Linguistics 101, Introduction to Language
UNC-Chapel Hill Linguistics
Fall 2019
Elliott Moreton

2019 December 9 (M), 3-5: review session (Wilson 107)

2019 December 4 (W)

Topics: Course wrap-up. Review questions.

• Course wrap-up, based on the "Course preview" HO from August 21 (Sakai).
• Schedule review date
• Questions re final-exam syllabus (Sakai)?
• Sermon: If college is easy, you're doing it wrong.

2019 December 2 (M)

Topics: Language relatedness: families and other units.

• Linguistic relatedness (Crowley 1997, Ch. 8.1, reading). Evidence for subgrouping
• Discuss HW problem on Proto-Central-Pacific (Hockett 1976)
• What counts as evidence that two languages are related?
  • Unconvincing evidence: Ancient Greek and Hawaiian (from Millar & Trask 2007; "Comparative Method" HO, Sakai). For more on this problem see links here and here.
  • Unconvincing evidence: Japanese and English (same HO)
  • Convincing evidence: "Germanic Syndrome" HO (Sakai)
  • The extreme limit of reconstructable time depth: Dene-Yeneseian. Link to Edward J. Vajda's 2008 paper

2019 November 29 (F) -- NO CLASS

2019 November 27 (W) -- NO CLASS

2019 November 25 (M)

Topics: Comparative reconstruction

Class:

• Using criteria to choose between competing reconstruction hypotheses.
• Examples from the "Comparative Methods" HO (Sakai, 11/20)
  • ICP: Ndao/Sawu problem
  • ICP: Abau/Idam problem
• The final-exam syllabus is on the Sakai site under today's Resources.

• Read Crowley 1997 Ch. 8, pp. 166--171 on subgrouping (on Sakai, 11/25 M),
• Then do the Proto-Central-Pacific problem (on Sakai, 11/25 M).
• Then read O'Grady et al. 2017, Ch. 7, Section 3, on language families.
• Read O'Grady et al. 2017, Ch. 7, Section 2.1, on phonological universals,
• Then do Exercise 3 on pp. 294--295 of the O'Grady book.

2019 November 20 (W)

Topics: Introduction to the comparative method.

• Go over thought problem on Proto-Peninsular-Spanish. How plausible does it make the story about the king?
• What did we just do? The comparative method.
• Input to the c.m.: Cognate sets.
• Hypothesis space: Proto-languages plus sound changes.
• Output from c.m.: Most likely hypothesis ("reconstruction").
• Heuristics guiding choice of hypothesis (terms after Campbell 2004):
  • Plausibility of the sound changes, given what we know about sound change:
    • Economy (minimize sound changes, minimize proto-phonemes)
    • Directionality (phonetic motivation)
    • "Majority rules" (last resort, corollary of Economy)
  • Plausibility of the reconstructed proto-language, given what we know about real languages:
    • Phonological fit (minimize gaps or bumps in inventory)
    • Typological fit (obey other cross-linguistic generalizations)

• Do O'Grady et al.'s Exercises 8.15 and 8.16. (Please note that the example words are spelled, rather than transcribed. The text of the exercise explains how to convert the spelling into IPA.)

2019 November 18 (M)

Topics: Sound change II: Phonological change.

Class:

• Phonetic vs. phonological (phonemic) change
• Phonetic change in Mbabaram (HW)
• Phonological change in Mbabaram (phonemic inventory, rules)
• ICP: Motu (HO). Another way to add a phoneme to the inventory.
• Losing a phoneme by merger (HO)
  • Unconditioned: whine/wine merger
  • Unconditioned: cot/caught merger
  • Conditioned: pin/pen merger

Assignment for 11/20 W:

• Read Crowley 1997, Ch. 5, pp. 87--93 (Sakai 11/13 W).
• Then read O'Grady et al. 2017, Ch. 8, Section 7, on the comparative method
• Do the thought problem on Proto-Peninsular Spanish (Sakai). You should be able to do #1, and should make a good attempt on #2. (Not to hand in.)

2019 November 13 (W)

Topics: Sound change I: Regular sound change.

