Course schedules | Linguistics

Spring 2013

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Linguistics courses
Course number	Course title	Section		Instructor	Days	Time	Room
CAS LX 406	The Linguistics of Contemporary English	web	A1	Alrenga	TR	3:30-5	KCB 107
CAS LX 406	Systematic introduction to the linguistic analysis of modern English (phonology, morphology, syntax) from the perspective of generative grammar. Other topics include: English and its West Germanic relatives, non-standard varieties and the development of standard English, varieties of World Englishes. [Note that this will count as a course in the linguistic analysis of a specific language for purposes of satisfying requirements for the Linguistics major.] Also offered as CAS EN 514. [Prereq: CAS LX 250 Introduction to Linguistics or consent of instructor.]
CAS LX 501	Linguistic Field Methods	web	A1	O'Connor	TR	9:30-11	CAS 228
CAS LX 501	An in-depth investigation of the phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and lexicon of an African or other non-Indo-European language. Weekly sessions with language consultant. [Prereq: CAS LX 250 Introduction to Linguistics or consent of instructor.]
CAS LX 502	Semantics I	web	A1	Alrenga	TR	12:30-2	CAS 324
CAS LX 502	Semantics is the study of linguistic meaning. In this course, we will examine meaning from a variety of perspectives, including: how it is encoded in words and sentences, how native speakers interpret language, and how truth and falsehood can emerge from the complexity of the grammar. We will also touch on various aspects of pragmatics - the function of meaning in a communicative setting. [Prereq: CAS LX 250 Introduction to Linguistics or consent of instructor.]
Carries humanities divisional credit in CAS.
CAS LX 521	Morphology	web	A1	Baronian	MWF	3-4	CAS 208
CAS LX 521	Morphology, the study of the internal structure and the shapes of words across languages, straddles the boundary between syntax and phonology. This course covers the major empirical and theoretical issues in the study of morphology, emphasizing links to other components of grammar. [Prereq: CAS LX 250 Introduction to Linguistics or consent of instructor.]
Carries humanities divisional credit in CAS.
CAS LX 522	Syntax I	web	A1	Hagstrom	TR	12:30-2	KCB 107
CAS LX 522	Introduction to the logical structure and organization of language, and to generative theory. Application of principles of syntactic analysis to students' own and other languages through data-oriented problems from different language types. [Prereq: CAS LX 250 Introduction to Linguistics or consent of instructor.]
Carries humanities divisional credit in CAS.
CAS LX 523	Syntax II	web	A1	Hagstrom	M	4-7	CAS 425
CAS LX 523	Investigation of syntactic commonalities and differences across languages. Scrutiny of evidence and argumentation from past and current analyses, focusing on construction of strong arguments. Topics include movement, passives, question formation, syntactic micro-structure, and interaction with semantics, pragmatics, and phonology. [Prereq: CAS LX 522 Syntax I or consent of instructor.]
CAS LX 525	Prosody		A1	Barnes	TR	11-12:30	CAS 223
CAS LX 525	Exploration of the melodic and rhythmic aspects of the languages of the world. Emphasis on theoretical and experimental approaches to cross-linguistic typology. Specific topics include: syllables and syllable-weight, rhythm and speech timing; stress and metrics; tone and intonation. [Prereq: CAS LX 510 Phonetics or consent of instructor.]
CAS LX 533	Creole Linguistics	web	A1	Baronian	MWF	12-1	CAS 237
CAS LX 533	Overview of pidginization and creolization. Evolution, typology, and area characteristics of creole languages. Role of contact languages and other substrata. Field and classroom research with creole language speakers. [Prereq: CAS LX 250 Introduction to Linguistics or consent of instructor.]

