Fall 2024

  • LING 100: The Noun

    We've all been taught that nouns are people, places, and things. Yet, these seemingly simple linguistic objects are surprisingly complex. For instance, languages vary in what information (e.g., case, gender, person, number) nouns display. Even within a single language, the form of a noun may change depending on its function within a sentence or its function within a conversation. This course uses contemporary linguistic theories to account for the many varied forms of nouns throughout the world's languages. No familiarity with languages other than English is required.

     Prerequisites:

    Student is a member of the First Year First Term class level cohort. Students are only allowed to register for one A&I course at a time. If a student wishes to change the A&I course they are enrolled in they must DROP the enrolled course and then ADD the new course. Please see our Workday guides Drop or 'Late' Drop a Course and Register or Waitlist for a Course Directly from the Course Listing for more information.

     6 credits; AI/WR1, Argument & Inquiry/WR1; offered Fall 2024 · Cherlon Ussery

  • LING 115: Introduction to the Theory of Syntax

    This course is organized to enable the student to actively participate in the construction of a rather elaborate theory of the nature of human cognitive capacity to acquire and use natural languages. In particular, we concentrate on one aspect of that capacity: the unconscious acquisition of a grammar that enables a speaker of a language to produce and recognize sentences that have not been previously encountered. In the first part of the course, we concentrate on gathering notation and terminology intended to allow an explicit and manageable description. In the second part, we depend on written and oral student contributions in a cooperative enterprise of theory construction. 6 credits; FSR, Formal or Statistical Reasoning; offered Fall 2024, Spring 2025 · Catherine Fortin

  • LING 135: Introduction to Sociolinguistics

    There is a complex relationship between language and society. This course examines how language variation is tied to identity and the role of language in human social interaction. We will consider language as it relates to social status, age, gender, ethnicity, and location as well as theoretical models used to study variation. We will also examine how language is used in conversation, in the media, and beyond using ethnography of communication and discourse analysis. You will become more aware of how language is used in your own daily life and will be able to argue sociolinguistic perspectives on language attitudes. 6 credits; IDS, Intercultural Domestic Studies, SI, Social Inquiry; offered Fall 2024, Spring 2025 · Andrew Bray

  • LING 217: Phonetics and Phonology

    Although no two utterances are ever exactly the same, we humans don’t function like tape recorders; we overlook distinctions to which mechanical recording devices are sensitive, and we “hear” contrasts which are objectively not there. What we (think we) hear is determined by the sound system of the language we speak. This course examines the sound systems of human languages, focusing on how speech sounds are produced and perceived, and how these units come to be organized into a systematic network in the minds of speakers of languages. Prerequisites:

    Student has completed any of the following course(s): One 100-level LING course with grade of C- or better.

     6 credits; FSR, Formal or Statistical Reasoning; offered Fall 2024 · Andrew Bray

  • LING 315: Topics in Syntax

    What moves where, how, and for what purpose? In this course, participants explore accounts of various types of syntactic movement within the Minimalist Program. After an introduction to Minimalism, we read, discuss, and evaluate primary literature. This course offers an overview of the progression of generative syntactic theory from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, with a focus on objectively comparing competing analyses. By the end of the course, participants will have familiarity with scholarly literature on theoretical syntax; with evaluating and critiquing existing theoretical analyses; and with proposing and defending a novel analysis.

     Prerequisites:

    Student has completed any of the following course(s): LING 216 – Generative Approach to Syntax with grade of C- or better.

     6 credits; FSR, Formal or Statistical Reasoning; offered Fall 2024 · Catherine Fortin

  • LING 399: Senior Thesis

    This course prepares students to engage in the research needed for their comps projects. Students will identify a research topic, begin engaging with the relevant literature, and deliver presentations throughout the term. By the end of fall term, students will have a portion of their comps drafted in preparation for the independent research and writing component during winter term.

     Prerequisites:

    Student has completed any of the following course(s): One 300 level Linguistic (LING) course with grade of C- or better.

     3 credits; S/CR/NC; offered Fall 2024 · Cherlon Ussery

Winter 2025

  • LING 110: Introduction to Linguistics

    The capacity to acquire and use natural languages such as English is surely one of the more remarkable features of human nature. In this course, we explore several aspects of this ability. Topics include the sound systems of natural languages, the structure of words, principles that regulate word order, the course of language acquisition in children, and what these reveal about the nature of the mind. 6 credits; FSR, Formal or Statistical Reasoning; offered Winter 2025, Spring 2025 · Cherlon Ussery

  • LING 145: Dialectology

    This course explores dialectology, the study of dialects. Participants learn the field’s history before turning to World Englishes, with special attention to the current dialects of American English. We analyze the earliest colonial American English dialects, highlighting language contact with indigenous and other languages, the linguistic impact of the Atlantic slave trade, and subsequent impacts of westward migration. Participants also assess speakers’ perceptions of dialects; analyze dialectal variation as portrayed in media, either accurately or stereotypically; and re-examine what constitutes standard/non-standard dialects, and how ‘standardness’ has changed over time. Not open to students who have taken LING 140. 

