Faculty of Arts & Science 2015-2016 Calendar

Linguistics

• Linguistics Specialist | Linguistics Major | Linguistics Minor
• Linguistics Courses

Faculty

Linguistics can trace its roots back to the ancient Sanskrit grammarians, and the study of language is probably as old as language itself. However, the twentieth century has produced an explosion in the scientific study of language. As our understanding of the nature and structure of human language develops, linguistics is becoming relevant to many other areas of research such as Cognitive Science, Artificial Intelligence, Speech-Language Pathology, Audiology, Psychology, and Philosophy.

On its own, linguistics represents an invaluable key to the nature of the mind and the diverse elements of human culture; as a tool, linguistics is unmatched in preparing one for the learning and teaching of languages and for integrating language with technology.

Part-time students should note that most of the summer and evening courses available to them are offered on a rotating basis only. Consequently, students wishing to take such courses should enroll in them at the earliest opportunity after completing the necessary prerequisites.

In addition to the undergraduate curriculum within the Department of Linguistics, there are courses relating to linguistics offered in other departments such as the language departments, Anthropology, Computer Science, Philosophy, and Psychology, and in the Cognitive Science and Artificial Intelligence program.

Students seeking counselling and information should contact the Undergraduate Coordinator (416-946-3808/lin.ungr@chass.utoronto.ca).

Linguistics Programs

Enrolment in the following Linguistics programs is open to students who have completed 4 FCEs. The Specialist program is suitable for students who have a strong interest or aptitude for linguistics. Linguistics naturally combines as a major or minor with many disciplines, including, but not limited to, Psychology, Philosophy, Computer Science, Cognitive Scinece, French, Spanish and Portuguese, Slavic languages, German and Italian.

(12 full courses or their equivalent)

Language Requirement (2 FCEs): Two years of study or its equivalent of one non-Germanic, non-Romance language in courses using the spoken language (courses must be approved by the Undergraduate Coordinator).  We encourage you to begin this language study in your first or second year.

Required Courses (5.5 FCEs):

First Year: LIN100Y1
Second Year: LIN228H1, LIN229H1, LIN232H1, LIN241H1, LIN251H1
Third and Fourth Years:  LIN322H1, LIN331H1, JAL401H1 plus at least one of JLP374H1 or JLP315H1

Elective Courses (4.5 FCEs):

A total of 4.5 FCEs in LIN/JAL/JFL/JLP/JLS (excluding LIN200H1, LIN203H1, LIN204H1) including:
 - a 1.5 FCEs at the 300+ level
 - a .5 FCE at  the 400 level
Up to 1 FCE may be from other departments. Approved courses include  ANT329H1, ANT425H1, ANT427H1; COG250Y1; CSC384H1, CSC401H1, CSC448H1, CSC485H1; FIN220H1, FIN305H1; FRE272H1, FRE273H1, FRE274H1, FRE376H1, FRE378H1, FRE379H1, FRE379H1, FRE383H1, FRE386H1, FRE387H1, FRE388H1, FRE471H1, FRE487H1, FRE488H1, FRE489H1; GER400H1, GER426H1, GER462H1; HPS250H1, HPS322H1, HPS352H1; ITA360H1, ITA361H1, ITA363H1, ITA364H1, ITA365H1, ITA430H1; NML315H1, NML457H1, NML463H1; PHL210Y1, PHL245H1, PHL310H1, PHL311H1, PHL325H1, PHL326H1, PHL340H1, PHL342H1, PHL345H1, PHL347H1, PHL351H1, PHL355H1, PHL405H1, PHL451H1, PHL479H1, PHL480H1, PHL481H1; SLA255H1, SLA380H1, SLA438H1, SLA452Y1, SLA455H1; SPA322H1, SPA324H1, SPA421H1, SPA422H1, SPA423H1, SPA425H1; VIC223Y1. Other courses might also qualify; consult the Department of Linguistics for approval.

(7 full courses or their equivalent)

First Year: LIN100Y1

Second Year: LIN228H1, LIN229H1, LIN232H1, LIN241H1, LIN251H1

Third and Fourth Years: A total of 3.5 FCEs in LIN/JAL/JFL/JLP/JLS (excluding LIN200H1, LIN203H1, LIN204H1) including:

-  at least one of JLP374H1 or JLP315H1

-  0.5 FCE at the 400 level

-  a further 1 FCE at the 300+ level

(4 full courses or their equivalent)

First Year: LIN100Y1
Higher Years: 2. Three FCE’s in LIN/JAL/JFL/JLP/JLS (excluding LIN200H1) at least one of which must be at the 300+ level

Linguistics Courses

The 199Y1 and 199H1 seminars are designed to provide the opportunity to work closely with an instructor in a class of no more than twenty-four students. These interactive seminars are intended to stimulate the students’ curiosity and provide an opportunity to get to know a member of the professorial staff in a seminar environment during the first year of study. Details can be found at www.artsci.utoronto.ca/current/course/fyh-1/.

