2024-25

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

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

T Th 2:00pm-3:20pm

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 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.

T Th 3:30pm-4:50pm

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

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 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