Introduc)on*to*Linguis)cs

PSY$64$/$LING$15$/$PHIL$15
 What%is%linguis,cs?
The$scien&fic$study$of$language
Why$study$language?
 Why$study$language?
• One%of%our%primary%means%of%communica1on
 Why$study$language?
• One%of%our%primary%means%of%communica1on
• Sets%us%apart%from%other%animals
 Why$study$language?
• One%of%our%primary%means%of%communica1on
• Sets%us%apart%from%other%animals
• Object%of%scien1fic%study%that's&everywhere...%
 Why$study$language?
• One%of%our%primary%means%of%communica1on
• Sets%us%apart%from%other%animals
• Object%of%scien1fic%study%that's&everywhere...%
• ...and%accessible&to&everybody%
Ever%since%man%first%le/%his%cave%and%
met%a%stranger%with%a%different%
language%and%a%new%way%of%looking%
at%things,%the%human%race%has%had%a%
dream:%to%kill%him,%so%we%don't%have%
to%learn%his%language%or%his%new%way%
of%looking%at%things.
—"Zapp"Branigan
 Why$study$language?
• One%of%our%primary%means%of%communica1on
• Sets%us%apart%from%other%animals
• Object%of%scien1fic%study%that's&everywhere...%
• ...and%accessible&to&everybody%
• A"fundamental"component"of"human"cogni2on
Administra*ve-goodies
 Lisa%Hsin,%Instructor
Ph.D.%in%Cogni+ve%Science%from%Johns%Hopkins%
University

Research(interests
!"Language"acquisi-on
!"Bilingualism/L2"development
!"Syntac-c"theory

Email&address
!"lisa.hsin@tu-s.edu

Office%hours
!"Thursday"4!5"pm"(and"by"appointment)"in"
Miner"111
 Rabia%Ergin,%Teaching%
Assistant
Ph.D.%Candidate%in%Cogni/ve%Science/
Psychology%@%Tu:s

Research(interests
!"Psycholinguis.cs
!"Morphological"processing
!"Emergent"sign"language"(CTSL)

Email&address
!"rabia.ergin@tu.s.edu

Office%hours
!"Tuesday"1:45!2:45"pm"(and"by"
appointment)"in"Miner"111
 Course'structure
Lecture/discussion-+-fieldwork

‘J’$class$block
!"Mondays"4:30!5:20"in"Eaton"206"(regular"classroom)
!"Tuesdays"and"Thursdays"3!3:50"in"Barnum"104"(stadium)

Eaton&mee)ngs
!"Class"split"into"4"groups"for"'linguis2c"fieldwork'"and"other"
interac2ve"ac2vi2es
!"Each"group"has"a"na2ve!speaker"'informant'
 Linguis'c)fieldwork
• Linguis'cs"is"the"study"of"Language"11"capital"'L'!
• Not"languages"per$se,"but"the"way"that"humans"communicate"
thoughts"or"proposi,ons"or"ideas
 Linguis'c)fieldwork
• Linguis'cs"is"the"study"of"Language"11"capital"'L'!
• Not"languages"per$se,"but"the"way"that"humans"communicate"
thoughts"or"ideas
• Many"in1class"examples"will"be"drawn"from"English
• Everyone"here"speaks"English
• English"is"the"naBve"language"of"many"great"linguists
 Linguis'c)fieldwork
• Small&groups&of&8/10&will&collect&primary&linguis9c&data&from&a&
fluent/na9ve&speaker&of&another&language
• Each&group&will&develop&a&small&grammar&//&a&collec9on&of&
abstrac9ons&rela9ng&to&different&levels&of&linguis9c&
representa9on
• Guidance&for&elicita9on&provided&at&beginning&of&the&day's&
mee9ng
 Forum&pos)ng&(10%)
• 10$online$notes$about$fieldwork/lab$classes$to$track$par3cipa3on
• Each$group$has$its$own$discussion$board$on$Trunk
• If$a$fieldwork$session,$note$one$interes3ng$discovery$from$the$
elicita3on
• If$a$lab$session,$note$an$inference$or$ques3on$you$thought$of$
during$or$aAer$the$session
 Homework(exercises(
(30%)
• Drawn'from'our'textbook,'O'Grady'et#
al.,'Sixth'Edi;on'(available'in'the'
bookstore)
• 10'assignments'of'several'exercises'
apiece
• Assigned,'submiGed,'and'assessed'
through'Trunk
• May'be'worked'on'collabora;vely;'must'
be'submiGed'individually'(with'
collaborators'listed)
 Mid$term)exams)(30%)
• Two%non'cumula-ve,%in'class%exams%(each%15%%of%final%grade)
• Primarily%mul-ple%choice,%with%some%short%answer
• Drawn%mostly%from%readings%and%lectures,%but%some%ques-ons%
about%fieldwork%as%well
 Final&exam&(30%)
• Cumula've*(whole/term)*exam*held*during*finals*period
• Exam*for*‘J’*course:*Thursday,*May*7,*3:3005:30*pm*(loca'on*
TBA)
• Primarily*mul'ple*choice,*with*some*short*answer
• Drawn*mostly*from*readings*and*lectures,*but*some*ques'ons*
about*fieldwork*as*well
 Final&Exam
Thursday,*May*7

3:30$5:30&pm
 About&languages
• What&is&the&most&complicated&language&you&know&of?&
• What&makes&it&complicated?
 About&languages
• What&is&the&most&complicated&language&you&know&of?&
• What&makes&it&complicated?
• Have&you&learned&a&second&language?&
• If&so,&how&did&that&process&compare&with&your&experience&
learning&your&first&language?
 About&languages
• What&is&the&most&complicated&language&you&know&of?&
• What&makes&it&complicated?
• Have&you&learned&a&second&language?&
• If&so,&how&did&that&process&compare&with&your&experience&
learning&your&first&language?
• Is&there&one$right$way&to&speak&English?
• Why&or&why&not?
A"message"from"Professor"
Goldberg
Professor'Ariel'Goldberg'(Psychology)'is'
looking'for'3'RAs'for'his'lab'this'semester,'
to'work'on'projects'on:
• The%reading%process
• ASL%processing

If#interested#in#finding#out#more,#email#him#
at#ariel.goldberg@tu7s.edu.
See#you#on#Tuesday!