Schedule of topics

August 29. The science of language.

Reading: Akmajian et al., chapter 1 and section 2.1 (pages 1-16).

September 1. Words.

Reading: Akmajian et al., section 2.2 (pages 16-23).

September 3. Morphemes; word structures.

Reading: Akmajian et al., section 2.3 (pages 23-42).

September 5. Forming new words.

Reading: Akmajian et al., section 2.4 (pages 42-46).

September 8. Inflection and derivation.

Reading: Akmajian et al., section 2.5 (pages 46-49).

September 10. Difficulties in morphological analysis.

Reading: Akmajian et al., section 2.6 (pages 49-57).

September 12. Topics in morphology.

Reading: Akmajian et al., section 3.1 (pages 65-70).

September 15. Phonetics.

Reading: Akmajian et al., section 3.2 (pages 71-97).

September 17. Representing the sounds of speech.

Reading: Akmajian et al., section 3.3 (pages 97-103).

September 19. Topics in phonetics.

Reading: Akmajian et al., section 4.1 (pages 109-110).

September 22. Phonology.

Reading: Akmajian et al., section 4.2 (pages 110-126).

September 24. Distinctive feature theory.

Reading: Akmajian et al., section 4.3 (pages 126-140).

September 26. Topics in phonology.

Reading: Akmajian et al., section 5.1 (pages 149-156).

September 29. Syntax.

Reading: Akmajian et al., section 5.2 (pages 156-197).

October 1. Grouping and structuring.

Reading: Akmajian et al., section 5.3 (pages 197-211).

October 3. Formal syntax.

Reading: Akmajian et al., section 5.4 (pages 211-217).

October 6. Topics in syntax.

October 8. (pause for breath)

Reading: Akmajian et al., Appendix (pages 561-569).

October 10. Writing systems.

October 13. Review for the mid-semester examination.

October 15. Mid-semester examination.

October 17. Computational linguistics.

Reading: Akmajian et al., sections 6.1 and 6.2 (pages 227-236).

October 27. Semantics; the nature of meanings.

Reading: Akmajian et al., section 6.3 (pages 237-248).

October 29. Semantic theory.

Reading: Akmajian et al., section 6.4 (pages 248-264).

October 31. Topics in semantics.

Reading: Akmajian et al., section 7.1 (pages 275-288).

November 3. Dialects and registers.

Reading: Akmajian et al., section 7.2 (pages 288-295).

November 5. Formal and informal style in American English.

Reading: Akmajian et al., section 7.3 (pages 295-309).

November 7. Other kinds of language variation.

Reading: Akmajian et al., section 8.1 (pages 315-319).

November 10. Historical linguistics.

Reading: Akmajian et al., section 8.2 (pages 319-339).

November 12. Language families; reconstructing extinct languages.

Reading: Akmajian et al., section 8.3 (pages 339-350).

November 14. The history of English.

November 17. (pause for breath)

Reading: Akmajian et al., section 9.1 (pages 355-363).

November 19. Pragmatics.

Reading: Akmajian et al., sections 9.2 and 9.3 (pages 363-387).

November 21. Models of communication.

Reading: Akmajian et al., section 9.4 (pages 387-391).

November 24. Discourse and conversation.

Reading: Akmajian et al., section 9.5 (pages 391-405).

November 26. Topics in pragmatics.

Reading: Akmajian et al., sections 10.1 and 10.2 (pages 417-425).

December 1. Speech production.

Reading: Akmajian et al., section 10.3 (pages 425-454).

December 3. Language comprehension.

Reading: Akmajian et al., section 10.4 (pages 454-464).

December 5. Topics in the psychology of language.

December 8. Language games and puzzles.

December 10. Review for the final examination.

December 12. The intricacy of linguistic data.

December 18, 9 a.m. Final examination.