This course is an introduction to the study of language, both a biological and a social phenomenon. It discusses the basic structure of language (its phonetics, phonology, morphology, and syntax) and various aspects of how language is represented in the human mind (the localization of language in the brain, language disorders, American Sign Language, language processing, first language acquisition). The treatment of language as a social entity discusses language variation, dialect differences, the status of Standard English, language contact, bilingualism, the social uses and meaning of language, and the ways in which languages change over time.

April 26: Liina Pylkkanen's powerpoint presentation is now available too.

April 24: The powerpoint presentation for Bearman's class is now available, as is a bibliography.

April 14: And here goes the phonology assignment.

April 7: This is the code-switching assignment.

March 31: Here is the assignment for the first week of April.

March 2: There reading for Thursday is now available here.

Feb 25: Assignment five, on language acquisition.

Feb 19: Here goes the fourth assignment.

Feb 11: The third assignment.

Feb 4: The second assignment is now available.

Jan 28: Here is the first assignment.