INTRODUCTION TO GENERAL LINGUISTICS
(LIN
114.01)
Grinnell College
Fall Semester, 2001
Kelly Herold (HEROLDK) Office Hours: M 10-11, 3:15-
ARH 232C/x3103 4:15, Tu 9-10, 2:15-2:45, W 10-11, Th 9-10, 12:45-2:45, F 10-11
This course is designed as an introductory course in general linguistics--the formal study of language. The first part of the course will introduce the methodology for analyzing various levels of linguistic structure, including phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics. The second half of the course will examine the major sub-disciplines of linguistics including sociolinguistics, historical linguistics and linguistic anthropology.
Texts: Department of Linguistics. The Ohio State University. Language Files (LF). Columbus: The Ohio State University Press, 1998. 7th edition.
Steven Pinker. The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language. New York: HarperPerennial, 1994.
Ben G. Blount, ed.
Language, Culture and Society. A Book of Readings. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press,
1995. 2nd edition.
Ana Celia Zentella. Growing Up Bilingual. Malden, MA and Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1997.
Readings and Daily Class Preparation: It is imperative that readings be completed for the class they are assigned. You should read the selections critically and carefully, bringing any questions that may arise to class for discussion. Class attendance is very important--many topics will be covered only in class.
Homework: In addition to weekly readings, you will be assigned approximately one
homework set per week during the first half of the semester. Most will be taken from Language Files, but there will be additional problems assigned from other sources. Homework sets will be accepted only on the day they are due (you will receive full credit if received at 8am, 50% credit if received before 4pm). You are encouraged to work in groups on homework assignments and to ask questions during office hours.
Exams: There will be three exams over the course of the semester. The first will cover phonetics, phonology and morphology. The second exam will be on syntax and semantics. The final exam will cover topics discussed during the last six weeks of the course.
Discussion List: There will be at least one discussion list topic posted each week. I will notify you by e-mail when a new thread is up. You are required to participate in these discussions and participation will be factored into your grade for the course (as part of the participation score). Please be respectful when posting to the boards. There will be no anonymous posting except for in the thread titled “Questions”.
Papers and Presentations: You will be required to present and write up a group project during the second half of the course. Your project may be on any topic (for example, the use of slang on the Grinnell campus) agreed upon by the instructor. We will discuss this assignment in detail after the fall recess.
Course Evaluation:
Participation: 15%
Homework sets 20%
In-class Exams: 25%
Final Exam: 20%
Group Project: 20%
Friday, August 31: “What’s in a Name?”
Reading for Monday, September 3:
File Two (pp. 20-31) in LF; Pinker, Chapter 11 (“The Big Bang”)
Monday, September 3: “Can Animals Speak?”
Reading for Wednesday, September 5:
File 9.1 and 9.2 in LF; Pinker,
Chapter 1 (“An Instinct to Acquire an Art”)
Wednesday, September 5: “Psychology of Language: Overview”
Reading for Friday, September 7: Pinker, Chapter 9 (“Baby Born Talking—Describes Heaven”) and Chapter 13 (“Mind Design”)
Friday, September 7: “The Brain and Language”
Reading for Monday, September 10: Pinker, Chapter 2 (“Chatterboxes”), Chapter 3(“Mentalese”)
Monday, September 10: “Human Language”
Reading for Wednesday, September
12: Files 3.1-3.3 in LF, Pinker, Chapter 12 (“The Language Mavens”)
Wednesday, September 12: “Introduction to Phonetics”
Reading for Friday, September 14:
Files 3.6-3.8 in LF
Friday, September 14: “Phonetic Description Continued”
Homework Set due Wednesday, September 19: LF 3.5 #1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 (k-dd),
7 (a-o), 8
Monday, September 17: “Phonetics and Sound Systems of the World”
Reading for Wednesday, September
19: File 4.1 in LF; Pinker,
Chapter 6 (“The Sounds of Silence”)
Wednesday, September 19: “Introduction to Phonology”
Reading for Friday, September 21:
File 4.2-4.3 in LF
Friday, September 21: “Phonological Rules”
Monday, September 24: “Phonological Rules”
Homework Set due Friday, September 28: LF 4.4 # 1.1, 1.2, 1.4, 1.6, 1.7, 1.8, 2.2, 2.6, 2.8, 3.4
Wednesday, September 26: “Day of Panic and Phonology: Conclusions”
Reading for Friday, September 28:
Files 5.1-5.3 in LF
Friday, September 28: “Introduction to Morphology”
Reading for
Monday, October 1: Files 5.4 and 5.5 in LF
Pinker, Chapter 5 (“Words, Words, Words”)
Monday, October 1: “Rules of Word Formation”
Homework Set due Wednesday, October 3: LF 5.6 #1.1, 1.2, 1.5, 1.7, 2.1, 2.4, 3.1, 3.4
Wednesday, October 3: Review of Phonetics, Phonology and Morphology
Friday, October 5: EXAM #1
Monday, October 8: Introduction to Syntax
Reading for Wednesday, October 10: LF 6.1-6.3
Pinker Ch. 4 (“How Language Works”)
Wednesday, October 10: Phrase Structure Rules
Friday, October 12: Word Order Typology
Homework Set Due Friday,
October 12: LF 6.3 (p.188): 1 m-v, 2; 6.5 (p.201-202): 1,
2, 3; 6.6 (p.208): 2
FALL BREAK
Wednesday, October 24: Semantic Properties
Reading for
October 26: Blount, #1, #3, #4, #13
Friday, October 26: Semantics and the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
Monday, October 29: Review and Group Project Preparation
Wednesday, October 31: EXAM #2
Reading for Friday, November 2: Blount, #12, #14
Friday,
November 2: Language in Society
Reading for Monday, November 5: LF Files 12.6 and 12.7
Blount, #23
Monday, November 5: Language in Society—Language, Sex and Gender
Reading for Wednesday, November 7: LF Files 12.1-12.5
Wednesday, November 7: Language in Society—Slang, Taboo, Styles and Jargon
Reading for Friday, November 9: Blount, #9 LF Files
11.1-11.3
Friday, November 9: Language in
Society—Language and Power
Reading for Monday, November 12: LF Files 10.1-10.4
Pinker, Ch. 8 (“The Tower of Babel”)
Monday, November 12: Introduction
to Historical Linguistics
Reading for Wednesday, November 14: LF Files 10.1-10.4, 10.11-10.14
Wednesday, November 14: Language Families
Reading for Friday, November 16: LF Files 10.6-10.10
Friday, November 16: English Historical Linguistics
Reading for Monday, November 19: LF File
14.7
Monday, November 19: Writing Systems
Wednesday, November 21: Writing Systems
Reading for Monday, November 26: Zentella, Chs. 1-4
Monday, November 26: Language Acquisition
Reading for Wednesday, November 28: Zentella, Chs.5-8
Wednesday, November 28: Bilingualism
Reading for Friday, April 27: Zentella, Chs. 9-12
Friday, November 30: Bilingualism and Applied Linguistics
Monday, December 3: Artificial Languages
Wednesday, December 5: Student Reports
Friday, December 7: Student Reports
Monday, December 10: Student Reports
Wednesday, December 12: Student Reports
Friday, December 14: Introduction to General Linguistics--Conclusions