Considers social forces that favor or inhibit bilingualism, as well as the educational consequences of bilingual education (and of monolingual education for bilingual children). Examines the impact of bilingualism on the languages involved. Special attention to code switching, with particular reference to its psycholinguistic and sociolinguistic aspects.
Introduces the field of cognitive science through an examination of language behavior. Begins with interactive discussions of how best to characterize and study the mind. These principles are then illustrated through an examination of research and theories related to language representation and use. Draws from research in both formal linguistics and psycholinguistics.
Focuses on the compositional semantics of sentences. Introduces set theory, propositional logic, and predicate logic as tools and goes on to investigate the empirical linguistic issues of presuppositions, quantification, scope, and polarity. Points out parallelisms between the nominal and the verbal domains.
Phonetic and phonological theory at an elementary level. Topics include the description and analysis of speech sounds, the anatomy and physiology of speech, speech acoustics, and phonological processes. Students develop skills to distinguish and produce sounds used in the languages of the world and to transcribe them using the International Phonetic Alphabet.
Focuses on phonology and phonetics (i.e., sound structure), but also addresses the structure of words and phrases. Topics: bilingualism, language contact, language loss, indigenous language education, literacy, orthography, and language policy. Emphasis on the Quechuan languages of the Andes in South America, spoken in Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia.
The building blocks of words and sentences: the atomic units of word structure, their hierarchical and linear arrangement, and their phonological realization(s). An introduction to fundamental issues including allomorphy, morpheme order, paradigm structure, blocking, and cyclicity. Interactions of morphology with syntax, phonology, semantics, and variation.
An introduction to the morphosyntax of Russian. Students learn how to analyze the underlying structures of this language by using formal tools in syntactic theory. The core areas of Russian grammar: case, aspect, argument structure alternations, topic/ focus structure, negation, binding, control, and wh-movement. No knowledge of Russian required.
How and why American varieties of Spanish and Portuguese differ from European varieties, as well as the distribution and nature of dialect differences throughout the Americas. Examines sociolinguistic issues: class and ethnic differences in language, the origin and development of standard and nonstandard varieties, and the effects of contact with Amerindian and African languages. Considers Spanish- and Portuguese-based creoles and the question of prior creolization.
Introduces rules for composing words and sentences from the smallest units of linguistic combination (morphemes). Why can the same message be expressed in one word in some languages but require an entire sentence in others? Why do the shapes of prefixes, suffixes, and roots change depending on their semantic and phonological context? What rules do different languages use for forming new words? No previous background in linguistics is required.
Builds a solid command of predicate logic and elements of the lambda calculus. Introduces the principles of compositional model theoretic semantics. Analyzes constituent order and a set of specific phenomena, possibly varying from year to year.
How linguistic practices reflect and shape our gender identity. Do women and men talk differently? Are these differences universal or variable across cultures? How does gendered language intersect with race and class-linked language? What impact does gendered language have on social power relationships?
What determines the sequencing of words in a given language? How can we explain word-order variation within and across languages? Are there universal syntactic properties common to the grammar of all languages? Presents the modern generative approach to the scientific study of language and systematically develops a model that will account for the most basic syntactic constructions of natural language.
Psycholinguistics aims to understand the mental processes that underlie both the representation and acquisition of language. Topics include language acquisition, speech perception, lexical representation and access, sentence production, and the relationship between phonology and orthography.
How languages organize sounds into highly constrained systems. Topics: What do the sound systems of all languages have in common? How can they differ from each other? What is the nature of phonological processes, and why do they occur?
Language is a social phenomenon, but languages share elaborate and specific structural properties. Speech communities exist, exhibit variation, and change within the strict confines of universal grammar, part of our biological endowment. Universal grammar is discovered through the careful study of the structures of individual languages, by cross-linguistic investigations, and the investigation of the brain. Introduces fundamental properties of the sound system and of the structure and interpretation of words and sentences against this larger context.
Focussed each time by genre (comedies, tragedies, romances, histories), or by theme or topic (theatricality, gender, race, politics, religion, etc.), this course explores the works of Shakespeare as text and performance – on stage or on film. Various critical methodologies, including biographical and cultural analysis, are used to reveal the continuing vitality of these plays and their relevance to the theatre of our time. (THEATRE STUDIES C)
This class is a guide through the works of choreographers who can teach us the elements of making dance and enable us to create our own movement identity. The psychological storytelling of Martha Graham, George Balanchine’s blazing neo-classicism, the chance field dances of Merce Cunningham, Twyla Tharp’s humorous inversions, the deconstructions of William Forsythe, Mathew Bourne’s gay Swan Lake, and the powerful Black gospel songs of Alvin Ailey are observed through video and readings. After a warmup of technique and improvisation, the student begins with small movement studies, leading to group studies of increasing complexity, with teacher and students responding with supportive feedback. New this semester will be a section, “Dance as Protest,” which explores texts such as Hot Feet and Social Change: African Dance and Diaspora Communities. We will study the movie In the Heights, where Afro-Caribbean dance, ballet, contemporary and hip hop convey ideas about community and representation. Texts include The Intimate Art of Choreography and “Dance in the Age of Black Lives Matter.” Students can have studied dance or simply wish to move and compose using their body and imagination. Student works in a final performance in the theater will be recorded.