Below you can view a list of the current Linguistics course offerings. In addition, the Department of Linguistics hosts a variety of other rubrics, including courses in Arabic, English as an International Language, English as a Second Language, Hindi, Persian, Swahili, Turkish, Wolof, and Zulu.
Introduction to the theory and methodology of general linguistics; includes the various branches and applications of linguistics.
Examines the relationship between language and culture in the multilingual and multicultural context of India. Special topics of focus are: linguistic and cultural diversity in India, impact of the language and cultural contact on the structure and function of languages (convergence, diglossia, code-mixing, pidgins and creoles), language and identity, language of religion, language and gender, language in the media, literature and culture, language and power, language and globalization. Same as HNDI 115 and REL 115.
Study of selected topics on an individually arranged basis. Open only to honors majors or to Cohn Scholars. May be repeated once. Prerequisite: Consent of departmental honors advisor.
Addresses the question "Why does language change?" Specific topics include: the history and origin of writing; why pronunciation changes; change in vocabulary and what it tells us about change in culture and society; the relation between "language" and "dialect"; multilingualism and its consequences, including Pidgins and Creoles; genetic relationship between languages, with focus on the "Indo-European" family (English, German, French, Russia, Latin, Greek, and Sanskrit, etc.) and the relationships between human languages. Prerequisite: Fulfillment of the foreign language requirement of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
Introduction to the role of language in globalization by examining communication issues concerning language use across cultural, political and geographic boundaries. Explores the interaction of language and other cultural forms in the global context. Among the topics discussed are issues of identity, spread of English and its acculturation to local contexts of use, creativity in language mixing, language in global pop cultures, language in cyberspace, as well as minority language experiences, and loss of indigenous languages.
Introduction to the theory and methodology of psycholinguistics with emphasis on language acquisition and linguistic behavior. Same as PSYC 225.
The United States has a vast and varied linguistic landscape that has been shaped by a unique medley of peoples and cultural practices. From the colonization of North America to contemporary politics and popular culture, language has helped to connect us in many ways, and has also served as a tool for making and maintaining difference. This course explores issues of standardization, language maintenance, linguistic discrimination, identity formation, and many others to consider the ways "diversity" is not only a multiplicity of different histories, beliefs, and practices, but can also become a means of interpersonal prejudice and structural inequity.
What technologies have humans developed to augment the quintessential human ability: language? We start with the development of writing, the first technology that was specifically designed for language, and trace its history through the invention of printing, and into the digital age. With the advent of computers the relevance of language for technology has broadened significantly. We review technologies such as automatic speech recognition, speech synthesis and automatic translation, and discuss their implications for present and future human-machine interaction. Prerequisite: LING 100 or consent of instructor.
Individual readings and research reports on special topics dealing with the theoretical or applied aspects of the linguistic sciences. May be repeated to a maximum of 8 hours. Prerequisite: Written consent of instructor.
Introduction to concepts and techniques essential for syntactic analysis and description, with special attention to testing analyses and justifying them. Prerequisite: LING 100 or consent of instructor.
Introduction to the theory of meaning for natural language, including techniques for the description of lexical meaning, compositional determination of phrase and sentence meaning, and pragmatic effects on interpretation in context. Same as PHIL 307. Prerequisite: LING 100 or consent of instructor.
Study and research for honors thesis; open only to seniors in the linguistics major who are eligible for departmental distinction. May be repeated to a maximum of 8 hours. Prerequisite: Written consent of instructor and linguistics course average of 3.4.
Introduction to the theory and methodology of the science of linguistics with special reference to phonology, morphology, syntax and semantics. Not intended for undergraduate majors in linguistics. 3 undergraduate hours. 4 graduate hours.
Introduction to the main branches of general phonetics and phonological theory; emphasis on analysis of non-Western languages and research techniques. 3 undergraduate hours. 4 graduate hours.
Introduction to aspects of the tools and methods of studies in speech and natural language processing (NLP), with a focus on programming for NLP and speech applications, statistical methods for data analysis, and tools for displaying and manipulating speech data. 3 undergraduate hours. 4 graduate hours.