Related courses at BU
Course number	Course title	Section		Instructor	Days	Time	Room
CAS AN 524	Seminar: Language and Culture Contacts in Contemporary Africa		A1	Ngom	MWF	2-3	CAS 229
CAS AN 524	Concepts and theoretical approaches to study language variation and change in sociolinguistics/linguistic anthropology. This course examines internal and external factors that trigger language variations and changes and the social attitudes associated with them. The nexus between diachronic and synchronic changes will also be reanalyzed in light of the Labovian variationist model. While the course will focus on language variations and changes in Africa, it will draw from existing literature to provide students with a strong foundation on the scholarship in the field of contact linguistics, language variation and change, types of variations, the relationships between these variations and gender, ethnicity, religion, youth culture, and globalization. It will conclude by introducing students to the new field of forensic linguistics (the interface between language, crime and law). Using actual cases from the US and Europe, the use of linguistic features as evidence in criminal investigations, in authorship disputes, and in asylum cases will be examined. The course will consist of lectures and class discussions, practical exercises dealing with issues on language variation and change and their various implications in the 21st century. The course will provide students with the tools necessary to plan and execute studies on language variation and change in the world's speech communities. [Prereq: CAS AN 351 or consent of instructor]
CAS EN 518	Linguistic Problems in TESOL		A1	Zlateva	T	4-7	CAS 203
CAS EN 518	Application of linguistic concepts to the teaching of English as a foreign language. Includes description of contemporary English grammatical structures that pose problems for learners and teachers. [Prereq: consent of instructor.]
CAS LJ 510	Structure of the Japanese Language: Syntax	web	A1	Tsuji	F	12-3	STH 319
CAS LJ 510	(Conducted in English) Introduction to Japanese syntax, covering a range of topics including word order, information structure, questions, types of verbs, demonstratives, anaphora, and relative clauses. Close study of Japanese data will also form the basis for comparisons with English and other languages. Lectures and discussions in English with bilingual materials. [Prereq: LX 250 and LJ 112 or 123 (or equivalent placement in Japanese); or consent of instructor.]
CAS LS 504	History of the Spanish Language		A1	Zaderenko	MWF	12-1	CAS 223
CAS LS 504	(Conducted in Spanish) Study of the structure of sounds, general concepts of language change, and specific phonological, morphological and syntactic changes in the history of Spanish. Begins with the modern language and proceeds to successively earlier stages; includes reading of representative medieval and dialectal texts. [Prereq: CAS LS 350 plus two CAS LS 400-level literature courses]
This course can satisfy requirements for both the Spanish and the Spanish & Linguistics majors; it can also satisfy the Linguistics major requirement for a course in the linguistic analysis of a specific language, as well as counting toward both the Spanish and Linguistics minors. See http://www.bu.edu/linguistics/UG/spanling.html for further details.
CAS LX 508	The Structure of Spanish	web	A1	Erker	MWF	10-11	CAS 116
CAS LX 508	(Conducted in Spanish) The goal of this course is to introduce students to the structure of the Spanish language, with a focus on its morphology and syntax. We examine the internal structure of words and the inflectional and derivational processes that constrain them. In addition, the course introduces key concepts such as morpheme, affix, grammatical class, linguistic gender, nominalization, and verbalization. We also investigate fundamental principles of syntactic theory and analysis, with an emphasis on the hierarchical relationships among words at the phrasal level. We use naturalistic speech data, collected from around the Spanish-speaking world, to critically examine key assumptions and tools of contemporary syntactic theory, including X-bar theory, binary branching, thematic role assignment, and the concept of the sentence. We give special attention the notion of ungrammaticality as it relates to syntactic and morphological variation and change. [Prereq: One 300-level Spanish course and CAS LX 250 Introduction to Linguistics, or consent of instructor]
[Also offered as CAS LS 508]
Note: This course cannot substitute for CAS LX 522 Syntax I for major or minor requirements, although it does count for the Linguistic major requirement of a course on the linguistic analysis of a specific language or as an elective for the Linguistics minor. This course can also satisfy requirements for both the Spanish and the Spanish & Linguistics majors, and it can also count as one of the six courses for the Spanish minor. See http://www.bu.edu/linguistics/UG/spanling.html for further details.
GRS PH 633	Logic		A1	Floyd	TR	11-12:30	KCB 102
GRS PH 633	Study of the basics of modern logic, including propositional logic, quantifiers, identity and functions, completeness and incompleteness. A special emphasis is placed on strategies of deductive reasoning. [Prereq: one philosophy course or sophomore standing.]
[Meets with CAS PH 360]
SAR SH 505	Introduction to Phonological Disorders		A1	Strand	TR	8-9:30	SAR 300
SAR SH 505	This course provides an overview of current models of normal and disordered phonological development. Students examine and practice evidenced-based principles and practical applications of assessment, analysis, diagnosis, and remediation approaches and procedures to facilitate critical thinking and problem-solving abilities to apply to working with individuals with a variety of phonological disorders. [Prereq: SAR SH 521 and SH 524 ]
SAR SH 524	Language Acquisition		A1	Arunachalam	TR	9:30-11	PSY B35
SAR SH 524	This course will focus on first language acquisition in infancy and childhood. We will cover the progression of language development in each of the traditional areas of linguistic analysis: phonology, semantics, syntax, and pragmatics. The course will be focused on experimental research in typical language acquisition and on different theories that strive to explain the underlying cognitive and linguistic mechanisms at work in an early learner.
SED DE 672	Structure of American Sign Language		A1	Perry	T	4-7	KCB 104
SED DE 672	Structural linguistic study of specific aspects of phonology, morphology, syntax, and lexicology in ASL. Concepts of language variation, dialect, creolization, and bilingualism. [Prereq: SED LS 560 or CAS LX 250.]