Program. Although we will examine different types of movement and ellipsis constructions, as well as their interactions, the objective will be to understand to what extent we can develop a general theory of syntax. The course will have a strong cross-linguistic aspect to it, examining data from Irish, Austronesian languages, Mayan languages, Wolof, Russian, Romance, Germanic, and others. The topics will include wh-movement in questions, relative clauses, and other constructions, islands and other constraints on movement, sentence fragments (sluicing, split questions), VP-ellipsis, and gapping.

This course expands on the material presented in MOGK 10200/30200, reviewing and elaborating the basic patterns of the language.

This course familiarizes students with what it means to study meaning and use in natural language. By "meaning" we refer to the (for the most part, logical) content of words, constituents, and sentences (semantics), and by "use" we intend to capture how this content is implemented in discourse and what kinds of additional dimensions of meaning may then arise (pragmatics). Some of the core empirical phenomena that have to do with meaning are introduced: lexical (i.e., word) meaning, reference, quantification, logical inferencing, presupposition, implicature, context sensitivity, cross-linguistic variation, speech acts. Main course goals are not only to familiarize students with the basic topics in semantics and pragmatics but also to help them develop basic skills in semantic analysis and argumentation.

This course familiarizes students with what it means to study meaning and use in natural language. By "meaning" we refer to the (for the most part, logical) content of words, constituents, and sentences (semantics), and by "use" we intend to capture how this content is implemented in discourse and what kinds of additional dimensions of meaning may then arise (pragmatics). Some of the core empirical phenomena that have to do with meaning are introduced: lexical (i.e., word) meaning, reference, quantification, logical inferencing, presupposition, implicature, context sensitivity, cross-linguistic variation, speech acts. Main course goals are not only to familiarize students with the basic topics in semantics and pragmatics but also to help them develop basic skills in semantic analysis and argumentation.

This course will cover basic topics in experiment design, data collection, and statistical analysis. To demonstrate different design and methodological considerations, we will look at data sets from different research methods including self-paced reading, acceptability judgment, production, etc. In addition, we will cover statistical methods including t-tests, ANOVAs, linear/logistic regressions and mixed-effect models. Students will gain hands-on experience using R as a data analysis tool. This course is meant to prepare students for more advanced data analytic courses in the future. Previous experience in R is not required.

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; parallels with cultural and genetic evolutionary theory; and implications for the description and explanation of language in general.

This course examines how modern Greek cinema and literature have shaped and reflected evolving views of Hellenism in the long twentieth century, exploring how filmmakers and writers have grappled with questions of identity, memory, and historical trauma. We will analyze films such as America America, Elia Kazan’s masterful cinematic epic, which vividly portrays the struggles of a young Anatolian Greek immigrant seeking a new life in America; Never on Sunday, an emblematic film starring the iconic Melina Mercouri, which playfully challenges some scholarly, idealized perceptions of Greece by starkly juxtaposing the grandeur of its timeless, classical heritage with the vibrancy of modern Greek culture; Smyrna, My Beloved, a poignant historical drama that follows a prominent Greek family as they experience the destruction of the flourishing, cosmopolitan city of Smyrna in 1922; Little England, a captivating period romantic drama set in the Greek island of Andros, which is directed by Pantelis Voulgaris, one of Greece’s most celebrated and influential filmmakers; and 1968, a fascinating docufiction by Tasos Boulmetis that intertwines sports and politics in a turbulent historical period. Our course will focus on pivotal moments in modern Greek history, including the Asia Minor Catastrophe of 1922, the Second World War, and the Greek military dictatorship (1967–1974).

In addition to film analysis, students will engage with modern Greek literature, exploring texts that offer deeper historical and cultural context, including selected writings by two renowned Nobel laureates, Odysseas Elytis and Giorgos Seferis; Dido Sotiriou’s Farewell Anatolia; Ioanna Karystiani’s The Jasmine Isle; and Maro Doukas’ Fool’s Gold.

Through film screenings, literary analysis, and visual materials such as powerfully evocative photographs (Frédéric Boissonnas, Nelly’s), students will explore themes of displacement, diaspora, collective identity, and shifting perceptions of the past, gaining a rich, interdisciplinary understanding of modern Greece. No prior knowledge of Greek is required, and all readings will be provided in English translation.

In this course we will examine the language of deception and humor from a variety of perspectives: historical, developmental, neurological, and cross-cultural and in a variety of contexts: fiction, advertising, politics, courtship, and everyday conversation. We will focus on the (linguistic) knowledge and skills that underlie the use of humor and deception and on what sorts of things they are used to communicate.

