I will next teach 315 in Fall 2007.
Phonology (615:315) is an advanced undergraduate linguistics course.
It is essential (and required) to take Linguistics 201 before you
take this course. It is taught at least once a year by either
myself,
Alan Prince, or
Akinbiyi
Akinlabi. Each of us have our own styles and ways of teaching
the course, so the information here is about my version of the course.
Languages restrict which speech sounds they use and in which
combinations (e.g. English bans [tl] at the beginning of a word but not
in the middle or end), and some speech sound combinations are banned in
every language. The aim of phonology is to figure out how the
brain is responsible for such restrictions.
The course focuses on current dominant phonological theories,
particularly Optimality Theory and representational theories such as the
Prosodic Hierarchy. The aim of the course is to bring students up
to proficiency in OT and learn about the fundamental issues behind
various aspects of the theory. The course is fundamentally
organized around various aspects of OT, but with a strong emphasis on
particular empirical phenomena.
The course is assessed by three homework assignments. Two
require analyses of problem sets; the final one requires you to invent a
new phonological system.
There is no textbook for the course. I provide online readings as the
course progresses. Here's an example of a former syllabus: [PDF].
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