For information on when Linguistics courses and seminars will be offered, please see Course Offerings.
Courses
LING 001. Introduction to Language and Linguistics
Introduction to the study and analysis of human language, including sound systems, lexical systems, the formation of phrases and sentences, and meaning, both in modern and ancient languages and with respect to how languages change over time. Other topics that may be covered include first-language acquisition, sign languages, poetic metrics, the relation between language and the brain, and sociological effects on language.
Writing course, 1 credit.
LING 002. First-Year Seminar: The Linguistic Innovation of Taboo Terms and Slang
Taboo terms vary across language communities with respect to topic. While religion, sex, disease and death, and bodily effluents are commonly found on the list, many other topics can appear, often depending upon nonlinguistic factors of the community (size, demographics, cultural beliefs). Taboo terms also vary with respect to the range of ways they can be used. While exclamations, name-calling, and maledictions are commonly found on the list, various other uses can appear, such as modifiers and predicates. Over time these less common uses tend to become semantically bleached, so that the historical taboo term is no longer even recognized as a taboo term, and can be used without any hint of vulgarity or rudeness. These less common uses sometimes fall together with slang in exhibiting linguistic behavior that is often unique within that language, both at the word level and the phrase and sentence level, behavior that is telling with respect to linguistic theory. Each student will choose a language other than English to investigate, for original research. Since both slang and taboo-terms are very new topic of research in linguistics, students have a real chance of analyzing structures that have been understudied or completely overlooked and, thus, producing work of interest to the field in general.
1 credit.
LING 003. First-Year Seminar: What Gay Sounds Like: Linguistics of LGBTQ Communities
This seminar provides a grounding in several subfields of Linguistics (e.g., Anthropological, Socio-phonetics, Lexical Semantics, Discourse Analysis, Language and Gender Theory, Performativity Theory, Ethnography of Speaking, ASL Studies). We will use these models to explore Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer ways of speaking, identities, discourses, and communities, in a variety of cross-cultural settings. Community involvement and social action will be a key component of the course.
1 credit
LING 004. First-Year Seminar: American Indian Languages
At least 300 languages were spoken in North America before the first contact occurred with Europeans. Most of the surviving languages are on the verge of extinction. Students will learn about language patterns and characteristics of language families, including grammatical classification systems, animacy effects on sentence structure, verbs that incorporte other words, and evidentials. Topics include how languages in contact affect each other, issues of sociolinguistic identity, language endangerment and revitalization efforts, and matters of secrecy and cultural theft.
1 credit.
LING 005. First-Year Seminar: Linguistic Underpinnings of Racism and Bias
(Cross-listed as SOAN 005L)
This freshman seminar addresses our ongoing struggle, as a society of thoughtful individuals, to identify the origins of attitudes and stereotypes that give rise to bias based on race, ethnicity, sex or other factors. Language lies at the foundation of both societal attitudes and power structures, and can serve as an agent of oppression and liberation. Linguistics as a social and cognitive science takes an objective, scientific approach that can help us to expose, identify and understand usage that may—whether consciously or not—serve to perpetuate bias. Beyond a mere metric of political correctness or taboo speech, linguistics allows us to reframe the debate in terms of social praxis and individual identity, and to build a better society.
1 credit.
LING 006. First-Year Seminar: Language and Deafness
This course will look at many issues connected to language and people with hearing loss in the United States, with some comparisons to other countries. We will consider linguistic matters in the structure of American Sign Language (ASL) as well as societal matters affecting users of ASL, including literacy and civil rights. A one-hour language drill outside of class is required.
All students are welcome to do a community service credit in LING 095.
1 credit.
LING 007. Hebrew for Text Study I(See RELG 057)
This course counts for distribution in humanities under the religion rubric and in social sciences under the linguistics rubric.
1 credit.
LING 008A. Russian Phonetics(See RUSS 008A)
0.5 credit.
LING 010. Hebrew for Text Study II(See RELG 059)
1 credit.
LING 014. Old English/History of the Language(See ENGL 014)
This course counts for distribution in humanities under the English rubric and in social sciences under the linguistics rubric.
1 credit.
LING 015. Introduction to the Lenape Language
Students will gain a working knowledge of the structure of the Lenape Language. The course covers conversation, grammar, and usage, as well as discussion of the conceptual elements inherent in this Algonquian language. Topics will include some elements of Lenape culture, songs in the language, and discussion of the current status of Lenape as an endangered language.
1 credit.
LING 016. History of the Russian Language(See RUSS 016)
This course counts for distribution in humanities under the Russian rubric and in social sciences under the linguistics rubric.
1 credit.
