Graduate Program

Spring Term Schedule

Spring 2023

Number	Title	Instructor	Time
LING 404-1 History of Linguistic Thought Arshia Asudeh TR 2:00PM - 3:15PM
This course looks at key ideas in linguistics, starting in Babylon and Ancient China and working towards the study of meaning in modern linguistic theory and philosophy of language. Among the topics we will look at are: writing and its influence on grammatical traditions; the advent of historical linguistics, linguistic phylogeny, and the comparative method; European structuralism; American structuralism; variation within and across languages; the rise of generative grammar; Chomsky’s philosophy of linguistics, including competence and I-language; literal meaning and beyond. Students will be expected to read a selection of primary literature and participate actively in class discussion. The course will be assessed by essays (essay questions and readings lists for each essay to be provided). Prerequisites: LING 410 OR LING 420 Location Lattimore Room 513 (TR 2:00PM - 3:15PM)
LING 407-1 Old English Steven Rozenski MW 11:50AM - 1:05PM
At the end of the 5th century, after Roman occupation of Britain had ended, invaders from coastal Germany and the Netherlands settled in England and displaced the Celtic-speaking population. The language these tribes spoke and wrote gives us the oldest witnesses of perhaps the most influential and widely-spoken language in the world today: English. In this class, we will learn to read the earliest records of English (c. 700-1100) by studying the grammar, vocabulary, and poetics of the period. We will explore the variety of surviving Old English texts - elegies, heroic epic, riddles, religious verse, Latin philosophy (translated in prose and verse), Biblical translation, sermons, charms, maxims, and more - as well as the history of book production during the period. By the end of the term, your new facility in Old English will enable you to read, understand, and translate some of the most beautiful poems ever written. No prerequisites for the course; as pre-1800 as you can get. Location Morey Room 501 (MW 11:50AM - 1:05PM)
LING 416-1 Speech on the Brain Joyce McDonough; Laurel Carney MW 9:00AM - 10:15AM
Blank Description Location Bausch & Lomb Room 270 (MW 9:00AM - 10:15AM)
LING 420-1 Intro to Grammatical Systems Joanna Pietraszko MW 3:25PM - 4:40PM
This introductory course examines the grammatical structure of sentences from the standpoint of transformational grammar. The course develops the basic techniques of syntactic analysis in order to develop a working theory of a (fragment of) English. The theory is then tested against data from other languages and revised accordingly. Location Harkness Room 210 (MW 3:25PM - 4:40PM)
LING 424-1 Intro to Computational Lin Aaron White MW 12:30PM - 1:45PM
This course covers foundational concepts in computational linguistics and is designed for students with a strong background in formal linguistic methods but only rudimentary programming experience. Major focus is placed on the use of formal languages as a tool for understanding natural language as well as on developing students' ability to implement foundational algorithms pertaining to those formal languages. Topics include basic formal language theory, finite state phonological and morphological parsing, and syntactic parsing for context free grammars and mildly context sensitive formalisms. Students who have taken the CSC17X series should consult with the instructor prior to enrollment, since there is overlap with a subset of the technical material covered in those courses. Conversely, while it is possible to enter this course with no programming experience and do well, students new to programming may wish to take CSC161 or to attend a CIRC programming bootcamp prior to taking this course. Location Lattimore Room 513 (MW 12:30PM - 1:45PM)
LING 427-1 Topics in Phonetics & Phonology Joyce McDonough MW 2:00PM - 3:25PM
This course is intended to provide participants with an overview of research in an area of phonetics and phonology. Issues vary from term to term but may cover areas in segmental, metrical and intonational phonology and the phonology/phonetics interface. Location Lattimore Room 513 (MW 2:00PM - 3:25PM)
LING 430-1 Sign Language Structure Norma Tourangeau MW 12:30PM - 1:45PM