Lectures on fundamental principles with illustrations from English and from a broad spectrum of other languages. Practice in elementary analytic techniques.

A general-interest course on language. Possible topics include: the structure of language; how language changes over time, the social and psychological aspects of language, language and culture, the origin of language, writing systems, and language acquisition. (This course cannot be used as an entrance to programs in linguistics, and cannot be used as a prerequisite to any linguistics courses unless otherwise indicated.)

A study of English spoken in Canada. Topics include: vocabulary items, usage surveys, non-standard dialect enclaves, regional variation and historical development. Students will develop original research projects.

English has a rich vocabulary. We will learn how it has developed over time, and investigate aspects of the meaning and pronunciation of words. Most of all, we will study how words are put together, so that students will be able to recognize and analyze unfamiliar words.

How the English language works: students analyze a wide variety of English grammatical structures and learn how they vary across dialects and change through time.

Investigation of the sounds most commonly used in languages from an articulatory and acoustic point of view, with practice in their recognition and production. Students will learn the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) and practice transcribing a wide variety of speech sounds.

The nature and organization of phonological systems, with practical work in analysis.

The nature and organization of syntactic systems; their relation to semantic systems and the linguistic organization of discourse; practical work in analysis.

An introduction to meaning within linguistics and the interpretation of language in context. Topics include logical and semantic relations, pragmatic concepts such as presupposition and implicature, the nature of thematic roles, quantifiers and scope relations, the expressions of temporal and modal relations in natural language.

How does linguistic variation construct identity? Introduction to recent sociolinguistic literature on language contact, multilingualism, code-switching, expressions of ethnic solidarity and regional identity, sex and gender differentiation, dialect geography, sociophonetics, perceptual dialectology, diffusion of norms in mobile populations, documentation of variation in lesser studied languages, and changes across the life-span.

Credit course for supervised participation in faculty research project. Details at http://www.artsci.utoronto.ca/current/course/rop. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

Principles of research design, data collection, and a wide variety of statistical techniques for research in various subfields of linguistics.

This course examines cross-linguistic typological features found in the languages of the world. Special attention is given to describing morphological and syntactic patterns found cross-linguistically. The goal of the course is to draw on the range of variation in order to uncover language universals. (Not offered every year)

Infants’ abilities at birth, prelinguistic development, the first words, phonological, syntactic and semantic development. Social variables influencing development of language, bilingualism, models of development, language play. (Sponsored by the Departments of Linguistics and Psychology, but administered solely by the Dept. of Linguistics).

Basic issues in current phonological theory. Problems focusing on analysis and theory. (Students who want to pursue graduate studies in linguistics are strongly advised to include this course in their program.)

Introduction to the acoustics of the vocal tract, including acoustic properties of speech and its analysis using instrumental techniques.

Introduction to writing systems; their historical development, their relationship to language, and their role in culture and society. (Given by the Departments of Anthropology and Linguistics) (Not offered every year)

An introduction to the foundations and formal framework of current generative grammar, concentrating on Chomsky's Minimalist theory. (Students who want to pursue graduate studies in linguistics are strongly advised to include this course in their program.)

The nature and organization of morphological systems, with practical work in analysis.

The study of natural language semantics and the relation between interpretation and syntactic structure. Topics include predication and quantification, scope and anaphora, problems of discourse analysis, the interpretation of different types of pronouns, and ellipsis.

An exploration of linguistic variation and its social implications, especially the quantitative study of phonological and grammatical features and their correlations with age, sex, ethnicity, and other social variables.

An introduction to the detailed observation of ordinary conversational interaction, and to some of the main ways in which such interaction is organized. The focus is on developing the capacity to discern orderliness in the details of everyday interaction, and beginning independent research in this area. (Given by the Departments of Anthropology and Linguistics)

An introduction to some of the principal questions of feminist theory, as viewed from sociolinguistics. Topics include: socialization into gendered discourse patterns, cultural and ethnic differences in gendered interactions; the role of language and gender in legal, medical and labour settings; multilingualism, migration, imperialism and nationalism; sexuality, desire and queer linguistics, language, gender and globalization.

An introduction to diachronic linguistics. Theories of language change; the comparative method, internal reconstruction, linguistic geography, the origin of languages; language death.

Human and other animal communication, structure of human language, word meaning and semantic memory, psychological studies of syntax, bilingualism, language and thought, language errors and disorders.  (Sponsored by the Departments of Linguistics and Psychology, but administered solely by the Dept. of Linguistics).