LING 019. Lenape Language StudyStudents will work on advanced elements of the Lenape Language, such as analyzing and rewriting text samples according to current spelling conventions, providing phonetic renditions of vocabulary and text, writing and speaking original works, and developing projects and resources in the language. Students will also have the opportunity to volunteer for field work teaching the language in the Lenape community. Topics for discussion will include elements of Lenape culture, herbology, and the current status of the Lenape people today. Prerequisite: Introduction to the Lenape Language (LING 015).
1 credit.
LING 020. Computational Linguistics: Natural Language Processing(See CPSC 065: Natural Language Processing)
This course counts for distribution in natural sciences under the Computer Science rubric and in social sciences under the linguistics rubric.
1 credit.
LING 023. Sign Languages and their Social Contexts(Cross-listed as ENGL 023B)
This course considers the structure and use of sign languages. It will be of value to any students interested in sign languages or the structure and use of English or other modern languages. Understanding the structure of visual minority languages, their variation and attitudes to their use can help students in other disciplines objectively and critically to understand the structure of language and how it works in society.
1 credit.
LING 024. Discourse Analysis(See SOAN 026B)
1 credit.
LING 025. Language, Culture, and Society
(Cross-listed as SOAN 040B)
This course is an introduction to sociolinguistics and the study of language variation and change, with a focus on variation in North American English. Topics to be examined include the following: How do social factors such as age, gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic class influence the way people use language? How do individual speakers use language differently in different situations? How do regional dialects differ from each other, and why? How does language change spread within a community and between communities? In learning the answers to these questions, students will carry out sociolinguistic field projects to collect and analyze data from real-life speech.
1 credit.
LING 026. Language and Meaning(See PHIL 026)
This course counts for distribution in humanities under the philosophy rubric and in social sciences under the linguistics rubric.
1 credit.
LING 029. Sign Language Literature and Folklore(Cross-listed as ENGL 029B and LITR 029)
This course is an examination of the literature and folklore of signed languages, giving insight into deaf culture by exploring the cultural importance of signed languages in depth. It will be of value to those interested in Deaf Studies but also provide alternative perspectives for those with experience of these subjects in relation to English and other spoken languages, and to non-deaf communities. The course should be of great interest to students of disciplines such as English literature, anthropology, and linguistics and drama.
1 credit.
LING 032. International Perspectives on DeafnessThis course introduces students to the range of ways in which deafness and Deaf people are categorized internationally - by medical personnel, by hearing people, and by Deaf communities. We begin with references to Deafness and Deaf people in ancient times and trace changing attitudes to Deafness, signed languages and Deafhood up until contemporary times. We also explore the notion of Deaf culture and community and consider the objective symbols and behavioural norms of this culture. This course introduces a continuum of perspectives of Deafness, and examines the range of practical and political implications of these views. We also consider the range of implications that this can have on a Deaf person's self-image. A range of views from Deaf deafened and hard of hearing people which have been pre-recorded are shared over the course of this module. This module also considers different ways of being Deaf in the modern world. A particular focus is given to the ways that Deaf women are presented and viewed in historical and contemporary communities. We also look at the relationship between the developed and the developing worlds, with special emphasis on the European experience of Deafness. In a European context, data from the European Commission funded (Leonardo da Vinci) SIGNALL I, SIGNALL II, SIGNALL 3 and Medisigns projects are drawn on (www.signallproject.com). As signed language use is a defining feature of what it means to be a member of a Deaf community, we will also touch on some key sociolinguistic elements of identity (e.g. gendered language use, regional variation in signed languages, bilingualism in deaf communities).
All students are encouraged to gain a rudimentary knowledge of American Sign Language, or to concurrently register for LING032A for 1 credit.
1 credit.
LING 033. Introduction to Classical Chinese
(See CHIN 033)
This course counts for distribution in humanities or social sciences under either rubric.
1 credit.
LING 034. Psychology of Language(See PSYC 034)
1 credit.
LING 040. Semantics
(Cross-listed as PHIL 040)
In this course, we look at a variety of ways in which linguists, philosophers, and psychologists have approached meaning in language. We address truth-functional semantics, lexical semantics, speech act theory, pragmatics, and discourse structure. What this adds up to is an examination of the meaning of words, phrases, and sentences in isolation and in context.
This course counts for distribution in humanities under the philosophy rubric and in social sciences under the linguistics rubric.
Writing course, 1 credit.
LING 043. Morphology and the Lexicon
This course looks at word formation and the meaningful ways in which different words in the lexicon are related to one another in the world's languages.
Prerequisite: LING 001 or 045.
1 credit.
LING 045. Phonetics and Phonology
Phonetics explores the full range of sounds produced by humans for use in language and the gestural, acoustic, and auditory properties that characterize those sounds. Phonology investigates the abstract cognitive system humans use for representing, organizing, and combining the sounds of language as well as processes by which sounds can change into other sounds. This course covers a wide spectrum of data from languages around the world and focuses on developing analyses to account for the data. Argumentation skills are also developed to help determine the underlying cognitive mechanisms that are needed to support proposed analyses.
1 credit.
(see JPNS 045)
1 Credit
This course counts for distribution in humanities under the Japanese rubric and in social sciences under the linguistics rubric.
LING 050. Syntax
We study the principles that govern how words make phrases and sentences in natural language. Much time is spent on learning argumentation skills. The linguistic skills gained in this course are applicable to the study of any modern or ancient natural language. The argumentation skills gained in this course are applicable to law and business as well as academic fields.
Writing course, 1 credit.
LING 052. Historical and Comparative LinguisticsThe central topic of this course is the comparative method, the procedure used by linguists to reconstruct unrecorded prehistoric languages. The course deals more broadly with the processes of language change. In spring 2006, there will be a particular focus on the early Germanic languages and the reconstruction of Proto-Germanic.
Prerequisite: LING 001, 030, or 045 or permission of the instructor.
1 credit.
LING 053. Language Minority Education in the US: Issues and Approaches(see EDUC 053)
1 Credit
LING 054. Oral and Written Language(Cross-listed as EDUC 054)
This course examines children's dialogue and its rendering in children's literature. Each student will pick an age group to study. There will be regular fiction-writing assignments as well as primary research assignments. This course is for linguists and writers of children's fiction and anyone else who is strongly interested in child development or reading skills. It is a course in which we learn through doing.
All students are welcome to do a community-service credit in LING 096.
Prerequisite: LING 001, 043, or 045; and LING 040 or 050. Can be met concurrently.
Studio course, Writing course, 1 credit.
LING 055. Writing Systems and Decipherment
We will discuss the typology and history of the writing systems of the world. The modern decipherment of ancient writing systems such as Linear B and Egyptian hieroglyphic writing will be covered, as will some of the approaches and challenges in the modern electronic encoding of diverse writing systems. The course also includes an overview and history of cryptography and its role in warfare and on the modern Internet.
Prerequisite: LING 001 or permission of the instructor.
1 credit.
LING 061. Structure of NavajoNavajo is an Athabaskan language spoken more commonly than any other Native American language in the United States. This course is an examination of the major phonological, morphological, syntactic, and semantic structures of Navajo. The morphology of this language is legendary. This course also considers the history of the language and its cultural context.
Prerequisites: LING 050; and 045 or 052 or permission of the instructor.
1 credit.
LING 062. Structure of American Sign LanguageIn this course, we look at the linguistic structures of ASL: phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and history. We also discuss issues of culture, literacy, and politics pertinent to people with hearing loss.
All students are encouraged to gain a rudimentary knowledge of ASL, or to concurrently register for LING062A for 1 credit.
Prerequisites: LING 050; and 045 or 052 or permission of the instructor.
All students are welcome to do a community-service project in LING 095.
Writing course, 1 credit (plus 1 credit under 062A).
LING 063. Supporting Literacy Among Deaf Children In this course, we will develop ebooks for young deaf children. Adults can “read” these books with the children regardless of their knowledge of American Sign Language (or lack thereof). Working from beloved picture books, we will add video clips of actors signing the stories as well as voice-overs and questions about sign language that the interested reader can click on to find information.
All students must have a rudimentary knowledge of American Sign Language or concurrently take an attachment in ASL language.
A background in linguistics, theater, film, early childhood development, or education would be helpful.
Students from Gallaudet University will join Swarthmore College students in this jointly taught course. We will travel to Gallaudet University three times over the semester and students from Gallaudet University will travel to Swarthmore College three times over the semester.
1 credit .
LING 064. Structure of Tuvan
Tuvan belongs to the Turkic branch of the Altaic language family and is spoken in Siberia and Mongolia by nomadic herders. It has classically agglutinating morphology and curious phenomena such as vowel harmony, converbs, and switch reference. It has rich sound symbolism, a tradition of oral (unwritten) epic tales, riddles, and world-famous song genres ("throat singing"). We will investigate the sounds, structures, oral traditions, and ethnography of Tuvan, using both printed and digital media.
Prerequisites: LING 050; and 045 or 052 or permission of the instructor.
1 credit.