An examination of signed languages and the cognitive constraints that shape them, through a detailed consideration of the structure of American Sign Language and other natural signed languages of the world. Includes training in sign language notation and analysis. Prerequisites: ASL 106 in the immediately preceding semester or permission of the instructor. B or better in ASL 106. Location Lechase Room 160 (MW 12:30PM - 1:45PM)
LING 447-1 Natural Language Processing Hangfeng He MW 3:25PM - 4:40PM
This course addresses issues of representing computing meaning from natural language, especially issues of understanding language in context using commonsense knowledge of the world. Topics will include a survey of English phrase structure and parsing, semantic representation (e.g., events, semantic roles, time, causality and speech acts), and theories and techniques for understanding language in context, including intention recognition, text understanding using knowledge of scripts and plans, and models of spoken dialogue systems (e.g., conversational agents such as Siri). CSC447, the graduate level version of the course, requires a substantial individual project. Prerequisites: CSC 242 Location Computer Studies Room 209 (MW 3:25PM - 4:40PM)
LING 450-1 Data Science for Linguistics Scott Grimm TR 11:05AM - 12:20PM
This course addresses linguistic research questions through data science techniques. The course will focus on developing skills to (i) acquire and process a variety of language data, from using established corpora to capturing data in the wild, and (ii) to investigate language use, particularly syntactic and semantic phenomena, through descriptive and inferential statistical techniques. A significant part of the course will be devoted to hands-on projects and will include developing familiarity with using the programming languages Python and R to acquire and explore linguistic data. Familiarity with statistics and/or computational linguistics is advantageous, but not necessary. Location Hylan Building Room 203 (TR 11:05AM - 12:20PM)
LING 465-2 Formal Semantics Arshia Asudeh TR 9:40AM - 10:55AM
This course is an in-depth introduction to the formal analysis of natural language meaning, employing techniques that have been developed in language and formal philosophy over the last century. Issues include intensionality, quantification, tense, presupposition, plurality, the analysis of discourse, and other current issues. Familiarity with syntax, logic, and/or computation are helpful. Location Lattimore Room 513 (TR 9:40AM - 10:55AM)
LING 466-1 Intro to Pragmatics Scott Grimm TR 12:30PM - 1:45PM
Within theoretical linguistics, pragmatics is (broadly speaking) the study of how language users convey meaning. This course covers three general areas: (1) How meaning carried by linguistic elements (such as sentences) interacts with meaning that arises from inferences about speakers intentions; (2) Ways of characterizing meaning, especially with respect to linguistic elements not easily handled in traditional semantic (i.e., truth-conditional) terms; (3) The role of context in determining meaning. Topics to be discussed include the relation between semantics and pragmatics, representations of context, truth-conditional and other types of meaning, presupposition; implicature and Grices Cooperative Principle Location Lattimore Room 513 (TR 12:30PM - 1:45PM)
LING 471-1 Field Methods I Nadine Grimm MW 10:25AM - 11:40AM
This class is similar to LIN389: Students will learn how to organize a fieldwork project by working with a native speaker. They will systematically prepare elicitation sessions, organize their data, and learn how to write up short sketches of their findings. The final project is a chapter of a joint sketch grammar of the language, including annotated natural text.In contrast to the senior seminar, however, this course is designed for two terms, continuing in the fall term. Also, participants are required to have taken LIN270/470 as a prerequisite. Having a background in language documentation and data processing techniques, students in this class will focus more on collecting and annotating natural texts (stories, dialogues, experimental data) which is adding a documentary angle. Location Lattimore Room 513 (MW 10:25AM - 11:40AM)
LING 491-3 Master's Reading in LIN Scott Grimm –
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LING 491-5 Master's Reading in Lin Maya Abtahian –
Created section, section number 5, removed Audit from grading bases, Updated instructor, updated minimum units, removed teaching assistant.
