LING 20, Fall 2007, Marcus Kracht

Monday and Wednesday 2 - 4 pm, Royce Hall 190
Office Hours: R 9 - 11. Location: My office (Campbell Hall 3103G).

TAs:

Byron Ahn (Sections 1B Royce 148, 1C Humanities 135), Office hours: T 4 - 5, R 3 - 4
Elif Eyigoz (Sections 1A Haines A82, 1E Humanities A66), Office hours: TR 11 - 12
Nick LaCasse (Sections 1D Rolfe 3119, 1F Rolfe 3112), Office hours: M 4 - 6, 2207 Campbell Hall

Prerequisites: none

Course Aims:

This course aims to provide the basic understanding of modern
linguistic theory, and how the various subfields in particular
phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics hang together and
interact. In addition, we shall look at the diversity of languages
across time and space. For each of the fields we introduce the most
basic terminology and methods. This course prepares the student for
the advanced and specialized courses in any of these areas. It is
also suitable as a general education class.

Course Material:

The reader is available from Course Reader Materials, 1137 Westwood
Blv. There is also an online version. This version is hyperlinked,
and is subject to revision, since I will inevitably find mistakes.
Make sure you check this version every now and then.
You will notice that it contains 19 chapters, one for each day.
Monday, November 12, is a holiday (Veteran's Day).

Useful Links and Literature:

I have compiled a list of books that may be useful or fun to read.
There will also be links to websites which provide interesting stuff.

Assignments:

Assignments shall be handed out in class. They will be also available
online on the day they are officially issued but not earlier.
Unless otherwise stated, they are due one week later before class.

Schedule:

The lecture notes give a pretty accurate breakdown of the course.

Monday, Oct 1. Lecture 1: Introduction.
Wednesday, Oct 3. Lecture 2: Phonetics. Assignment A
Monday, Oct 8. Lecture 3: Phonology I.
Wednesday, Oct 10. Lecture 4: Phonology II. Assignment B
Monday, Oct 15. Lecture 5: Phonology III.
Wednesday, Oct 17. Lecture 6: Phonology IV.
Monday, Oct 22. Lecture 7: Morphology I. Click to see the annotated solutions: Midterm I.
Wednesday, Oct 24. Lecture 8: Syntax I. Assignment C
Monday, Oct 29. Lecture 9: Syntax II.
Wednesday, Oct 31. Lecture 10: Syntax III. Assignment D
Monday, Nov 5. Lecture 11: Syntax IV.
Wednesday, Nov 7. Lecture 12: Syntax V.
Monday, Nov 12. Veteran's Day. No Lecture!
Wednesday, Nov 14. Lecture 13: Morphology II.
Monday, Nov 19. Lecture 14: Semantics I. Click to see the annotated solutions: Midterm II.
Wednesday, Nov 21. Lecture 15: Semantics II. Assignment E
Monday, Nov 26. Lecture 16: Semantics III.
Wednesday, Nov 28. Lecture 17: Semantics IV. Assignment F
Monday, Dec 3. Lecture 18: Semantics V.
Wednesday, Dec 5. Lecture 19: Language Families and History of Languages.
Friday, Dec 14, Final Exam. 11:30am - 2:30 pm. See the Annotated Solutions.

Grades and Requirements:

Students are required to take part actively in the sections. This includes demonstrating
a solution at the blackboard during section at least once.

Assignments: all but the worst assignment count towards the grade (60 percent, equally
shared among the assignments), two midterms (10 percent each), and the final (20 percent).
Recall that this establishes a percentage, not a grade. The distribution of percentage to
grade is initially roughly equivalent to the recommended UCLA usage though I might depart
from that. Also, I shall look at each case individually (with the help of your TA).