ASLG 10100-10200-10300. American Sign Language I-II-III.

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

ASLG 10400-10500-10600. Intermediate American Sign Language I-II-III.

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

LGLN 20100-20200-20300. Introductory Modern Hebrew I-II-III.

This course introduces reading, writing, and speaking modern Hebrew. All four language skills are emphasized: comprehension of written and oral materials; reading of nondiacritical text; writing of directed sentences, paragraphs, and compositions; and speaking. Students learn the Hebrew root pattern system and the seven basic verb conjugations in both the past and present tenses, as well as simple future. At the end of the year, students can conduct short conversations in Hebrew, read materials at their level, and write short essays

LGLN 20400-20500-20600. Intermediate Modern Hebrew I-II-III.

The main objective of this course is to provide students with the skills necessary to approach modern Hebrew prose, both fiction and nonfiction. In order to achieve this task, students are provided with a systematic examination of the complete verb structure. Many syntactic structures are introduced (e.g., simple clauses, coordinate and compound sentences). At this level, students not only write and speak extensively, but are also required to analyze grammatically and contextually all of the material assigned.

LGLN 22001. From Proto-Indo-European to Old Church Slavonic. 100 Units.

This course covers essentials of Slavic historical grammar with emphasis on the evolution of Proto-Slavic verbal and nominal morphology

Instructor(s): Y. Gorbachov     Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): Some familiarity with either Old Church Slavonic or Indo-European.
Equivalent Course(s): SLAV 22001

LGLN 22100-22200-22300. Elementary Georgian I-II-III.

This course introduces students to modern Georgian grammar, primarily through reading exercises that relate to Georgian historical, social, and literary traditions. Supplemental activities that encourage writing, speaking, and listening skills are also included

LGLN 22400-22500-22600. Intermediate Georgian I-II-III.

This course reviews and reinforces the grammar principles presented in Elementary Georgian through the reading and analysis of selected texts written by influential Georgian authors and poets. Additional class exercises are provided to strengthen listening and speaking skills

LGLN 23000-23100-23200. Advanced Modern Hebrew I-II-III.

Although this course assumes that students have full mastery of the grammatical and lexical content at the intermediate level, there is a shift from a reliance on the cognitive approach to an emphasis on the expansion of various grammatical and vocabulary-related subjects. After being introduced to sophisticated and more complex syntactic constructions, students learn how to transform simple sentences into more complicated ones. The exercises address the creative efforts of students, and the reading segments are longer and more challenging in both style and content. The language of the texts reflects the literary written medium rather than the more informal spoken style, which often dominates the introductory and intermediate texts

LGLN 25100. Old Church Slavonic. 100 Units.

This course introduces the language of the oldest Slavic texts. It begins with a brief historical overview of the relationship of Old Church Slavonic to Common Slavic and the other Slavic languages. This is followed by a short outline of Old Church Slavonic inflectional morphology. The remainder of the course is spent in the reading and grammatical analysis of original texts. Texts in Cyrillic or Cyrillic transcription of the original Glagolitic

Instructor(s): Y. Gorbachov     Terms Offered: Winter
Prerequisite(s): Knowledge of another Slavic language or good knowledge of one or two other old Indo-European languages required; SLAV 20100,SLAV 30100 recommended.
Equivalent Course(s): SLAV 22000

LGLN 27200-27300-27400. Elementary Yiddish for Beginners I-II-III.

The goal of this sequence is to develop proficiency in reading, writing, listening, and speaking for use in everyday communication. These courses introduce the main features of Yiddish culture through websites, songs, films, and folklore

LING 20001. Introduction to Linguistics. 100 Units.

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

Instructor(s): John Goldsmith, Staff     Terms Offered: Autumn, Winter, Spring

LING 20101. Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology. 100 Units.

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)

Instructor(s): Alan Yu     Terms Offered: Winter
Prerequisite(s): LING 20001

LING 20150. Language and Communication. 100 Units.

This course is a complement to LING 20001. It can also be taken as an alternative to it by nonmajors who are interested in learning something about language. It covers a selection from the following topics: What is the position of spoken language in the usually multimodal forms of communication among humans? In what ways does spoken language differ from signed language? What features make spoken and signed language linguistic? What features distinguish linguistic means of communication from animal communication? How do humans communicate with animals? From an evolutionary point of view, how can we account for the fact that spoken language is the dominant mode of communication in all human communities around the world? Why cannot animals really communicate linguistically? What do the terms language “acquisition” and “transmission” really mean? What factors account for differences between “language acquisition” by children and by adults? What does it mean to be a bilingual? Are children really perfect “language acquirers”? What factors bring about language evolution, including language loss and the emergence of new language varieties? What is language contact and what are its manifestations?

Instructor(s): Salikoko Mufwene     Terms Offered: Winter

LING 20201. Introduction to Syntax. 100 Units.

