Linguistics 5301: Principles of Linguistic Analysis Fall 10. Amastae, Jon. A course in phonology. (Chs 1-4, and possibly 5)

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1 Linguistics 5301: Principles of Linguistic Analysis Fall 10 Professor: Nicholas Sobin Office & hours: LART 113; 2-3 p.m. M-R, & by appt. Formal class meetings: 4:30-5:50 p.m. M Open tutorials: 4:30-5:30 p.m. W Text: On-line materials including Amastae, Jon. A course in phonology. (Chs 1-4, and possibly 5) Sobin, Nicholas. Syntactic analysis: the basics. General description: For some of you, the ideas about linguistic analysis presented here may be new ones. For others not new to the study of linguistics, the course will review and amplify some key analytical concepts that you ve worked with before. One goal here is to get everyone on the same footing for entering more advanced courses in linguistic analysis. We will start from scratch, so to speak, assuming very little, but then we will build quickly toward current ideas about the analysis of the grammatical systems of human language. One key observation about the character of human language sets the tone for the whole study. The question is this: How large is a human language? If by a human language we mean the sentences/utterances that are possible in that language (e.g. the Spanish language is all that stuff that sounds like Spanish, etc.), then every human language is infinitely large. It must be that when children learn a language, what they really do is to learn its grammar --a finite system which can (re-)produce the language. Following this line of thinking, three key questions for linguistics are these: (i) how are human language grammars structured (that is, what are the elements involved and what are the rules of their combination); (ii) how does a child learn the grammar of a human language; and (iii) are there elements or rules of this grammar which are pre-programed/hard-wired? Linguistic theory seeks to answer these questions. These subsystems are not only of considerable interest in their own right, but also relate strongly to work in other areas such as sociolinguistics, speech pathology, cognitive psychology, computer science (computational linguistics/natural language processing), discourse analysis, and current issues and practices in language pegagogy, both native and foreign. So there is a potentially large benefit to understanding these subsystems. This course is a graduate-level introduction to linguistic analysis concerning the subsystems of phonetics (sounds themselves), phonology (pronunciation systems), morphology (word structure), and syntax (sentence structure). Of course, each of these is a very large area, and a single course could not do comprehensive justice to one of them, much less to all of them. However, there are some fundamental aspects of each that are essential to the further study of these areas, and it is these fundamentals which we will deal with here. Basic to the phonetic analysis of any human language are a phonetic alphabet, and the features of which sounds are composed. Basic to classic phonological analysis are the binary feature analysis of sounds, the notion natural class, phones, phonemes, allophones, phonological rules, phonemic vs. phonetic forms, markedness, and phonotactics. Fundamental to morphology are notions like morpheme, root, stem, affix, derivation, inflection, and word formation rule. And key to classic syntactic analysis are concepts like phrase (constituent), phrasal structure, argument structure, c-command, binding, movement, and parameters. At this point, some of these terms may be familiar to you and some may not. However, by the end of the course, you should have attained the goals below. Goals: In completing this course, you should acquire knowledge of important terms, ideas, and structural concepts; the ability to analyse and discuss linguistic structure within the theories studied; [1]

2 an understanding of the arguments/motivations for particular proposals. Course format: The course will be offered in a hybrid format. Much of what would be class lectures will appear as on-line readings using Blackboard. We will aim for meeting on Monday to outline and discuss the on-line readings and to go through exercises and assignments. Your questions, observations, and ideas are very important to gaining a proper understanding of this material. At times, you may be asked to draw up (present) and/or discuss analyses. Everyone is expected to contribute to this aspect of the course. In addition to the normal class meeting on Monday, I will be available for an open tutorial beginning at 4:30 on Wednesday. The purpose of this tutorial is to give you an opportunity to work with the materials further on an individual or group basis. This tutorial is student-driven. Should the need arise, it is possible that we might schedule an occasional formal class meeting in the Wednesday time period, so reserve this time period for possible class activity. Grade: The grade for the course will be based on a midterm exam (45%), a final exam (45%), and on participation in class discussions and exercises (10%). The date of the midterm exam will be announced later. Regular attendance is expected. As indicated in the Graduate Catalog, more than three absences may result in a reduced or failing grade, or a drop, at the discretion of the professor. Other introductory texts of interest: Carnie, Andrew (2007) Syntax, 2nd ed. Blackwell, Oxford. Carr, Philip (1993) Phonology. St. Martin s Press, New York. Crain, Stephen, and Diane Lillo-Martin (1999) An Introduction to Linguistic Theory and Language Acquisition. Blackwell, Oxford. Culicover, Peter (1997) Principles and Parameters. OUP, Oxford. Haegeman, Liliane (1994) Introduction to Government & Binding Theory. Blackwell, Oxford. Hudson, Grover (2000) Essential Introductory Linguistics. Blackwell, Oxford. Katamba, Francis (1993) Morphology. St. Martin s Press, New York. Radford, Andrew (1988) Transformational Grammar. CUP, Cambridge. Radford, Andrew (1997) Syntactic Theory and the Structure of English. CUP, Cambridge. Minimalist texts: Adger, David (2003) Core Syntax. OUP: Oxford. Radford, Andrew (1997) Syntactic Theory and the Structure of English. CUP, Cambridge. Radford, Andrew (1997) Syntax. CUP, Cambridge. [2]