Class:

• Motivation: Overview of comparative method (will do in detail next week)
  • For reconstructing proto-languages and language family trees
  • Input: Cognate sets in daughter languages
  • Hypothesis space: All possible family trees, with all possible proto-forms and all possible sound changes
  • Output: Most likely hypothesis
• One factor determining "most likely" in any particular case is how common or rare the hypothesized change is in general. Hence the O'Grady reading for today: A catalogue of common changes.
• Go over HW 9 (Paamese, Early Modern Spanish)
  • Regular vs. sporadic change
  • Aligning proto- and descendant forms ("reflexes")
  • Conditioned vs. unconditioned changes (O'Grady et al.: "sequential" vs. "segmental")
  • Stating changes
  • Ordering changes

• For 11/18 M: Mbabaram homework (on Sakai)
• For 11/20 W: Read Crowley 1997, Ch. 5, pp. 87--93 (Sakai), which previews the comparative method and explains cognate sets and sound correspondences (You can keep going after p. 93 if you like.)
• Then read O'Grady et al. 2017, Ch. 8, Sections 7.1 and 7.2, which explains how to apply the comparative method

2019 November 11 (M)

Topics: Lexical change: gaining words, losing words, and changing word meaning.

Class:

• HO: "Lexical change" (Sakai)
  • Gaining words (Algeo 1980)
  • Losing words (Algeo 1993)
  • Changes in word meaning (Elizabeth Traugott)
• How do historical changes compare with children's errors?
• The Google Ngram Viewer is here ( instructions; caveats)
• The OED is here

2019 November 6 (W)

Class:

• Speech communities defined by social variables.
• Social variable: Geography. Result: Regional and local dialects.
• Lexical isoglosses: names for soft drinks
• Phonological isoglosses: The Northern Cities Shift
  • Hear it!
  • See it!
  • Detailed Wikipedia article
• Phonological Atlas of North America
• Social variable: Identity. Result: Orientation-based variation.
  • Case study: Martha's Vineyard (HO, Sakai)

• Read O'Grady et al. 2017, Ch. 8, Sect. 5, on lexical and semantic change.
• Part 1 of homework: Use the Oxford English Dictionary to find three words that entered the English lexicon in three different ways, and one word that has left it. (You have free access to the OED from UNC, either directly or via the library website.)
• Read O'Grady et al. 2010, Ch. 8, Sect. 2, on sound change. (This is long and relatively difficult.)
• Part 2 of homework: Do the problem on Paamese and Spanish sound change (on Sakai, under ``Resources'' for 11.06).

2019 November 4 (M)

Topics: Within-language variation.

Class:

• Big Question: How does it happen that there are so many languages?
• Gist of answer: Because there are so many speech communities. Small variations accumulate over time.
• Language varieties: idiolect--dialect--language continuum
• Language vs. dialect (technical sense)
  • Mututal intelligibility
  • Audio examples ( 1. North Carolina 2. Liverpool (like in HW 2) 3. Scotland (Orkney Islands) 4. Dutch (gzipped) )
  • Max Weinreich learns something from a student
• Differences between dialects are just like differences between languages. (Examples: HO on Sakai.)

2019 October 30 (W)

MIDTERM 2

• Will start once everyone has put away books, papers, phones, etc.
• Will end at 12:05.
• Please write your TA's name and section time on the first page!
• The HONOR CODE is in effect and the instructors will be vigilant.

Assignment for 11/4 M:

• Read O'Grady et al., Ch. 13, introduction and Sections 2 and 3, on geographical dialects and change over time; Ch. 8, introduction and Sections 3 and 4 on morphological and syntactic change.
• HW: Ch. 13, Ex. 3; Ch. 8, Ex. 10, Ex. 11 i, iv, v

2019 October 28 (M)

Topics: Overregularization as evidence for grammar induction. Critical (sensitive) periods.

• HO: Overregularization
• HO: Critical periods (aka "sensitive periods"), in language and elsewhere. The effects of filial imprinting can be seen here.

2019 October 23 (W)

Topics: Grammar induction by children in first-language acquisition.

Class:

• Acquisition by induction
• Main stages in learning to talk (audio examples here):
  • cooing (1-4 months)
  • canoncial babbling (5-10 months)
  • first words (10-15 months)
  • two-word utterances (18-24 months)
• Phones and syllables acquired in increasing order of complexity. Adult targets are "repaired" to fit child's system. (Like loanword adaptation.)
• HO: "Child phonology" (Sakai). Evidence for rules:
  • Phonologically systematic (uses natural classes, etc.)
  • "Across-the-board" changes

Assignment:

• For 10/25 F (i.e., due in recitation!): O'Grady et al. 2017, Ch. 9, Exercises 1, 2, 3. This HW will be graded only on whether or not you actually did it.
• For 10/25 F: Read over the Midterm 2 syllabus (on Sakai) and come prepared to ask questions.
• For 10/28 M (i.e., as usual): Read O'Grady et al. 2017, Ch. 9, Section 4, on acquisition of morphology, and Sections 5 and 6, on the acquisition of syntax and what makes acquisition possible at all.

2019 October 21 (M)

Topics: Induction, inductive bias, and language acquisition.

• We've seen what gets into your head when you learn a language: phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics. But how does it get there?
• HO: "Inductive inference and language learning" (Sakai)
  • Inductive inference: Learning to recognize edible mushrooms
  • What is the relation to language learning?
  • Inductive bias in word learning
  • Inductive bias in grammar learning
  • Open questions about inductive bias in language

2019 October 16 (W)

Topics: Sentential meaning. Compositional semantics.

• Sentential meaning. Distinction from reading between
  • Extension (truth value in real world)
  • Intension (truth conditions)
• Compositionality of semantics (HO, using extensional meaning)
• Discuss last part of HW due Monday Oct. 14th.

2019 October 14 (M)

Topics: Lexical and phrasal meaning.

• Knowledge of meaning vs. knowledge of truth
• Meaning of simple predicates like red, mammal, etc.; distinction from reading between
  • Extension (set membership in real world)
  • Intension (conditions for belonging to set)
• Example: the Lieutenant Governor of Colorado
• Modelling intension. Two main ways to do it:
  • Semantic features (like phonetic features)
  • Similarity to category prototypes
• Discuss first part of HW due today.

2019 October 9 (W)

Topics: Movement and parametric variation.

• Ways for languages to differ syntactically:
  • Different assignment of meanings to categories (e.g., A vs. N)
  • Different Merge process (e.g., complements follow vs. precede heads)
  • Different Move process (e.g., different things trigger movement, dif ferent positions moved between)
• Example: Japanese phrase structure (HO, Sakai)
• Reminder: English Y/N question formation ("inversion"): T moves to C if C is "+Q" and empty. Evidence:
  • He asked whether we would return.
  • *He asked whether would we return.
  • *He asked we would return.
  • (He asked would we return.)
• do-support (not in book)
• Example: Verb raising in French (HO, Sakai)

• Read O'Grady et al. Chapter 6 through the end of Section 1, and Chapter 6, Section 3, through the end of Subsection 3.2.
• Do Ch. 5 (not 6!), Ex. 10 ce, Ex. 11 be, Ex. 12

2019 October 7 (M)

Topics: Syntactic movement.

• Discuss clausal complements and CP in connection with HW.
  • CP fits X-bar schema (head/complement/specifier)
  • Recursion and embedding
• Move; deep vs. surface structure.
• HO: "Evidence for movement" (Sakai)

2019 October 2 (W)

Topics: X-bar theory: heads, complements, specifiers, and modifiers.

Class:

• Goal: Model of syntactic abilities, accounting for spontaneous production and grammaticality judgments.
• Need: Account of nested constituent structure.
• Solution: X-bar theory. (WARNING: We will be working with a highly simplified version of the real theory.)
• X-bar schema: The basics
  • Heads (X = N, V, A, P, I, C, ...)
  • Complements (sibling to head)
  • Specifiers (child of XP)
• See Appendix to Ch. 5, p. 207, for help with drawing tree structures.
• Evidence for basic X-bar structure (HO, Sakai)
  • Constituency tests (one, do so, etc., from last time)
  • Selectional restrictions ("subcategorization"): e.g., verbs like sleep, lack, pride, etc.
  • Intrusion of modifiers (*bottle in the fridge of beer)

• Read O'Grady et al., Ch. 5, Sections 2 and 3, on complements and movement.
• HW 6: Do Exercises 5a-j, 9ac.

2019 September 29 (M)

Topics: Internal structure of sentences (syntactic constituency).

• Goal: Model of syntactic abilities.
• Data it's meant to explain: Grammaticality judgments. (HO illustrating "ungrammatical") and natural production.
• Crucially dependent on internal structure of sentences ("constituency")
• Some tests for constituency in English (use with care)
  • Substitution with pronoun, etc.
  • Movement (various kinds)
  • Coordination
  • Deletion (not in O'Grady et al.)
• Examples from Constituency handout

2019 September 25 (W)

MIDTERM 1

• Will start once everyone has put away books, papers, phones, etc.
• Will end at 12:05.
• Please write your TA's name and section time on the first page!
• The HONOR CODE is in effect and the instructors will be vigilant. There is to be no talking (except for meaningless phonetics noises). The instructors may rearrange seating or otherwise intervene during the test.

Assignment for 9/30 M:

• Read O'Grady et al. Ch. 5 Section 1 (includes re-reading of 1.1), and the Appendix to Ch. 5 on "Building Tree Structures"
• HW 5: O'Grady et al. Ch. 5, Exercises 2ace, 4efgh. (Exercise 4 is about material that is in the reading, but that we have not yet covered in lecture or section. It should be doable anyway.)

2019 September 23 (M)

Topics: Words and word formation

Class:

• How to tell whether something is a word. (HO: What is a word?)
• Word-formation: inflection, derivation, compounding (HO)

2019 September 18 (W)

Topics: Derivation and the internal structure of words.

Class:

• Lexical categories (N, V, Adj, etc.). Morphosyntactic tests for category membership (HO).
• Internal morphological structure of words and compositional semantics (HO)

Assignment:

• For 9/20 F (i.e., due in recitation!): O'Grady et al. Chapter 4, Exercises 4; 9(i) for items e, g, j, m; 9(ii) for item m only; 9. This HW will be graded only on whether or not you actually did it.
• For 9/23 M (i.e., as usual): Read O'Grady et al. Chapter 4, Sections 3 and 4, on inflection, derivation, and compounding.

2019 September 16 (M)

Topics: Morphemes as minimal units of sound-meaning correspondence.

• ICP: Orizaba Nahuatl. (P. 1 on Sakai now; rest will appear later)
• HO: "Language in a nutshell" (Sakai)
• Open and closed classes
• Lexical vs. grammatical (aka ``functional'') morphemes.
• Free vs. bound morphemes
• Bases vs. affixes
• Productivity
• ICP: Exercise 1, p. 154. For each proposed bound morpheme, prove it by citing other words which share that sound and meaning: "spiteful", "preplan", "delight" (Sakai)

2019 September 11 (W)

Topics: Beyond allophony: Rule ordering. Loan adaptation.

Class:

• For any pattern (predictable fact), there is a rule (that's what it means to be predictable!)
• Allophony is a common pattern, but there are others.
• In-class problem: HO on "Southern Glide Weakening" (Sakai Resources: 09.09)
  • Allophonic and non-allophonic patterns
  • Role of syllables
  • Rule ordering
• HW 4 (Tahitian): First two questions in section, third for homework. Illustrates non-allophonic patterns, syllables, and natural classes. (Sakai, Resources: 09.11.)

Assignment for 9/16 M:

• Question 3 (only!) of HW 4, on Tahitian loan adaptation.
• Reading (will make more sense if you do it in this order):
  • O'Grady et al. Ch. 4 through the end of Table 4.1 on p. 123, then the Appendix to Ch. 4 on pp. 153--154. This will explain what morphemes are and how to recognize them.
  • O'Grady et al. Ch. 5, Section 1.1, which will explain lexical categories (noun, verb, etc.) and how to recognize them.
  • O'Grady et al. Ch. 4, from where you left off right after Table 4.1 on p. 123 through the end of Section 2. This will demonstrate some of the main kinds of morpheme.