LING 491-6 Master's Reading in Lin Joanna Pietraszko –
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LING 491-7 Master's Reading in Lin Aaron White –
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LING 495-1 Master's Research in Ling Joyce McDonough –
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LING 495-2 Master's Research in Ling Scott Grimm –
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LING 495-3 Master's Research in Ling Nadine Grimm –
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LING 495-5 Master's Research in Ling Maya Abtahian –
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LING 495-6 Master's Research in Ling Joanna Pietraszko –
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LING 495-7 Master's Research in Ling Aaron White –
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LING 589-1 Graduate Field Methods Nadine Grimm; Joanna Pietraszko MW 12:30PM - 1:45PM
No description Location (MW 12:30PM - 1:45PM)
LING 590-1 Supervised Teaching Nadine Grimm –
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LING 590-2 Supervised Teaching Scott Grimm –
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LING 590-3 Supervised Teaching Maya Abtahian –
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LING 590-4 Supervised Teaching Joanna Pietraszko –
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LING 590-5 Supervised Teaching Aaron White –
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LING 590-6 Supervised Teaching Joyce McDonough –
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LING 590-7 Supervised Teaching Arshia Asudeh –
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LING 590-8 Supervised Teaching Karl Sarvestani –
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LING 590-9 Supervised Teaching Mary Moroney –
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LING 591-1 PhD Reading Course in Ling – –
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LING 591-2 PhD Reading Course in Ling – –
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LING 595-1 PhD Research in Ling Scott Grimm –
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LING 595-2 PhD Research in Ling – –
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LING 595-3 PhD Research in Ling – –
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LING 595A-1 PhD Research in Absentia – –
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LING 895-1 Cont of Master's Enrollment – –
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LING 897-1 Master's Dissertation – –
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LING 897-2 Master's Dissertation Scott Grimm –
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LING 897-3 Master's Dissertation Nadine Grimm –
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LING 897-5 Master's Dissertation Joanna Pietraszko –
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LING 897-6 Master's Dissertation Maya Abtahian –
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LING 897-7 Master's Dissertation Aaron White –
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LING 897A-1 Master's Dissertation in Absentia Jeffrey Runner –
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LING 897B-1 Master's Dissertation - Study Abroad Arshia Asudeh –
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LING 997A-1 Doct Dissertatn in Absentia – –
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LING 999-1 Doctoral Dissertation Jeffrey Runner –
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LING 999A-1 Doct Dissertatn in Absentia – –
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Number	Title	Instructor	Time
Monday
Monday and Wednesday
LING 416-1 Speech on the Brain Joyce McDonough; Laurel Carney
Blank Description
LING 471-1 Field Methods I Nadine Grimm
This class is similar to LIN389: Students will learn how to organize a fieldwork project by working with a native speaker. They will systematically prepare elicitation sessions, organize their data, and learn how to write up short sketches of their findings. The final project is a chapter of a joint sketch grammar of the language, including annotated natural text.In contrast to the senior seminar, however, this course is designed for two terms, continuing in the fall term. Also, participants are required to have taken LIN270/470 as a prerequisite. Having a background in language documentation and data processing techniques, students in this class will focus more on collecting and annotating natural texts (stories, dialogues, experimental data) which is adding a documentary angle.
LING 407-1 Old English Steven Rozenski
At the end of the 5th century, after Roman occupation of Britain had ended, invaders from coastal Germany and the Netherlands settled in England and displaced the Celtic-speaking population. The language these tribes spoke and wrote gives us the oldest witnesses of perhaps the most influential and widely-spoken language in the world today: English. In this class, we will learn to read the earliest records of English (c. 700-1100) by studying the grammar, vocabulary, and poetics of the period. We will explore the variety of surviving Old English texts - elegies, heroic epic, riddles, religious verse, Latin philosophy (translated in prose and verse), Biblical translation, sermons, charms, maxims, and more - as well as the history of book production during the period. By the end of the term, your new facility in Old English will enable you to read, understand, and translate some of the most beautiful poems ever written. No prerequisites for the course; as pre-1800 as you can get.
LING 424-1 Intro to Computational Lin Aaron White
This course covers foundational concepts in computational linguistics and is designed for students with a strong background in formal linguistic methods but only rudimentary programming experience. Major focus is placed on the use of formal languages as a tool for understanding natural language as well as on developing students' ability to implement foundational algorithms pertaining to those formal languages. Topics include basic formal language theory, finite state phonological and morphological parsing, and syntactic parsing for context free grammars and mildly context sensitive formalisms. Students who have taken the CSC17X series should consult with the instructor prior to enrollment, since there is overlap with a subset of the technical material covered in those courses. Conversely, while it is possible to enter this course with no programming experience and do well, students new to programming may wish to take CSC161 or to attend a CIRC programming bootcamp prior to taking this course.