3 Wk 1 Intro; preview A Ch 1 Proposed topics/activities calendar (subject to alteration as time and circumstances dictate) Wk 2 Qu s/disc n of A Ch 1; Ch 1 exercises; preview A Ch 2 Wk 3 Qu s/disc n of A Ch 2; Ch 2 exercises; preview A Ch 3 Wk 4 Qu s/disc n of A Ch 3; Ch 3 exercises; Preview A Ch 4 Wk 5 Qu s/disc n of A Ch 4; Ch 4 exercises; preview of A Ch5 Wk 6 Qu s/disc n of A Ch 5; Ch 5 exercises, Preview S Chs 001, 1, & 2 Wk 7 Exam 1 Wk 8 Qu s/disc n of S Ch 2; exercises; preview S Chs3 & 4 Wk 9 Qu s/disc n of S Chs 3 & 4; exercises; preview S Chs 5 & 6 Wk 10 Qu s/disc n of S Chs 5 & 6; exercises; Preview S Chs 7 & 8 Wk 11 Qu s/disc n of S Chs 7 & 8; exercises; preview S Ch 9 Wk 12 Qu s/disc n of S Ch 9; exercises; preview S Chs 10 & 11 Wk 13 Qu s/disc n of S Chs 10 & 11; exercises; preview S Chs 12 & 13 Wk 14 Qu s/dics n of S Chs 12 & 13; exercises; review. Wk 15 Consultation or Exam 2 Dead Day: Dec 3 Finals: Dec 6-10 [3]

4 Tutoring and Learning C enter 300 Library WHAT IS PLAGIARISM? One huge misconception that students have is that rewriting something is not plagiarism, because they are putting it in their own worlds. If the source is not officially acknowledged, it is plagiarism. Copying and pasting actually accounts for only a small percentage of plagiarism. The majority of plagiarism is a result of text manipulation. The accessibility of the Internet makes plagiarism very tempting, and unintentional plagiarism springs from this as well. Simply stated, plagiarism is using someone s work without giving the appropriate credit. This can mean several things. 1. Copying and pasting text from on-line media, such as encyclopedias is plagiarism. 2. Copying and pasting text from any web site is plagiarism. 3. Transcribing text from any printed material, such as books, magazines, encyclopedias or newspapers, is plagiarism. 4. Simply modifying text from any of the above sources is plagiarism. 5. Replacing a few select words using a Thesaurus does not constitute original work. 6. Using photographs, video or audio without permission or acknowledgement is plagiarism. 7. You may use such a photographic, video or audio source with or in a paper or multimedia presentation that you create, as long as you do not profit from it or use it for any purpose other than the original assignment. You must include the source in your bibliography. 8. Using another student s work and claiming it as your own, even with permission, is academically unethical and is treated as plagiarism. This is known as collusion. 9. Acquiring work from commercial sources is academically unethical and [4]

5 is treated as plagiarism. 10. Translation from one language to another is not using your own words. Translations fall under the guidelines for quotations, summaries and paraphrasing. 11. Using any essay that you wrote for another class/another purpose without getting permission from the teacher/professor of both the current class and the class for which the original work was used is selfplagiarism and is basis for consequence or penalty. You may use your previous work as a basis for new research of course, but include the original work in your bibliography. Source: Tutoring and Learning Center 300 Library QUOTING, SUMMARIZING AND PARAPHRASING Anytime you quote, summarize or paraphrase, you must acknowledge the original source. Even if you summarize or paraphrase, if you do not directly credit your source through a citation you are plagiarizing. If you quote a source, you must quote exactly, word for word. Cite the source in the paper with a footnote or parenthetical citation. Summaries and paraphrasing must also be cited. Cite these exactly as you would a quote. Summaries and paraphrasing are merely condensed versions of someone else s work. You must give them credit for the information. Paraphrasing is putting an author s work into your own words. Although the information is in your own words, it is still the original author s work. You have merely rephrased it! Summarizing is writing out the main points of someone else s work in your own words. Once again, this is not information which you have created; therefore it is to be cited. Source: [5]

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