     Prerequisites:

    Not open to students who have taken LING 140 – Language in the US.

     6 credits; IDS, Intercultural Domestic Studies, SI, Social Inquiry; offered Winter 2025 · Andrew Bray

  • LING 216: Generative Approaches to Syntax

    This course has two primary goals: to provide participants with a forum to continue to develop their analytical skills (i.e., to ‘do syntax’), and to acquaint them with generative syntactic theory, especially the Principles and Parameters approach. Participants will sharpen their technological acumen, through weekly problem solving, and engage in independent thinking and analysis, by means of formally proposing novel syntactic analyses for linguistic phenomena. By the conclusion of the course, participants will be prepared to read and critically evaluate primary literature couched within this theoretical framework. Prerequisites:

    Student has completed LING 115 – Intro to the Theory of Syntax with grade of C- or better

     6 credits; FSR, Formal or Statistical Reasoning; offered Winter 2025 · Catherine Fortin

  • LING 219: Sociophonetic Analysis

    This course introduces participants to sociophonetics, a field of study that weds theories of phonetics (the study of the science of speech) to the methodological approaches of sociolinguistics, and which examines the relationships between linguistic variation and speaker identity. Participants consider the acoustic characteristics of vowels, consonants, and prosody; the variation that occurs across these; and how this variation impacts the production and perception of speech. Working with natural speech data, participants learn to use Praat to assess articulatory variation, and contextualize their findings against the backdrop of previous sociophonetic literature.

    Prerequisites:

    Not open to students that have taken LING 117 – Sociophonetics.

     6 credits; QRE, Quantitative Reasoning, SI, Social Inquiry; offered Winter 2025 · Andrew Bray

Spring 2025

  • LING 110: Introduction to Linguistics

    The capacity to acquire and use natural languages such as English is surely one of the more remarkable features of human nature. In this course, we explore several aspects of this ability. Topics include the sound systems of natural languages, the structure of words, principles that regulate word order, the course of language acquisition in children, and what these reveal about the nature of the mind. 6 credits; FSR, Formal or Statistical Reasoning; offered Winter 2025, Spring 2025 · Cherlon Ussery

  • LING 115: Introduction to the Theory of Syntax

    This course is organized to enable the student to actively participate in the construction of a rather elaborate theory of the nature of human cognitive capacity to acquire and use natural languages. In particular, we concentrate on one aspect of that capacity: the unconscious acquisition of a grammar that enables a speaker of a language to produce and recognize sentences that have not been previously encountered. In the first part of the course, we concentrate on gathering notation and terminology intended to allow an explicit and manageable description. In the second part, we depend on written and oral student contributions in a cooperative enterprise of theory construction. 6 credits; FSR, Formal or Statistical Reasoning; offered Fall 2024, Spring 2025 · Catherine Fortin

  • LING 135: Introduction to Sociolinguistics

    There is a complex relationship between language and society. This course examines how language variation is tied to identity and the role of language in human social interaction. We will consider language as it relates to social status, age, gender, ethnicity, and location as well as theoretical models used to study variation. We will also examine how language is used in conversation, in the media, and beyond using ethnography of communication and discourse analysis. You will become more aware of how language is used in your own daily life and will be able to argue sociolinguistic perspectives on language attitudes. 6 credits; IDS, Intercultural Domestic Studies, SI, Social Inquiry; offered Fall 2024, Spring 2025 · Andrew Bray

  • LING 319: Sociolinguistic Field Methods

    Participants in this course learn how to design and conduct sociolinguistic research, with a focus on the varieties of English spoken in Minnesota. After an introduction to the quantitative sociolinguistic methods used to obtain large data sets of naturalistic speech (publicly available data, online questionnaires, individual and group interviews, and ethnography), participants design studies investigating the status of a phonetic or phonological linguistic variable typically attributed to regional Englishes. The course culminates in a pilot study assessing the status of these variables in the speech of Minnesotans. 

     Prerequisites:

    Student has completed any of the following course(s): LING 217 – Phonetics & Phonology or LING 219 – Sociophonetic Analysis with grade of C- or better.

     6 credits; QRE, Quantitative Reasoning, SI, Social Inquiry; offered Spring 2025 · Andrew Bray