Courses

• CAS LW 411: Wolof 7
  Develops students' proficiency at the advanced-high level in oral expression, listening comprehension, reading, and writing in both Ajami and Latin scripts. Students apply their language skills to professional fields, the humanities, and social sciences.
• CAS LW 412: Wolof 8
  Continues to develop students' proficiency at the advanced-high level in oral expression, listening comprehension, reading, and writing in both Ajami and Latin scripts, and enables students to apply their language skills to professional fields, the humanities, and social sciences.
• CAS LW 491: Directed Study: Wolof
  Directed study in Wolof.
• CAS LW 492: Directed Study: Wolof
  Directed study in Wolof.
• CAS LX 235: Language in the Contemporary World: Technology, Society, and the Law
  Exploration of the role of human language in a range of activities and endeavors, focusing on issues of technology, governmental policy, education, gender roles, legal language, language crimes, and the use of language in both media and politics to shape perceptions. Carries humanities divisional studies credit in CAS.
• CAS LX 240: Great Linguists
  Introduction to fundamental questions in the study of natural languages from a historical perspective, addressed through reading and discussion of works by prominent linguists, including Saussure, Sapir, Jespersen, and Chomsky. Carries humanities divisional credit in CAS.
• CAS LX 245: Language and Mind
  Foundations of linguistics as a science, in relation to cognitive science, philosophy of language, and psychology, including a critical overview of the research program initiated by Noam Chomsky. Students read and discuss original works, and write short essays. Carries humanities divisional credit in CAS.
• CAS LX 250: Introduction to Linguistics
  Properties that languages share and how languages differ with respect to structure (sound system, word formation, syntax), expression of meaning, acquisition, variation, and change; cultural and artistic uses of language; comparison of oral, written, and signed languages. Carries humanities divisional credit in CAS.
• CAS LX 340: Language Myths
  Exploration of several widespread misconceptions about language and its use, developing students' abilities to evaluate these critically from the perspective of linguistic theory. Topics include multilingualism and linguistic diversity, language "decay," and prescriptive vs. descriptive grammar. Carries humanities divisional credit in CAS.
• CAS LX 491: Directed Study: Linguistics
  Application form available in department.
• CAS LX 492: Directed Study: Linguistics
  Application form available in department.
• CAS LX 500: Topics in Linguistics
  Topic for Fall 2012: The Evolution of Language. Examines the evolution of the language faculty in the human species. Compares and contrasts language with other forms of animal communication. Explores and evaluates findings and claims from paleontology, biology, archaeology, anthropology, linguistics, and cognitive science. Topic for Spring 2013: Linguistics of Contemporary English. Systematic introduction to the linguistic analysis of modern English (phonology, morphology, syntax) from the perspective of generative grammar. Other topics include English and its West Germanic relatives, the development of standard English, and non-standard varieties of World Englishes. Students may take one or both topics for credit, with the proviso that enrollment in Spring 2013 is limited to undergraduates.
• CAS LX 501: Linguistic Field Methods
  An in-depth investigation of the phonology, morphology, syntax, and discourse/pragmatics of an African or other non-Indo-European language. Weekly sessions with language consultant.
• CAS LX 502: Semantics I
  Introduction to the study of linguistic meaning, with the goal of improving understanding of the ways in which native speakers produce and interpret language. Emphasis on the interaction of meaning with other components of grammar and cognitive systems. Carries humanities divisional studies credit in CAS.
• CAS LX 503: Semantics II
  Systematic development of a semantic theory of natural language, using the tools of model-theoretic semantics. In-depth study of the relation between meaning and grammar, and the relation between meaning and context.
• CAS LX 504: Topics in Pragmatics
  Covers the main areas of linguistic pragmatics, the study of language use and the relation between meaning and context. Study of pragmatic phenomena such as presuppositions, implicatures, anaphora, and focus, from the perspective of linguistic semantics.
• CAS LX 506: Topics in French Linguistics
  Topics vary by semester. Taught in French. Also offered as CAS LF 506.
• CAS LX 510: Phonetics
  Introduction to articulatory and acoustic phonetics. Investigation of the production and perception of the sounds of the world's languages. Development of practical skills, including IPA transcription, description of sound systems, and basic acoustic analysis. Focus on cross-linguistic typology. Carries humanities divisional studies credit in CAS.
• CAS LX 513: Introduction to Phonology
  Introduction to phonological theory and analysis. Focus on major cross-linguistic patterns in phonological systems. Topics covered include distinctive feature analysis, phonological rules and constraints, phonological opacity, tone, syllables and syllable weight, metrical stress theory, and interactions with morphology and syntax.
• CAS LX 518: Focus
  Exploration of focus in natural language, integrating syntax, phonology, semantics, morphology, and pragmatics in pursuit of general understanding of the cross-linguistic diversity of focus phenomena and the ways in which different linguistic processes cooperate to express focus.

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