An instructor-supervised group project in an off-campus setting. Details at http://www.artsci.utoronto.ca/current/course/399. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

An instructor-supervised group project in an off-campus setting. Details at http://www.artsci.utoronto.ca/current/course/399. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

Practice in language analysis based on elicited data from a native speaker of a foreign language, emphasizing procedures and techniques. (Given by the Departments of Anthropology and Linguistics)

Topics may include: the phonological, morphological, syntactic, and semantic systems; the writing system; a brief diachronic sketch; variation and sociolinguistic aspects. (Not offered every year).

This course provides students with hands-on experience with main methods of linguistic phonetic (acoustic and articulatory) analysis through project-based group work and training in writing up experimental results.

Research in Phonological Theory, including guided instruction in how to undertake critical reading of primary literature, develop an original topic, write a research paper, an abstract, a handout, and give an oral presentation. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

Current research involving morphology, including the role of morphology in the grammar, the nature of inflectional paradigms, affixes affecting grammatical relations. Each year one topic will be a special focus and will be dealt with at length. (Not offered every year)

Research in Syntactic Theory, including guided instruction in how to undertake critical reading of primary literature, develop an original topic, write a research paper, an abstract, a handout, and give an oral presentation. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

Topics in intensional semantics, including formal semantics of tense, aspect, modality, and attitude verbs. (Not offered every year)

Ways in which urban sub-cultures differ in their use of language. How speakers dialects reflect their ethnicity, group affiliation, and other social categories. Practice in dialect analysis based on data from the speech community, emphasizing procedures and techniques.

The theory and practice of sociolinguistics. The inter-relationship between language and society from the perspective of collecting, organizing, and analyzing patterns in natural speech data, including field methods and quantitative methods for correlating linguistic and social variables.

A study of language endangerment and language revitalization efforts, focusing on Aboriginal languages of Canada. Topics include language classification and a survey of major features of the languages, what it means for a language to be endangered, the factors that contribute to language shift, and efforts to reverse language shift, including discussion of literacy and dictionaries.

Seminar in advanced topics in psycholinguistics. Content varies from year to year.  (Sponsored by the Departments of Linguistics and Psychology, but administered solely by the Dept. of Linguisitics).

Students are introduced to the etiologies and characteristics of speech and language disorders in children, associated with autism, intellectual disabilities, and specific language impairment.  Theoretical underpinnings of the major intervention approaches for children with speech and langauge disorders are discussed.  (Given by the Departments of Linguistics and Speech Language Pathology)

Normal and deviant development of speech and language; a survey of the disorders of human communication; an overview of intervention for disorders of speech, voice, language, swallowing and hearing; the effects of human communication handicaps on the individual, family, and community; theoretical and philosophical aspects of disordered communication. (Given by the Departments of Linguistics and Speech Language Pathology) (Not offered every year).

An introduction to the typical development of emergent literacy skills, including oral language, phonological awareness, narratives, and emergent writing in children; a discussion of the effects of language disorders on emergent literacy skills; a survey of approaches to intervention for children’s emergent literacy skills. (Given by the Departments of Linguistics and Speech Language Pathology)

This course exposes students to research findings and methods that are highly pertinent to the fields of audiology and speech-language pathology, offering them with an extended service learning component in research laboratories or clinical settings. Successful completion of this course would provide students with advanced study in hearing and communication disorders that will be useful in their applications to audiology or speech-language pathology programs and in their future study of audiology or speech-language pathology. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

An advanced seminar on issues of current theoretical relevance in neurolinguistics, with a special reference to French. The aim of this course is to provide an introduction to the linguistic analysis and explanation of speech and language disorders. We will focus on the relation between the structure of human language and the brain's physiological and psychological systems. (Not offered in 2015-16; offered in alternate years).

An advanced seminar on issues of current theoretical relevance in linguistics with special reference to French. Focus will be placed on the linguistic aspects of the phenomena of language contact found in the bilingual (or multilingual) communities where French is one of the languages spoken. This course is taught in English or French, according to students' choice.

Argumentation, practice in constructing and evaluating hypotheses, and critical evaluation of representative articles. Emphasis on the structure of arguments rather than on the analysis of a particular language.

A research or reading project undertaken by the student under the supervision of a staff member. Open only when a faculty member is willing and available to supervise. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

A research or reading project undertaken by the student under the supervision of a staff member. Open only when a faculty member is willing and available to supervise. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

A research or reading project undertaken by the student under the supervision of a staff member. Open only when a faculty member is willing and available to supervise. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

A research or reading project undertaken by the student under the supervision of a staff member. Open only when a faculty member is willing and available to supervise. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

A research or reading project undertaken by the student under the supervision of a staff member. Open only when a faculty member is willing and available to supervise. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

This course introduces advanced statistical modeling techniques using the statistical software R, tailored specifically to the needs of linguistic research.