LING 430-1 Sign Language Structure Norma Tourangeau
An examination of signed languages and the cognitive constraints that shape them, through a detailed consideration of the structure of American Sign Language and other natural signed languages of the world. Includes training in sign language notation and analysis. Prerequisites: ASL 106 in the immediately preceding semester or permission of the instructor. B or better in ASL 106.
LING 589-1 Graduate Field Methods Nadine Grimm; Joanna Pietraszko
No description
LING 427-1 Topics in Phonetics & Phonology Joyce McDonough
This course is intended to provide participants with an overview of research in an area of phonetics and phonology. Issues vary from term to term but may cover areas in segmental, metrical and intonational phonology and the phonology/phonetics interface.
LING 420-1 Intro to Grammatical Systems Joanna Pietraszko
This introductory course examines the grammatical structure of sentences from the standpoint of transformational grammar. The course develops the basic techniques of syntactic analysis in order to develop a working theory of a (fragment of) English. The theory is then tested against data from other languages and revised accordingly.
LING 447-1 Natural Language Processing Hangfeng He
This course addresses issues of representing computing meaning from natural language, especially issues of understanding language in context using commonsense knowledge of the world. Topics will include a survey of English phrase structure and parsing, semantic representation (e.g., events, semantic roles, time, causality and speech acts), and theories and techniques for understanding language in context, including intention recognition, text understanding using knowledge of scripts and plans, and models of spoken dialogue systems (e.g., conversational agents such as Siri). CSC447, the graduate level version of the course, requires a substantial individual project. Prerequisites: CSC 242
Tuesday and Thursday
LING 465-2 Formal Semantics Arshia Asudeh
This course is an in-depth introduction to the formal analysis of natural language meaning, employing techniques that have been developed in language and formal philosophy over the last century. Issues include intensionality, quantification, tense, presupposition, plurality, the analysis of discourse, and other current issues. Familiarity with syntax, logic, and/or computation are helpful.
LING 450-1 Data Science for Linguistics Scott Grimm
This course addresses linguistic research questions through data science techniques. The course will focus on developing skills to (i) acquire and process a variety of language data, from using established corpora to capturing data in the wild, and (ii) to investigate language use, particularly syntactic and semantic phenomena, through descriptive and inferential statistical techniques. A significant part of the course will be devoted to hands-on projects and will include developing familiarity with using the programming languages Python and R to acquire and explore linguistic data. Familiarity with statistics and/or computational linguistics is advantageous, but not necessary.
LING 466-1 Intro to Pragmatics Scott Grimm
Within theoretical linguistics, pragmatics is (broadly speaking) the study of how language users convey meaning. This course covers three general areas: (1) How meaning carried by linguistic elements (such as sentences) interacts with meaning that arises from inferences about speakers intentions; (2) Ways of characterizing meaning, especially with respect to linguistic elements not easily handled in traditional semantic (i.e., truth-conditional) terms; (3) The role of context in determining meaning. Topics to be discussed include the relation between semantics and pragmatics, representations of context, truth-conditional and other types of meaning, presupposition; implicature and Grices Cooperative Principle
LING 404-1 History of Linguistic Thought Arshia Asudeh
This course looks at key ideas in linguistics, starting in Babylon and Ancient China and working towards the study of meaning in modern linguistic theory and philosophy of language. Among the topics we will look at are: writing and its influence on grammatical traditions; the advent of historical linguistics, linguistic phylogeny, and the comparative method; European structuralism; American structuralism; variation within and across languages; the rise of generative grammar; Chomsky’s philosophy of linguistics, including competence and I-language; literal meaning and beyond. Students will be expected to read a selection of primary literature and participate actively in class discussion. The course will be assessed by essays (essay questions and readings lists for each essay to be provided). Prerequisites: LING 410 OR LING 420
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday