語言學主要課題討論
Fundamental Issues in
Linguistics
Fall 2001 * * Thursday 9:10-12:00 * * 文學院412
SOME INTERESTING LINKSInstructor:
James Myers (麥傑)
Office: 文學院247
Tel: 31506
Email: Lngmyers at ccu dot edu dot tw
WWW: http://www.ccunix.ccu.edu.tw/~lngmyers
Office hours: Wednesday 2-4, or by appointment.
Goals:
This class is for graduate students and advanced undergraduates who are interested in how linguistics fits into cognitive science. The focus is linguistic theory (so it's not a class about psychology of language or philosophy of language). Three overlapping issues will be explored: nativism vs. empiricism, formalism vs. functionalism, and grammar vs. analogy. At the same time, students will learn about three core areas of linguistic theory: syntax, phonology, and morphology.
Readings:
There is no textbook. The list of readings is given at the end of this syllabus.
Evaluation:
50% Homework
40% Final paper (due 1/17 by 5pm in my mailbox)
10% Class participation
Most homework in this class will just be for practice, but three are for grading (see schedule below for their due dates). They'll mostly involve doing linguistic analysis, in order to help prepare you for your final paper. You can work together on the homework, but you must hand in your own homework, and not just copy it from anyone. Late homework will not be accepted, and there will be no "extra credit" homework.
The final paper will be 10 pages maximum, double-spaced, and in English (不好的英文也可以了). It should be your own original linguistic analysis of a pattern in syntax, phonology, or morphology in some language. I'll give you a list of suggested topics in the middle of the semester; if you want to do a topic not on the list, you'll have to check with me at that time. I strongly discourage you from changing your topic after you pick one.
Every week there will be some sort of reading. Remember that this class is a 討論, so you should do the reading before class, and think of something to say about it. This can include thoughts about how the reading relates to your own experience, or how it relates to topics we discussed earlier, or your answers for the practice homework, or your own questions (e.g. "What does the author mean on p. 23...?"). 你可以用國語討論，可是請有一點耐心，我的國語真的非常破！
Schedule
NOTE CHANGES IN SCHEDULE
("*" marks when homework or paper is due)|
Date |
Topics |
Readings |
|
9/20 |
Fundamental issues in linguistics |
|
|
9/27 |
No class |
|
|
10/4 |
Linguistic cognition |
O'Grady 1-13 |
|
10/11 |
The cognition of linguists |
Soames & Perlmutter |
|
10/18 |
Empiricism (Bloomfield) vs. nativism (Chomsky) |
Bloomfield; Chomsky |
|
* 10/25 |
Introduction to Chomskyan syntactic theory |
O'Grady 183-202 |
|
11/1 |
Doing analyses in Chomskyan syntactic theory |
O'Grady 202-231 |
|
11/8 |
A Chomskyan analysis of Chinese syntax |
Huang |
|
* 11/15 |
A modern empiricist approach to syntax |
McLeod, Plunkett & Rolls |
|
11/22 |
Introduction to phonology |
G&J 18-37, 258-260 |
|
11/29 |
Doing analyses in formal phonology |
G&J 38-63, 260-261 |
|
12/6 |
A formal analysis of Chinese phonology |
Guo |
|
12/13 |
Should phonological theory be functionalist? |
Hale & Reiss |
|
* 12/20 |
Can phonology be both formal and functionalist? |
Myers & Tsay |
|
12/27 |
The grammar of Chinese morphology |
Packard |
|
1/3 |
Morphological analogy |
Bybee |
|
1/10 |
Class summary (last class) |
|
|
* 1/17 |
Final paper due |
LIST OF READINGS
Bloomfield, L. (1933) Language, pp. 21-41. Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Bybee, J. (1988) "Morphology as lexical organization." In M. Hammond and M. Noonan (eds.) Theoretical Morphology, 119-141. Academic Press.
Chomsky, N. (1965) Aspects of the Theory of Syntax, pp. 3-15,18-27, 47-59. MIT Press.
Guo, H. L.-Y. (2001) "A constraint-based analysis to Mandarin loanwords: evidence from transliterated American state names and typhoon names." In Proceedings of the 7th International and 19th National Conferences on Chinese Phonology, pp. 442- 462.
Gussenhoven, C. and H. Jacobs (1998) Understanding Phonology [selections]. Arnold. ["G&J"]
Hale, M. and C. Reiss (2000) "Phonology as cognition." In N. Burton-Roberts, P. Carr, & G. Docherty [eds] Phonological Knowledge: Conceptual and Empirical Issues, pp. 161-184. Oxford University Press.
Huang, C.-T. J. (1991) "Modularity and Chinese A-not-A questions." In Georgopoulos and Ishihara (eds.) Interdisciplinary Approaches to Language: Essays in Honor of S.-Y. Kuroda, pp. 305-332. Kluwer.
McLeod, P., K. Plunkett, and E. T. Rolls (1998) Introduction to Connectionist Modelling of Cognitive Processes, pp. 9-15, 194-202. Oxford University Press.
Myers, J. and J. Tsay (2001) "A formal functional theory of tone." Paper to be presented at GLOW in Asia, National Tsing Hua University, January.
O'Grady, W., J. Archibald, M. Aronoff, and J. Rees-Miller (2001) Contemporary Linguistics, Fourth Edition [selections]. Bedford/St. Martin's. ["O'Grady"]
Packard, J. L. (2000) The Morphology of Chinese: A Linguistic and Cognitive Approach, pp. 134-136,157-196. Cambridge University Press.
Soames, S. and D. M. Perlmutter (1979) Syntactic Argumentation and the Structure of English, pp. 3-25, 100-1, 151-153. University of California Press.