LING 065. Structure of Twi
Twi is a Kwa language of the Niger-Congo language family spoken in Ghana. It is the principle language of the Akan ethnic group and the most widely spoken non-colonial language in the country. Twi is a tone language with a rich system of vowel harmony and an abundance of labialization. Syntactically, Twi has rich and distinctive verb phrase structures, among them, serial verb and predicate cleft constructions. We will investigate the sounds and grammar of Twi, utilizing published literature, field recordings and consultations with native speaker consultants.
1 credit.
LING 070R. Translation Workshop
(See LITR 070R)
This course counts for distribution in humanities under the literature rubric and in social sciences under the linguistics rubric.
1 credit.
LING 075. Field Methods
This course affords a close encounter with a language, direct from the mouths of native speakers. Students develop inference techniques for eliciting, understanding, analyzing, and presenting complex linguistic data. They also gain practical experience using state-of-the-art digital video, annotation, and archiving for scientific purposes. A different (typically non-Indo-European) language will be investigated each time the course is taught.
Prerequisite: LING 001.
1 credit.
LING 094. Research ProjectWith permission, students may elect to pursue a research program.
1 credit.
LING 095. Community-Service Credit: Literacy and People With Hearing LossThis course offers credit for community service work. You may work with children on literacy skills at the Oral Program for the Hearing Impaired at the Kids' Place in Swarthmore. You would be required to keep a daily or weekly journal of your experiences and to write a term paper (the essence of which would be determined by you and the linguistics faculty member who mentors you in this).
Prerequisites: LING 045; LING 006 or 062; permission of the directors of both the Linguistics and Education programs; and the agreement of a faculty member in linguistics to mentor you through the project.
1 credit.
LING 096. Community-Service Credit: LiteracyThis course offers credit for community service work. You may work with children in Chester public schools on literacy skills. You will be required to keep a daily or weekly journal of your experiences and to write a term paper (the essence of which would be determined by you and the linguistics faculty mentor).
Prerequisites: LING 054 or EDUC 054; permission of the directors of both the Linguistics and Education programs; and the agreement of a faculty member in linguistics to mentor you through the project.
1 credit.
LING 097. Field ResearchThis course offers credit for field research on a language.
Prerequisites: permission of the chair of linguistics and the agreement of a faculty member in linguistics to mentor you through the project.
1 credit.
LING 100. Research Seminar
All course majors in LING and LL must write their senior paper in this seminar. Only seniors are admitted.
1 or 2 credits.
LING 101. Seminar: Language Ethics
Misunderstandings about language have led to unfortunate situations in which rights issues come up. Students will choose a particular misunderstanding and study it in depth. We will focus on:
1. debunking the misunderstanding with good linguistics analysis
2. pointing out how that misunderstanding led to the present situation
3. describing why the present situation is unfortunate
4. offering remedies
Prerequisite: LING 001, 045, 50
LING 195. Senior Honors Thesis
All honors majors in linguistics and honors minors who are also course majors must write their thesis for 2 credits in the seminar.
LING 199. Senior Honors StudyHonors majors may write their two research papers for 1 credit in this course. Honors minors may take this course for 0.5 credit.
Seminars
LING 091. Capstone Seminar: Hero Time Travel(Cross-listed as INTP 091)
Instructors: Donna Jo Napoli (Linguistics) and Rosaria Munson (Classics)
Virgil's Aeneid, Dante's Divina Commedia, and several of Eugenio Montale's poems deal with a hero's journey. We examine how the journey varies in these poems as each author looks back on the earlier one, reinterpreting and creating anew. We have three foci: narratology, semiotics, and reception theory. All poetry will be in original (Latin, Old Italian, Italian) with English translations, so there are not language prerequisites. There will be theory readings as well as poetry each week.
1 credit.
LING 105. Seminar in Phonology: Contact and ChangeThis seminar studies language contact and its results; the relation between internal and external linguistic change; dialects and koine formation; and pidgins and creoles.
Prerequisite: LING 001, 045, or 050, or permission of the instructor.
1 or 2 credits.
LING 106. Seminar in MorphologyThis seminar will consider recent developments in the theory of morphology. Topics vary.
Prerequisite: LING 043.
1 or 2 credits.
LING 107. Seminar in SyntaxTopics in Germanic syntax.
Prerequisite: LING 040 or 050.
1 or 2 credits.
LING 108. Seminar in SemanticsThe first half of the course covers foundations of Montague semantics. We then read classic papers in semantics and some current topics of research. This course begins as a regular class with homework assignments and then turns into a seminar about halfway through.
Prerequisite: LING 040 (Semantics).
1 credit.
