230624 Linguistic Theory (S) (WiSe 2006/2007)

Goals
The Linguistic Theory seminar aims to provide a research-level introduction to the domains and methods of linguistics and its applications, with emphasis on theory formation procedures and argumentation in contrast to the ready-made "facts" which are often introduced for pedagogical reasons at earlier qualification stages.
Addressees
Basically anyone interested in linguistic theory, but in particular students in their first semester of M.A. (Master) studies. Other students at M.A. level and above (e.g. Magister, SII, Ph.D.) students are, of course, also welcome.
Qualifications:

In order to get the full qualification (5 points), the following is expected of all participants:

1. Regular attendance.
2. Production of a "Learner Diary" or "Portfolio" as follows:

• The portfolio will contain summaries of class materials, answers to exercises, illustrations and examples of relevant points, and a glossary of technical terms and definitions. Each participant must place the portfolio on his/her web site. If the participant does not yet have a web site, a web site must be created.
• The main reason for putting portfolios on a web site is to permit efficient checking and feedback by me.
• The portfolio must be formatted according to professional criteria using OpenOffice, MS-Word, or a similar word processor.
• The portfolio will be graded.

3. Term paper.

General description
The fundamental orientation of the seminar will be the concept of theory space, with the three dimensions of

1. Domain (signs, their expression, structure and meaning)
2. Empirical methods (observation, interpretation, generalisation; use of corpora and experimentation; statistical analysis)
3. Formal methods (systematic description; formulation of rules; logic; computation)

This concept of theory space will be applied to different areas of linguistics, and related areas which are also relevant to literary and cultural studies such as sociolinguistics and linguistic stylistics, the concept of metaphor, etc. The three dimensions will be illustrated and practised in selected case studies.
Reference materials

• Reference works

Programme overview
Introduction

1. Introductory unit - tasks:

• Make a list of introductions to linguistics (check the library shelves and the web).
• Note their tables of contents.
• Classify the topics they deal with in terms of the concept of "theory space".

Basic concepts

1. Theory space.
2. From intuition to theory: explication as clarification, delimitation, symbolisation, formalisation.
3. Scientific definitions.
4. Linguistic Universalism and Linguistic Relativism.
5. Cognitivism and Behaviourism
6. The 3-component model of language structure:

• Compositional structure:

o Phonology
o Morphology
o Phrasal syntax
o Text syntax
o Discourse structure

• Relation of each of these compositional levels to the world:

o Phonetic interpretation / Graphic interpretation
o Semantic interpretation
7. For your portfolio: glossary of technical terms, including definitions of:

• Syntagmatic, paradigmatic, interpretative relations.
• Theory, model
• Syntax, Semantics Pragmatics, Morphology, Phonology, Phonetics, Discourse analysis, Psycholinguistics, Sociolinguistics, Computational linguistics.
• Characterise the following exchanges, briefly using as many of the above concepts as possible:

"Hi Jack, how's things?" - "Fine thanks, just off home." - "Why not come for a pint?" - "Ta, another time." - "Cheers." - "Cheers, see ya."
Note that your portfolio must be formatted professionally; see the document "What a Linguist Needs to Know about Word Processing"

For a highly selective overview of formal approaches to linguistic theory, see Forms and Formalisation: A Note on Formal Linguistics".
History of linguistics

1. Core linguistics ...
1. Pre-19th century
2. 19th century
3. 20th century: 1900-1950 - Structuralist linguistics
4. 20th century: 1950-2000 - Generative linguistics
5. 21st century: 2000-.... - Computational linguistics
2. ... and neighbouring disciplines such as
1. literary stylistics
2. sociolinguistics
3. historical linguistics
4. typological linguistics

For your portfolio:

1. Research in the library and on the web for information about the periods of the history of linguistics listed below.
2. Look up information on the web about the following linguists, and work out what their specific contributions to linguistics are:

• The Grimm brothers
• Karl Verner
• Ferdinand de Saussure
• Otto Jespersen
• Leonard Bloomfield
• J. R. Firth
• M. A. K. Halliday
• Nikolai Trubetzkoy
• Roman Jakobson
• Noam Chomsky
• Charles Fillmore
• John Lyons
• Jost Trier
• Gerald Gazdar
• Ivan Sag
• Joan Bresnan
• Helen Dry
• Martin Kay

3. Draw a mind-map type of diagramme illustrating the development of different aspects of linguistics, incorporating these names as far as possible.

The theory of ...

1. ... phonetics: forms
2. ... phonology: forms and functions
3. ... the lexicon: forms and functions
1. morphology:
1. roots/bases, stems, words
2. inflection
3. word formation
1. derivation
2. composition
4. ... sentence: forms and functions
5. ... texts: forms and functions
6. ... discourse: forms and functions

In order to prepare for and summarise these classes you will need to prepare an a bibliography of introductions to linguistics. See also the list of handbooks provided via a link on this page.
Project

In order to provide enough scope for revising and practising the different aspects of linguistic theory from preceding sections, the project topic in the final third of the term is:

Designing a language.

Further information at

External comments page

http://wwwhomes.uni-bielefeld.de/~gibbon/Classes/Classes2006WS/MALinguisticTheory/