| source Lund University (X) |
level |
department Linguistics (X) |
This course focusses on questions that arise in the study of global diversity that characterises language structure and use. The course will deal with questions such as:
Score: 10.321124 Details | Listing | Web page
The course contains a typological overview of how certain types of grammatical construction are realised in different languages, and an introduction to some of the fundamental ideas underlying various modern theories of grammar. The content of the course is, however, largely based on examining language phenomena and is to a great extent neutral in term of theory. Among the subjects covered in detail the following can be mentioned: relativisation, the issue of question words, subject and object properties, subordinate clauses and inflectional categories.
Score: 10.321124 Details | Listing | Web page
The course includes phenomena such as rhythm, stress, tone, accentuation, intonation and phrasing. It deals with issues concerning the function of prosody and how prosody is expressed physically in the speech signal. The course deals with how prosody reflects the structure of language (phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics), how prosody expresses textual meanings, and the role it plays in conversation. The course deals with the rhythm of speech, accentuation and intonation, the interaction of the various qualities of prosodic parameters with each other and with other aspects of speech, as well as the phonological description of prosodic structure. In addition, the course illuminates the role of prosody in the planning and perception of speech, the acquisition of prosody and the question of what is meant by dysprosody.
Score: 10.321124 Details | Listing | Web page
The course gives a basic understanding of concepts within the field of semantics and pragmatics. Various traditions are illuminated, both theoretically and through the execution of problem-based exercises. Among these traditions are structural-typological semantics, logical semantics, cognitive semantics, and theories of pragmatic meaning. Central philosophical issues will be discussed: What is meaning? What is the relationship between meaning, world and consciousness? The emphasis is however on linguistic questions such as: Do different languages have different meaning systems? What is the relationship between linguistic meaning and context?
Score: 10.321124 Details | Listing | Web page
The course provides an overview of the languages of the world, to which families they belong and where they are spoken. It covers elements that are common to all human languages and in what manner languages differ from each other, for example, in grammar and sound systems. Similarities between languages are also discussed, which can be a result of being genetically related, of borrowing from another language or because of universals that are linked to how languages work as a means of human communication. A central element in the course is a group work assignment which involves examining, using primarily the student s own sources, the structure of a language the student is not previously acquainted with.
Score: 10.321124 Details | Listing | Web page
The course gives an introductory orientation about methods for measuring and analysing language behaviour in real time, that is, the activities of speaking, listening, writing, and language and gestures as they unfold millisecond by millisecond. A central part of the course is constituted by exercises in formulating empirically testable hypotheses and interpreting quantitative data from eyetracking, keystroke-logging, bodytracking, speech activity, and EEG/ERP data. The course also addresses questions concerning to what extent a given linguistic theory or theory of a linguistic phenomenon is empirically testable.
Score: 10.321124 Details | Listing | Web page
The course studies the connections between the structure of the central nervous system and linguistic and communicative functions in relation to other cognitive functions such as sight. Basic concepts in neuroanatomy are discussed and the neuro-psychological correlatives of various linguistic components such as phonetics/phonology, morphology, semantics/pragmatics and syntax are examined. Models of neurocognitive representations and the analysis of speech and writing are introduced, as are the experimental methods which are used to examine these various types of linguistic representations and linguistic analyses. Areas covered include the evolution of language, the asymmetrical function of the hemispheres of the brain, and the affects of brain injury such as aphasia and dementia on the neurophysiological processing of language.
Score: 10.321124 Details | Listing | Web page
The course introduces sociolinguistic theories and methods. Fundamental concepts such as accomodation theory and linguistic variation related to variables such as geography, social class, age and gender are discussed in detail. Other areas covered include politeness, forms of address, and the roll of language for identity. Particular weight is placed on multilingualism and how multilingual individuals use ther languages in different situations. The course also covers principles that govern code-switching, language choice and language death. Further, the course presents an overview of language use during various periods of time in different parts of the world.
Score: 10.321124 Details | Listing | Web page
The course provides the student with basic knowledge and understanding of how various writing systems function. These can be divided into three types: those in which a symbol depicts a sound (as in the Latin alphabet) or a syllable (as in written Japanese) or a word (as in written Chinese). The course also gives an overview of the history of writing and its development in various parts of the world such as the Middle East, Egypt, China, and America, where writing seems to have developed independently of each other. Other topics covered are the relationship between written and spoken language, the politics of written language, and the alphabetisation of purely oral languages.
Score: 10.321124 Details | Listing | Web page
The course gives an introductory orientation to basic concepts and models concerning empirical as well as non-empirical research. The course consists of lectures and of exercises in the analysis and evaluation of own research (if applicable) or research by others by means of concepts and models from the philosophy of science.
Score: 10.321124 Details | Listing | Web page
The course introduces the general principles and properties which characterise possible sound systems in human languages. It covers principles of phonological representation, including sound categorization, lexical contrast, and constraints on the combination or sequencing of sound entities. Data from various languages serve as the basis for illustrating the representation of sound structure. Practical exercises in phonological analysis constitute a central part of the course. Both traditional phonemic theory as well as current approaches to phonological analysis, including autosegmental and metrical theory as well as optimality theory are presented in the course.
Score: 10.321124 Details | Listing | Web page