LING 115. Seminar: Linguistic Typology and Constructed LanguagesHumans have long been driven to duplicate and manipulate the properties of natural language to create new languages for the purposes of enhancing works of fiction, for aiding human communication, or even for pure intellectual curiosity. In this course, students will explore this drive through development of their own constructed languages, guided by rigorous study of the typology of patterns observed in real human languages. Topics to be covered include phoneme inventories, phonological rules, morphological classification, syntactic structure, language change over time, dialectal variation, and writing systems. Students will also apply their knowledge of linguistic typology to critically assess the design of existing constructed languages such as Esperanto and Klingon.
Prerequisite: LING 001 or 045 or permission of instructor.
1 credit.
LING H115. Phonetics and Phonology HU (Haverford College)This course investigates the sound patterns found in human languages. Phonetics is the study of these patterns from a physical and perceptual perspective while phonology is the study of sound patterns from a cognitive perspective. Activities in the class will expose students to the methodologies used by both perspectives (articulatory description and acoustic analysis for phonetics and formal theoretical models for phonology) and show the necessity and utility of both approaches in understanding the nature of sound patterns in human language.
1 credit.
LING 116. Language and Meaning(See PHIL 116)
This seminar counts for distribution in HU under the philosophy rubric and in SS under the LING rubric.
2 credits.
LING 119. Evolution, Culture, and Creativity(See SOAN 119.)
2 credits.
LING 120. Anthropological Linguistics: Endangered Languages(Cross-listed as SOAN 080B)
In this seminar, we address some traditional issues of concern to both linguistics and anthropology, framed in the context of the ongoing, precipitous decline in human linguistic diversity. With the disappearance of languages, cultural knowledge (including entire technologies such as ethnopharmacology) is often lost, leading to a decrease in humans' ability to manage the natural environment. Language endangerment thus proves relevant to questions of the language/ecology interface, ethnoecology, and cultural survival. The seminar also addresses the ethics of fieldwork and dissemination of traditional knowledge in the Internet age.
Prerequisite: One course in linguistics or anthropology or permission of the instructor.
1 credit.
LING 134. Psycholinguistics Seminar(See PSYC 134)
1 credit.
LINGH215. Structure of Colonial Valley Zapotec (Haverford College)In this course, we explore the grammar of Colonial Valley Zapotec, through archival documents (mostly wills) written in the mid 1500s to early 1700s. Zapotec is an endangered, indigenous language of Mexico, spoken primarily in the southern state of Oaxaca. We examine all aspect of Zapotec grammar: phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics, as well as language change and the relation to language and culture. Students gain skills in paleography, grammatical analysis, translation, data presentation, linguistic argumentation, and research skills. This seminar is reading and participation heavy. It focuses on hands-on research, with students actively involved in document analysis and translation. Some knowledge of Spanish is helpful, but not required, though ability and willingness to use a Spanish – English dictionary is. Students should expect near-weekly homework, vocabulary quizzes, responsibility for leading discussion on articles, and a final project.
Prerequisites: Ling 050 and one of the following: Ling 045, Ling 040, Ling 052 or permission of the instructor.
1 credit.
LINGB239. Introduction to Linguistics
An introductory survey of linguistics as a field. This course examines the core areas of linguistic structure (morphology, phonology, syntax, semantics), pragmatics, and language variation in relation to language change. The course provides rudimentary training in the analysis of language data, and focuses on the variety of human language structures and on the question of universal properties.
1 credit.
LINGH240. Literature and Cognition HU (Haverford College)Literature is discourse. It has intricate and fascinating structure that reveals how the human mind works. In the last 30 years, considerable progress has been made in psychology, artificial intelligence, linguistics and philosophy in the study of discourse interpretation. In this class we will learn an influential theory of discourse interpretation that we can then apply to different types of literary work (e.g., sonnets by Shakespeare and Milton; short stories by Nabokov and Bunin; novella by Nerval; novels by Kafka and Bulgakov) and biblical texts (e.g., The Book of Lamentations and The Book of Job). Prerequisite: One 100 level course or consent of instructor.
1 credit.
LINGH250. Seminar in Phonetics and Phonology (Haverford College)This course provides theoretical and empirical breadth in the phonetic and phonological understanding of tone and stress phenomenon in the world’s languages. The course will focus on data and typology as well as theories and models, which will be evaluated in terms of typological adequacy. The course will be run seminar style, with readings and data guiding class discussions. Students will work on a language with tone and / or stress phenomenon throughout the course and will be responsible for sharing this data with the class on a regular basis. Readings in the last third of the term will be chosen based on student interest and issues raised in their particular languages.
Prerequisites: Ling 045 and at least one of the following: Ling 001, Ling 040, Ling 050 or permission of the instructor.
1 credit.