Introduces the field of natural language processing and computational linguistics. Topics include finite-state methods, parsing, probabilistic methods, machine learning in NLP, computational semantics and applications of NLP technology. The course combines linguistic theory with computational modeling. 3 undergraduate hours. 4 graduate hours. Prerequisite: LING 100 or LING 400; LING 402 (or equivalent Python experience); STAT 100 (or equivalent statistical experience).
Introduction to historical and comparative linguistics with particular attention to theoretical issues. 3 undergraduate hours. 2 or 4 graduate hours. Prerequisite: LING 401 (or concurrent registration), and either LING 301 and LING 302, or LING 400.
Introduction to computational methods for analyzing large natural language corpora. Students will learn the computational skills necessary to build, validate, and analyze corpora with the goal of exploring linguistic phenomena and testing linguistic theories. Corpus linguistics as a field undertakes natural experiments to learn about language using the unelicited production of speakers. This course focuses specifically on computational corpus linguistics, which uses methods from natural language processing to expand the scale of corpus-based experiments. 3 undergraduate hours. 4 graduate hours. Prerequisite: LING 100 or LING 400; and LING 402 or equivalent Python experience.
Introduction to the fundamental concepts, philosophy, and research methods of the study of language in its social contexts. Special attention to language spread, and language variation; language attitudes; language diversity; code-switching; language standardization; and language identity and loyalty. 3 undergraduate hours. 4 graduate hours.
A capstone experience for students in computational linguistics. Students will develop a substantial semester-long research project which brings together their prior coursework in both theoretical linguistics as a discipline and computational linguistics as a methodology. Major outputs include a written presentation of their findings, an oral presentation of the broader impacts of their research, and an open-source repository documenting the code and data used in the project. 3 undergraduate hours. No graduate credit. Prerequisite: LING 413. Restricted to Juniors or Seniors in a Linguistics Program.
General introduction to second language acquisition (SLA) theory. Examines nativist, interactionist and cognitive approaches to SLA and explores the role of learner characteristics. Instruction in English. Same as FR 481, GER 489, ITAL 489, PORT 489, and SPAN 489. 3 undergraduate hours. 4 graduate hours. Prerequisite: An introductory course in linguistics or consent of instructor.
Course provides an opportunity to focus on various subfields of the linguistic sciences, depending on the interests of the faculty and student. 3 undergraduate hours. 4 graduate hours. May be repeated as topic varies to a maximum of 9 undergraduate hours or 12 graduate hours. Students may register for up to two sections in the same term. Prerequisite: LING 100, LING 400, or consent of instructor.
Introduction to the fundamental concepts, philosophy, and methods of syntactic theory. Prerequisite: LING 400 or equivalent.
Examination of language-specific phonological problems with a view toward formulating a language-independent theory of phonology. Prerequisite: LING 401 or consent of instructor.
Supervised practical experience in extended linguistic research on individual topics of the student's choice. Concurrent enrollment in at least 2 hours of LING 590 is required. May be repeated in separate terms to a maximum of 4 hours.
Provides an introduction to practical problems in computational linguistics in a laboratory setting. At the beginning of the semester, a substantial project will be assigned to the class, and the class will work as a team towards implementing a solution, and evaluating the final product against a test corpus, which will also be developed during the class. Topical readings will also be assigned and will be discussed. Approved for letter or S/U grading. May be repeated in more than one section per term to a maximum of 8 hours, if topics vary; may be repeated in subsequent terms to a maximum of 12 hours, if topics vary. Prerequisite: LING 406, and an introductory level Computer Science programming course, or consent of instructor.
Introduction to formal semantic theory for natural language, with attention to quantification, anaphora, tense, intensionality, and related topics. Same as PHIL 507. Prerequisite: LING 407 or consent of the instructor.
Research seminar: students will design and execute a research project on second language acquisition and/or bilingualism. Same as PSYC 529. Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.
Research-oriented seminar on theoretical and applied aspects of bilingualism; critical evaluation of linguistic, neurolinguistic, sociolinguistic, and psycholinguistic approaches to bilingualism; and concentration on selected case studies from Western and non-Western societies, especially Asia and Africa. May be repeated if topics vary. Prerequisite: LING 450 or an introductory course in linguistics.
Same as PSYC 514, ANTH 514, CS 549, EPSY 551, and PHIL 514. See PSYC 514.
Discussion of advanced topics of current interest. May be repeated with approval. Prerequisite: LING 501 and LING 502.