Swahili is the most popular language of Sub-Saharan Africa, spoken in most countries of Eastern and Central Africa by more than 50 million people. Swahili is characterized by the typical complex Bantu structure. However, it is particularly easy to pronounce and fast learned.

The Elementary Swahili series is designed to help students acquire communicative competence in Swahili and a basic understanding of its structures. The course presents basic phonological, grammatical, and syntactic patterns of Kiswahili.

Through a variety of exercises, students develop communicative functionality in listening, speaking, reading and writing. Emphasis is put on dialogues and role-plays, individual and group presentations, and the use of audiovisual and web-based resources. Swahili culture and African culture in general are an important component of the course.
At the end of the elementary course series, the students are able to communicate efficiently in everyday life situations, write and present short descriptive notes about elementary pieces of verbal creation (documentaries and video series in Swahili). This course allows fulfilling the non-Indo-European language requirement.

What is the relationship between physical processes in the brain and body and the processes of thought and consciousness that constitute our mental life? Philosophers and others have puzzled over this question for millennia. Many have concluded it to be intractable. In recent decades, the field of cognitive science--encompassing philosophy, psychology, neuroscience, computer science, linguistics, and other disciplines--has proposed a new form of answer. The driving idea is that the interaction of the mental and the physical may be understood via a third level of analysis: that of the computational. This course offers a critical introduction to the elements of this approach, and surveys some of the alternative models and theories that fall within it. Readings are drawn from a range of historical and contemporary sources in philosophy, psychology, linguistics, and computer science. (B) (II)

Based on Swahili Grammar and Workbook, this course is a continuation of Linguistic Introduction to Swahili I. It addresses complex issues related to grammatical agreement, verb moods, noun and verb derivation, non-typical adjectives and adverbs, double object constructions, subordinate / coordinated clause constructions, and dialectal variation. Additionally, this course provides important listening and expressive reading skills. For advanced students, historical interpretations are offered for exceptional patterns observed in Swahili, in relation with other Bantu languages. This course allows fulfilling the non-Indo-European language requirement.

This graduate seminar is intended for students with a background in phonetics and (historical) phonology and an interest in either sound change or the sound patterns of Basque. In this seminar, we will discuss many of the linguistic aspects relevant to theories of sound change with a focus on the Basque language (with occasional case studies from other endangered languages such as Ribagorzan Aragonese or Lakota). Key topics will include phonetically-based sound change, synchronic variation as the seed of change, the role of contact, the advantages of studying change from different perspectives, typologically rare sound changes, and the importance of the precise phonetic documentation of endangered languages for sound change typology and linguistic theory overall.

This graduate level seminar will examine the relation between morphosyntax and meaning through the lens of derivational morphology and especially argument structure. At the center of the seminar will be the relation between word-internal and clause structure, and the role of meaning in mediating between them. These questions have become central to debates in the literature with the introduction of Distributed Morphology as a theory of the syntax-semantics interface. Within such debates, DM-inspired approaches are contrasted with so-called lexicalist approaches. We will start with the assumption that DM and Lexicalsm differ in their answers to the following two questions: (a) Is semantic information part of what morphemes encode? (b) Are the mechanisms that form words distinguishable from those that form phrases? Looking closely at phenomena such as the causative alternation, voice morphology, causativization and applicativization, denominal verb formation and nominalization, we will see how different answers to (a) and (b) lead to different analyses, aiming to get a clearer view of what, if anything, is the empirical stake of making specific theoretical choices.

Morpho-Semantics. Although the issue of compositionality (the hypothesis that the meaning of complex expressions in based on the meanings of its component parts) is traditionally addressed with respect to phrases and sentences, similar questions arise in the study of word and morpheme meaning. Traditionally, formal semantic work has paid relatively little attention to compositionality within words, and research on theoretical morphology has typically not been based on formal theories of meaning. In the last two decades, prompted partly by the development of Distributed Morphology, a grammatical framework that enriches and complicates the possible interactions between morphology, syntax and semantics, compositionally below the word level has begun to acquire more prominence and attention from both morphologists and semanticists. Through a critical examination of some of this work, and the literature that forms the background for it, the class will attempt to map the different empirical and theoretical stakes involved in constructing a theory of the morphology-semantics interface that is both morphologically and semantically rigorous. The topics will include the semantics of inflectional categories (such as person) and the relation of syntactic categories (parts of speech) to meaning.

The goal of this course is to explore ways of using large language models for linguistics research. We will begin by building a solid understanding of how large language models work and then take a close look at existing examples work in linguistics and closely related fields that has made innovative use of LLMs as research tools. Finally, we will develop our own (possibly collaborative) project (or projects) to gain practical experience using LLMs in our work. The topic area(s) of the project(s) will be determined based on the interests of the students in the class.