LIN403 Languages of the World Spring 2018 - QMplus

LIN403 Languages of the World Spring 2018 Place and Time:

Queens EB1, Friday 11am-1pm

Module Organiser:

Dr. David Hall ([email protected]) Office: Arts One 1.21

Feedback and Advice sessions: (Office hours)

Monday and Wednesday 11-12am

Aims This module is an introduction to the diversity in language structure and use around the world, and forms a key foundation for any student of linguistics. In order to appreciate the basic goals of linguistics as a discipline, students must appreciate the full scope of human language. The module will examine how different language families differ from one another in sounds, word formation, sentence formation, and usage. Using indigenous languages from diverse regions, such as Africa, Australia, Asia, and North America, we will explore the question of whether universal constraints limit the range of what is possible in human language, and if so, why such universals might exist. We will also consider diversity in how social and pragmatic functions are signalled by language use in different speech communities around the world, and the problems associated with language endangerment and death. The module will feed directly into both theoretical and social themes in future modules in linguistics degree programmes. The module aims are: • to provide students with an appreciation of both the astonishing diversity as well as the remarkable systematicity in human language; • to assist students in learning how to investigate this complex human ability; • to introduce students to different theories of why human language takes the form that it does; • to enable students to analyse the structure of language using comparative techniques. Learning outcomes Knowledge outcomes: Knowledge of language families of the world, the diversity in possible linguistic systems, and types of limits on diversity in human language. Discipline-Specific Skills: The ability to develop structured descriptions of unfamiliar languages and to reason theoretically about different tendencies across languages. General Intellectual Skills: The ability to extrapolate generalisations from complex data; to cite empirical evidence for analytical claims; to read and understand abstract analytic argumentation; to develop teamwork and presentational skills; to research independently; to construct coherent arguments.

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Assessment The assessment for this module is a two-part Language Report totalling 4,000 words. Your report should be structured into the following sections: introduction to the language (basic facts including typological characteristics), social factors and social situation, sound structure, word structure, word order. It does not need a conclusion and it is not an argument: it is a presentation of generalisations about the language with examples that illustrate those generalisations. To choose a language for your report, you’ll need to find a native speaker of the language. You will need to have my approval for the language, and it must be a language that you are unfamiliar with: you should not choose any of the major European languages, nor should you choose a language which you can speak. You should work with your native speaker to get a general grasp of the structure of the language, and of its social situation. You will get detailed instructions throughout the module on how to structure and write the language report. Readings The compulsory readings listed in the schedule are all available on QMPlus, under the relevant week. There is also further background reading listed below, and you should try to do some of this if you can as it will help to improve your scores on the report. In this module, your lecture notes are also very important. The relevant handouts/slides will be put up on QMPlus, usually within 24 hours of the lecture. (Schedule on the next page)

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Schedule Date 12.01.2018

19.01.2018

26.01.2018

02.02.2018

09.02.2018

16.02.2018

Tasks (to be completed by Sunday at 23.59 of the relevant week)

Topic & Reading 1 Relationships between languages: genetics, geography and politics Reading: Tallerman (1998), Ch. 1; Anderson (online); Dorian (2009) 2 Taboo and avoidance language Reading: Duranti (2009); Fleming & Lempert (2011) 3 “tfktstt”: What is possible and impossible in sound systems? Reading: Catford (2001), Ch. 10; Davenport & Hannahs (2010), pp. 73–78 4 “tampuicmpanmpwi”: Words and sentences Reading: Foley (1997), pp 27–37

5 Word order and case: Ways of organising meaning Reading: Tallerman (1998), pp 151–162; Comrie (1980) 6 Universals of human language Reading: Comrie (1989), Ch. 1; Greenberg (1963)

