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.

The final Assignment (phonology) is here

April 20: Assignment 8 - about phonetics - is now available

March 31: Here is a copy of the assignment(s) you received by email. Do either this one, or that one. (You can do the first only if your are a bilingual speaker who does code-switching, of course).

March 22: Someone's email address is broken, please help: someone is on the class mailing list with the address gud202@nyu.edu, but that address does not accept messages. If you know who that is, please tell them to contact us about it.

March 21: Assignment 5 is now on the air. Have fun with Shem!

Feb 20: The fourth assignment is now cured and available.

Feb 12: Here is the third assignment.

Feb 4: The second assignment is here.

Jan 29: The first assignment is now available.