Linguistics

• CAS LX 110: Say What? Accents, Dialects, and Society
  Exploration of how variation in accents and dialects interacts with various aspects of society and human life. Students examine how dialect variation arises, how it can be described, and how it interacts with literature, film, humor, and music. Cannot be taken for credit by students who have previously taken, or are currently taking, CAS LX 250 or a higher-level linguistics course. Carries humanities divisional credit in CAS. This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry I, The Individual in Community, Research and Information Literacy.
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  • Social Inquiry I
  • The Individual in Community
  • Research and Information Literacy
• CAS LX 120: Language and Music
  Is the co-occurrence of music and language in human societies coincidental or inevitable? This course examines this question by defining what language and music are, exploring their structural similarities and differences, and surveying global diversity in musical and linguistic expression. Carries humanities divisional studies credit in CAS. This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Scientific Inquiry I, Research and Information Literacy.
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  • Aesthetic Exploration
  • Scientific Inquiry I
  • Research and Information Literacy
• CAS LX 205: Origins of Writing
  Overview of the world's major writing systems: Egyptian and Mayan hieroglyphs; Sumerian and Akkadian cuneiform; West Semitic consonantal scripts (abjads); East Asian scripts; runes; Greek and Roman alphabets. Considerable linguistic component supplemented by historical information about ancient languages and cultures. Carries humanities divisional credit in CAS. Also offered as CAS CL 205. This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Teamwork/Collaboration.
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  • Historical Consciousness
  • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
  • Teamwork/Collaboration
• CAS LX 235: Language in the Contemporary World: Language, Society, and the Law
  Exploration of the role of human language in society, focusing on language in legal settings. Addresses governmental policy on language; language crimes such as perjury, solicitation, and bribery; the meaning of consent; and the linguistics of legal interpretation. Carries humanities divisional studies credit in CAS. This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Ethical Reasoning, Oral and/or Signed Communication, Teamwork/Collaboration.
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  • Ethical Reasoning
  • Oral and/or Signed Communication
  • Teamwork/Collaboration
• 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. This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Scientific Inquiry I, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Critical Thinking.
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  • Scientific Inquiry I
  • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
  • Critical Thinking
• CAS LX 301: Phonetics & Phonology: Introduction to Sound Systems
  Introduction to the nature and patterning of sounds in human language. Presents articulatory and acoustic phonetics, and basic phonological analysis, focusing on cross-language typology and comparison. Hands-on development of practical skills, including IPA transcription, field techniques, and digital speech analysis. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Scientific Inquiry II, Quantitative Reasoning I, Critical Thinking.
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  • Scientific Inquiry II
  • Quantitative Reasoning I
  • Critical Thinking
• CAS LX 311: Morphology: Introduction to the Structures and Shapes of Words
  Morphology, the study of the internal structure and the shapes of words across languages, straddles the boundary between syntax and phonology. This course covers the major empirical and theoretical issues in the study of morphology, emphasizing links to other components of grammar. Carries humanities divisional credit in CAS. Also offered as GRS LX 611. This course cannot be taken for credit in addition to the course entitled "Morphology" that was previously numbered CAS LX 521.
• CAS LX 317: "Having" and "Being" across Languages
  Languages differ startlingly in how they express the apparently basic concepts of "possession" and "essence". Students explore this variety and its implications, addressing fundamental questions about linguistic relativism, language universals, and the relationship between structure and meaning. Also offered as GRS LX 617. This course cannot be taken for credit in addition to the course with the same title that was previously numbered CAS LX 517.
• CAS LX 321: Syntax: Introduction to Sentential Structure
  Introduction to syntax as an object of inquiry. Students build an increasingly sophisticated model of syntactic knowledge to account for data from English and other languages, constructing and evaluating alternative hypotheses about how sentence structure works. Carries humanities divisional studies credit in CAS. Also offered as GRS LX 621. This course cannot be taken for credit in addition to the course entitled "Syntax I" that was previously numbered CAS LX 522.