23.02.2018 02.03.2018

7 READING WEEK! 8 Word order in the Noun Phrase Reading: Panayidou (2013) Optional: Scott (2002)

09.03.2018

9 Writing Systems Reading: Dehaene (2009), Ch. 4; 10 Language, culture and meaning Reading: Goddard & Wierzbicka (2004) 11 The Pirahã debate Reading: Pereltsvaig (2012) Everett (2005), pp621–634 12 No class (Bank Holiday on the Friday)

16.03.2018 23.03.2018

30.03.2018

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Choose a language for your report and email me your choice (21.01.2018)

Submit a draft of the sound structure of your language to QMPlus (04.02.2018)

Submit part 1 of the Language Report (1250 words) on QMPlus (18.02.2018) Submit a draft of the word structure and word order of your language on QMPlus (04.03.2018)

Submit part 2 of the Language Report (2750 words) on QMPlus (01.04.2018)

Useful Additional Reading (with Library shelfmarks where available) Bailey, Benjamin. 2001. Communication of Respect in Interethnic Service Encounters. In A. Duranti (ed.) Linguistic Anthropology: A Reader. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. (available scanned on QMPlus) Brown, P. and S. Levinson. 1987. Politeness: Some universals in language usage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (P40.5.E75 BRO (ORDINARY)) Catford, J.C. 2001, A Practical Introduction to Phonetics (2nd ed). Chapter 10 – Sound Systems of Languages. Oxford: Oxford University Press Comrie, Bernard. 1981. Language Universals and Linguistic Typology. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. (P204 COM (ORDINARY)) (Chapter 1 available on QMPlus) Davenport & Hannahs (2010) Introducing Phonetics and Phonology, pp. 73–78 (available on QMPlus) Dehaene, Stanislas. 2009. Reading in the Brain: the science of how we read. Chapter 4. (available on QMPlus) Dorian, Nancy. 2009. Sociolinguistic dimensions of language death. In N. Coupland & A. Jaworski (eds.), The New Sociolinguistics Reader. Basingstoke: Palgrave. (available scanned on QMPlus) Ethnologue database: http://www.ethnologue.com Everett, Daniel L. 2005. Cultural constraints on grammar and cognition in Pirahã. Current Anthropology 46, 621–646. Fishman, J. A. 1991. Reversing language shift. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Foley, W. 1997. Anthropological Linguistics: An Introduction. Oxford:Blackwell. (P35 FOL (ORDINARY)) (Chapter 1 available scanned on QMPlus) Fromkin, V., R. Rodman, and N. Hyams. 2014. An Introduction to Language. Wadsworth. (10th International Edition) – You should own this if you took Foundations! Goddard, Cliff & Anna Wierzbicka. 2004. Language, culture and meaning: Cross-cultural semantics. In: René Dirven & Marjolijn Verspoor (eds.), Cognitive Exploration of Language and Linguistics, 127–148. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Greenberg, Joseph H. (ed.). 1963. Universals of Languages. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. (P204 UNI (ORDINARY)) Greenberg, Joseph H. (ed.) 1978. Universals of Human Language. Vol. 1–4. Stanford,

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California: Stanford University Press. (P204 UNI (ORDINARY)) Lewis, M. P. and G. F. Simons. 2010. Assessing endangerment: Expanding Fishman’s GIDS. Revue Roumaine de Linguistique 55(2):103–120. http://www.lingv.ro/RRL%202%202010%20art01Lewis.pdf. Accessed 28 December 2015. Nevins, Andrew, David Pesetsky & Cilene Rodrigues. 2009. Pirahã exceptionality: A reassessment. Language 85, 355–404. O’Grady, W., J. Archibald, M. Aronoff and J. Rees-Miller, 2001. Contemporary Linguistics: An Introduction. New York: St. Martin’s Press. (P121 CON (ONEWEEK)) Pereltsvaig, Asya. 2012. Languages of the World: An Introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 201–204 Tallerman, M. 1998. Understanding Syntax. London: Arnold. (not in library, but relevant part scanned and available on QMPlus) World Atlas of Language Structures (Online): http://wals.info

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