2019 September 9 (M)

Topics: Phonetically-conditioned allophony and natural classes.

• Handout: "Allophony and natural classes" (Sakai)
• Go over HW 3 (Tohono O'o'dham), with discussion handout (Sakai).
• Lexicon/grammar distinction (= unpredictable/predictable).
• Formulating allophony rules. Importance of natural classes.

2019 September 4 (W)

Class:

• Phones vs. phonemes.
  • A /phoneme/ is a set of one or more [sounds]
  • Meaning differences are signalled by phoneme differences
  • Meaning differences are not signalled by differences between phones that belong to the same phoneme
• HO: "Differences that make a difference" (on Sakai)
• Contrast vs. allophony. Examples:
  • English [l] vs. [l~]
  • Ewe [b] vs. [B] (audio from UCLA Ladefoged archive)
  • Spanish [b] vs. [B] (#3 on handout; audio from UNC faculty, Smith/Mora-Marin)

• Read O'Grady et al. 2017, Ch. 3, Section 4.
• HW 3 (on Sakai, under "Resources")
• Think about the Ganda liquids problem (on Sakai); will be discussed in section on Friday.
• Think about Exercises 3 and 4 on p. 112, and come to section on Friday ready to discuss them.

2019 August 28 (W)

Topics: Vowel articulations and IPA symbols. Transcription.

Class:

• Approximants: Sounds with more-open articulations than stops and fricatives, but more-closed ones than vowels
  • Liquids
    • Laterals (palatograms from Ladefoged & Maddieson, 1996)
    • Rhotics (MRI tracings from Alwan et al., 1997)
  • Glides (audio examples on Sakai)
• Vowel parameters
  • height (high/mid/low is also called open/mid/close)
  • backness
  • rounding
  • MRI video of vowel articulations (originally from UCLA)
• Practice comparing vowel pairs (Ibibio, Zapotec, Hasselt German, from JIPA).
• (Here are instructions on how to get Praat, the acoustic-analysis software used in class. It is freeware. It is not required for this class, though can be very useful.)
• IPA symbols for English vowels and diphthongs. We'll stick to the book's conventions (e.g., [aj], not [aI] or [ai]).
• Broad vs. narrow transcription (for more information, see this page at the U. of Manitoba)
• Talking IPA charts from U. of Victoria, York U.
• Here is a site for transcription practice (K. Russell, U. of Manitoba)

• Read O'Grady et al., Ch. 3, through the end of Section 3, and also the Appendix to Ch. 3.
• Do HW 2 (on Sakai, under "Resources").

2019 August 26 (M)

Topics: Consonant articulations and IPA symbols.

Before class: Please put the homework assignments in your TA's folder by the door.

Class:

• X-ray movie of speech
• International Phonetic Alphabet
  • Official website
  • Talking IPA charts from UCLA and York U.
• Three main parameters for consonants: Voicing (and other laryngeal features), place of articulation, manner of articulation.
• Some low-tech ways to observe your articulations
• Labelled midsagittal section of vocal tract (Stanford)
• Voicing (video from Edmondson & Esling 2008, on Sakai)
• Place of articulation:
  • Active vs. passive articulator.
  • Labial, dental, alveolar, velar
• Manner of articulation:
  • Non-approximants, illustrated with interactive sagittal section (U. Toronto):
    • Oral stops
    • Fricatives
    • Affricates (not "affricatives"!)
    • Nasal stops
• Using parametric description to generalize to non-English sounds

2019 August 21 (W)

Topics: Course organization. What is linguistics?

• Course organization. Syllabus (on Sakai, under "Resources").
• UNC Honor Code.
• An example of linguistics: English tag questions (Sakai, "Resources" --- will appear later)
• Course preview (Sakai, "Resources")

• Read O'Grady et al., Ch. 1

• Read O'Grady et al., Ch. 2
• Do HW 1 (on Sakai, under Resources: 08.21)
• Bring a hand mirror to class all next week