Languages in the Linguistics Department

Courses Offered:

American Sign Language I, II, III 
ASLG 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. Taught By: David Reinhart. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

Intermediate American Sign Language I, II, III
ASLG 10400-10500-10600. This course continues to increase grammatical structure, receptive and expressive skills, conversational skills, basic linguistic convergence, and knowledge of idioms. Field trip required. Taught By: David Reinhart. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

Greek is an Indo-European language that has been spoken and written for four thousand years in a small area of southeastern Europe. The written tradition of Greek is evidenced in texts in Linear B (a syllabic script) from ancient times (15th century BCE). Today, Modern Greek is the official language of Greece, a small country with a population of eleven million people. Although Modern Greek is a language spoken by a small number of people in a limited area of the world, it has had a great cultural impact all over the planet.

Ancient Greek and Modern Greek are not two different languages. The language has maintained such cohesion of structure and vocabulary that it is recognized by both scholars and native speakers as one language. But, as with English, Greek has gone through several periods which mark the evolution of the language through history.

The learner of Modern Greek seeks not only to speak a contemporary European language with an important presence in literature and art, but also to understand the deeper ideas and conventions that were exported through the Greek language into Western thought and civilization. With the turn toward classical studies during the Renaissance (14th to 17th centuries), Europe came to know, study, and be influenced by the great Greek thinkers of antiquity: the philosophers (Heraclitous, Empedocles, Democritus, Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics, and others), the poets (Homer, Pindar, Sappho, Alcaeus), the tragedians (Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes), the historians (Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon, Polybius, Pausanias), the physicians (Hippocrates Galenos), the orators (Demosthenes, Isocrates), the grammarians (Dionysius, Apollonius and others) and other writers (Plutarch, Lucian, Theophrastus, Archimedes, Euclides, Strabo) and so on. Thus, it has been encouraged that scientists and writers should learn both Latin and Greek because those were the academic languages for many centuries until the middle of 19th century.

Courses Offered:

Elementary Modern Greek I, II, III
MOGK 10100-10200-10300/30100-30200-30300. This course sequence is designed to help students acquire communicative competence in Modern Greek and a basic understanding of its structures. Through a variety of exercises, students develop all skill sets. Taught By: Stefanos Katsikas. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

Intermediate Modern Greek I, II, III
MOGK 20100-20200-20300.  PQ: Elementary Modern Greek sequence or placement exam. This course sequence builds on the student's knowledge of modern Greek in all four skill areas through the use of authentic cultural materials (short stories, films, newspapers, etc.), with emphasis on grammar, vocabulary building, and fluency in expression and accuracy in writing. Taught By: Stefanos Katsikas. Autumn, Winter, Spring. 

Swahili is the most popular language of Sub-Saharan Africa. It is spoken by approximately 50 million people in Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, eastern Congo (DRC), the Comoros, and, marginally, in northern Mozambique, southern Somalia, northern Malawi and northern Zambia. Swahili is a national language in Tanzania, Kenya and Congo (DRC). It also has official status in Tanzania, Kenya and in Uganda (along with English).

Swahili is characterized by the typical complex Bantu structure. However, it is particularly easy to pronounce and fast learned.

Each year at the University of Chicago, we offer a three-quarter sequence of Swahili at the elementary level.  In alternating years, we offer three-quarter sequences at either the intermediate or advanced level.  Depending on student demand, an additional class focused on the grammar and other linguistic aspects of the language may also be available. The elementary course series focuses on communication in everyday life situations, on writing and presenting short descriptive notes about oneself or various situations in relation with East Africa. Elementary level students are also offered a weekly teaching assistant session aimed to improve their speaking practice and their grammar usage.  The intermediate and advanced course series develop further the student fluency and include more discussion about East African cultures and societies as well as current events, basing on extensive textual and audiovisual materials.

Courses Offered: 

Elementary level Swahili is offered every year, while other, more advanced, courses are offered in alternating years or as requested.

Elementary Swahili I, II, III 

SWAH 25200-25300-25400/35200-35300-35400. 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). Taught By: Fidele Mpiranya. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

A Linguistic Introduction to Swahili 

LING 28355/38355. 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 to 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. This is a general introduction course with no specific prerequisites. It allows fulfilling the non-Indo-European language requirement. Taught By Fidele Mpiranya. Winter. 

Past Courses

Intermediate Swahili I, II, III
26800-26900-27000/36800-36900-37000.  PQ: Elementary Swahili sequence or consent of instructor.  Students focus on broadening their listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills in this course. They learn to use sophisticated sentence structures and expression of complex ideas in Swahili. Advanced readings and essay writing are based on student interests. Taught By: Fidele Mpiranya. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

Advanced Swahili I, II, III
27200-27300-27400/37200-37300-37400. PQ: Intermediate Swahili sequence or consent of instructor. This course is focused on advanced listening, speaking, reading and writing skills, with long textual or audiovisual materials.  Exercises in class include discussion about various topics in relation with East African cultures and societies, text rewriting, dialogue production and performance, and essay presentation.  Students are assigned advanced readings and essay writing based on their own interests. Taught By: Fidele Mpiranya. Autumn,Winter, Spring.

Advanced Reading in Swahili I, II, III
28375-28376-28377/38375-38376-38377. PQ: Advanced Swahili sequence or consent of instructor.  This course emphasizes analysis and discussion about various literary and audiovisual works in Swahili.  The presentations in class will cover novels and short stories as well as popular movies.  The students also will be assigned short literary works and other authentic texts or audiovisual materials for written homework and in class discussion.  In the end, the students will be able to express an informed appreciation in Swahili on original works and formal discourse in Swahili. Taught By: Fidele Mpiranya. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

Linguistic Introduction to Swahili II
LING 28356/38356.  PQ: LING 28355/38355.  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. Taught By: Fidele Mpiranya.