Goal
24.901 is designed to give you a preliminary understanding of how the sound systems of different languages are structured, how and why they may differ from each other. The course also aims to provide you with analytical tools in phonology, enough to allow you to sketch the analysis of an entire phonological system by the end of the term. On a non-linguistic level, the couse aims to teach you by example the virtues of formulating precise and explicit descriptive statements; and to develop your skills in making and evaluating arguments.
Texts
Kenstowicz, Michael, and Charles Kisseberth. Generative Phonology. New York: Academic Press, 1979.
Ladefoged, Peter. A Course in Phonetics. Fort Worth: Harcourt College, 2001.
24.900. Contact instructors if you have not taken it.
Assignments are handed out Thursdays and are due back on the following Tuesday. They will be discussed in class the Tuesday they are due or the following class. Assignments cannot be credited after the solution has been discussed in class.
You are encouraged to discuss with each other the solution for the written assignments. You must however write up your assignments individually and you must be able to individually justify the analyses you turn in. Any suspected case of plagiarism on homeworks (i.e. any case where two or more students turn in what appear to be assignments copied from a single source) will be investigated. No collaboration will be allowed on the in-class midterm. We encourage the students to seek help from the instructor and the TA, whenever necesary and in timely fashion.
• Week #6, Class 2: by this date you have discussed with one of us your term project
• Week #9, Class 2: in-class midterm
• Week #15, Class 1: students present oral summaries of their projects in the form of brief conference talks (5 mins/student)
• Six days after Week #15, Class 1: term projects due