Fall 2006

LING 470J "Accents of English"

LING375E "Introduction to Morphology"

Spring 2006

Introduction to Linguistics (LING 101)

Writing Systems of the World (LING 251A)

From Egyptian hieroglyphs to English spelling, from cuneiform to emoticon

:-), this course examines the major writing systems of the world. In addition to a linguistic approach to writing systems, the course examines the structure, history, and social context of various writing systems, including Chinese, Japanese, Korean, cuneiform, hieroglyphic, Semitic languages, the Roman alphabet, as well as invented scripts such as Tolkien's Elvish, and more. In addition, students will explore some of the human drama and intellectual excitement involved in the decipherment of scripts like Linear B, Mayan, and those on the Rosetta Stone. Do you have a love of letters, do you delight in deciphering a doctor's prescription, or just ever wondered why the letter z ended up last? If so, then this is the course for you. No prerequisite, just bring your clay tablets.

History of the English Language (LING 375D)

From its pre-historic Indo-European past, through Beowulf, Chaucer, and Shakespeare, to the present, and a little into the future, this course examines the linguistic and social history of the English language in Europe, America, and around the globe. From sound changes to social changes, this course will examine the relation between the inner structure of the language and the social dynamics of its users. The course will look at where words come from and what they tell us about the socio-cultural influences of the language. It will answer a lot of linguistic mysteries like why the past tense of think is thought, why carnivores might raise pigs but eat pork, why we spell with silent letters, and how the meanings of words change over time. It will look at current linguistic variation with an eye at explaining where and how such diversity arose, and whether we can see the future of the language in the developments around us today. Prerequisite: LING101. This course fulfills an elective for the English major, but not the upper-level linguistics requirement.

Fall 2005

Introduction to Linguistics (LING 101)

Phonology (LING 375C, Special Topics in Linguistic Theory: Phonology)