• CAS LX 331: Semantics & Pragmatics: Introduction to Linguistic Meaning
  Systematic examination of how meaning is encoded in words and sentences, and how it can emerge from the complexity of the grammar. Also touches on various aspects of pragmatics--the study of how meaning is shaped by context. Carries humanities divisional studies credit in CAS. This course cannot be taken for credit in addition to the course entitled "Semantics I" that was previously numbered CAS LX 502. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: The Individual in Community, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Critical Thinking.
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  • The Individual in Community
  • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
  • Critical Thinking
• CAS LX 341: Sociolinguistics
  Introduction to language in its social context. Methodological and theoretical approaches to sociolinguistics. Linguistic variation in relation to situation, gender, socioeconomic class, linguistic context, and ethnicity. Integrating micro- and macro-analysis from conversation to societal language planning. Also offered as CAS AN 521 and GRS LX 641.
• CAS LX 342: Language, Race, and Gender
  Do women talk differently from men? How do race and ethnicity relate to the way people use language? This course examines these interrelated questions from the perspective of modern sociolinguistic theory, analyzing a range of languages and communities throughout the world. This course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry I, Teamwork/Collaboration.
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  • Social Inquiry I
  • Teamwork/Collaboration
• CAS LX 345: Languages in Contact: The High Stakes of Grammatical Border-Crossing
  Examines the mechanisms and outcomes of language contact by surveying cases around the globe from the past and present. Topics include lexical-borrowing, code-switching, pidgins and creoles, language death, and the emergence of entirely new language systems. Also offered as GRS LX 645. This course cannot be taken for credit in addition to the course with the same title that was previously numbered CAS LX 515.
• CAS LX 346: Language Variation and Change
  Why do languages change over time? Who leads and who follows in situations of language change? The course answers these questions by examining the link between language change and linguistic variation, focusing on how synchronic variation leads to diachronic change. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry I, Teamwork/Collaboration.
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  • Social Inquiry I
  • Teamwork/Collaboration
• CAS LX 349: Bilingualism
  The psycholinguistics and sociolinguistics of life with two languages. Topics include bilingual language use, processing, acquisition, organization; effects of bilingualism on cognition and development; the bilingual brain; the bilingual speech community; bilingual education; bilingualism in the media and public eye. Carries humanities divisional studies credit in CAS. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, The Individual in Community, Critical Thinking.
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  • The Individual in Community
  • Social Inquiry II
  • Critical Thinking
• CAS LX 350: Crosslinguistic Approaches to Language Acquisition
  Exploration, within the framework of generative grammar, of how similarities and differences in the acquisition patterns of syntax, semantics, and morphology across typologically diverse languages provide key evidence about the essential nature of first and second language acquisition. Also offered as GRS LX 650.
• CAS LX 355: Second Language Acquisition
  Overview of second language acquisition at all linguistic levels. Topics include the role of the native language; markedness; universals; environmental variables; cognitive and affective factors; social dimensions; individual differences among learners; and application of theory to third language acquisition. Also offered as GRS LX 655. This course cannot be taken for credit in addition to the course with the same title that was previously numbered CAS LX 542.
• CAS LX 359: Interrupted Acquisition and Language Attrition
  Examines native language knowledge and change in speakers who have become dominant in another language. Topics include differences among heritage speakers, international adoptees, and adult second language learners; language change in expatriates; and environmental and affective factors conditioning language loss. Also offered as GRS LX 659. This course cannot be taken for credit in addition to the course entitled "Incomplete Acquisition and Language Attrition" that was previously numbered CAS LX 546.
• CAS LX 364: The 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, non-standard varieties and the development of standard English, varieties of World Englishes. Also offered as GRS LX 664. This course cannot be taken for credit in addition to the course with the same title that was previously numbered CAS LX 406.
• CAS LX 365: Variation in Dialects of English
  Exploration of how dialects of English differ from each other, focusing on grammatical variation in the US, with occasional forays into British dialects. Students come to appreciate how linguists investigate grammatical diversity scientifically, revealing the complex structure of non-standard dialects. Also offered as CAS EN 313 and GRS LX 665. This course cannot be taken for credit in addition to the course with the same title that was previously numbered CAS LX 530.

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