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

Instructor(s): Amy Dahlstrom     Terms Offered: Autumn
Prerequisite(s): LING 20001

LING 20301. Introduction to Semantics and Pragmatics. 100 Units.

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

Instructor(s): Salikoko Mufwene     Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): LING 20001

LING 21000. Morphology. 100 Units.

This course deals with linguistic structure and patterning beyond the phonological level. We focus on analysis of grammatical and formal oppositions, as well as their structural relationships and interrelationships (morphophonology)

Instructor(s): Karlos Arregi     Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): ANTH 37500

LING 21300. Historical Linguistics. 100 Units.

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

Instructor(s): Gorbachev, Yaroslav     Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): LING 20600,LING 30600 and 20800,30800, or consent of instructor.

LING 23900. Languages of the World. 100 Units.

This course is a nontechnical general survey of human languages, examining their diversity and uniformity across space and time. Major topics include language families and historical relationships, linguistic typology and language universals, sound and structural features of the world's languages, and writing systems

Terms Offered: Spring

LING 25000. Linguistic Typology. 100 Units.

This course explores the core assumptions and methods of the field of linguistic typology, defined as the systematic study of cross-linguistic variation. This view of typology is based on the assumption that linguistic diversity needs to be study in a cross-linguistic context, and this study must be based on a reliable empirical database coming for solid descriptive work. Topics will include a review of typologies based on word order and morphology and an examination a variety of grammatical categories and constructions including tense/aspect, case, relative, clauses, serial verbs, and switch-reference. Against the background of a corpus of data, we will examine the explanations proposed for typological patterns, including information management, cognitive processing, and interactional language use and examine the relationship of typology to genetic and areal linguistics

Instructor(s): Lenore Grenoble     Terms Offered: Autumn
Prerequisite(s): LING 20100,LING 20200,LING 20300,LING 30100,LING 30200,LING 30300 or equivalent.
Equivalent Course(s): SLAV 23100

LING 26400. Introduction to Slavic Linguistics. 100 Units.

The main goal of this course is to familiarize students with the essential facts of Slavic linguistic history and with the most characteristic features of the modern Slavic languages. In order to understand the development of Proto-Slavic into the existing Slavic languages and dialects, we focus on a set of basic phenomena. The course is specifically concerned with making students aware of factors that led to the breakup of the Slavic unity and the emergence of the individual languages. Drawing on historical development, we touch upon such salient typological characteristics of the modern languages as the rich set of morphophonemic alternations, aspect, free word order, and agreement

Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): SLAV 20100

LING 27010. Psycholinguistics. 100 Units.

This is a survey course in the psychology of language. We ask the question how humans comprehend and produce a language, and what are the important theoretical questions and the standard research methodologies. The topics we will cover include speech perception, lexical access, lexical semantics and sentence level structure and meaning. In addition, the course will also offer hands-on experience in running psycholinguistics experiments

Instructor(s): Ming Xiang     Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): PSYC 27010

LING 27910. Sign Languages Linguistics. 100 Units.

This course, intended for upper level undergraduates and graduate students, will cover a wide range of analyses of different sign languages, and from a variety of theoretical and methodological perspectives.  The focus will be on how sign language linguistics has contributed to broadening general approaches to the study of language and to linguistic theory as a whole. Questions to be addressed include: “What impact does communication modality have on grammar?”, “What is the relationship between sign language and gesture?”, “How does the cross-linguistic study of sign languages help us understand the emergence of language?”, and “How do phenomena in sign languages broaden our understanding of what is universal in language?” Previous knowledge of sign language is not assumed

Instructor(s): Diane Brentari     Terms Offered: Autumn
Prerequisite(s): LING 20101 or 30101; LING 20201 or 30201; or permission of instructor.

LING 28600. Computational Linguistics. 100 Units.

This course introduces the problems of computational linguistics and the techniques used to deal with them. Topics are drawn primarily from phonology, morphology, and syntax. Special topics include automatic learning of grammatical structure and the treatment of languages other than English

Instructor(s): J. Goldsmith     Terms Offered: Autumn
Prerequisite(s): CMSC 15200 or 12200, or competence in a programming language.
Equivalent Course(s): CMSC 25020

LING 29700. Reading and Research Course. 100 Units.

Terms Offered: Autumn, Winter, Spring
Prerequisite(s): Consent of instructor and linguistics undergraduate adviser.
Note(s): Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form.

LING 29900. BA Paper Preparation Course. 100 Units.

Terms Offered: Autumn, Winter, Spring
Prerequisite(s): Consent of instructor and linguistics undergraduate adviser.
Note(s): Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form.

SWAH 25200-25300-25400. Swahili I-II-III.

This course is designed to help students acquire communicative competence in Swahili and a basic understanding of its structures. Through a variety of exercises, students develop both oral and writing skills

SWAH 26800-26900-27000. Intermediate Swahili I-II-III.

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