Course syllabus
|
Well-being always comes first We all go through tough times during the semester, or see our friends struggling. |
2020 LINGUIST 301 Advanced Phonology (15pts)
Lecturer: Wayne Lawrence
Rm. 436, CLL Building (formerly Arts 2)
Extn. 87511
E-mail: wp.lawrence@auckland.ac.nz
Office hours: Tues 11:00 – 12:00, Fri. 2:00 – 3:00
Lectures: Mon 3:00 – 5:00 (Commerce A G10)
Tutorials: Tues. 3:00 – 4:00 (Commerce A G13)
Assessment: 60% coursework (3 assignments @ 20%), 40% final examination
Tutor: Gove Grefnes
Rm. 313C, CLL Building
E-mail: jgre499@aucklanduni.ac.nz
Office hour: Tues 1:00 – 2:00
Course Overview
This course continues on from LINGUIST 201, introducing a more theoretical approach to phonology, including syllable theory, metrical phonology, autosegmental phonology, lexical phonology, and Optimality Theory. Includes a practical component in which theories are applied to language data.
Disability Services
Any student with a disability who may require alternative arrangements in this course is encouraged to seek advice and assistance from Disability Services as soon as possible after enrolment. Contact details: Disability Services (www.disability.auckland.ac.nz), Room 036, Basement Level, ClockTower. Phone extn. 82936; email: disabilities@auckland.ac.nz
Workload and deadlines for submission of coursework
The University of Auckland's expectation is that students spend 10 hours per week on a 15-point course, including time in class and personal study. Students should manage their academic workload and other commitments accordingly. Deadlines for coursework are set by course convenors and will be advertised in course material. You should submit your work on time. In extreme circumstances, such as illness, you may seek an extension but you may be required to provide supporting information before the assignment is due.
Academic integrity
The University of Auckland will not tolerate cheating, or assisting others to cheat, and views cheating in coursework or tests as a serious academic offence. The work that a student submits for grading must be the student's own work, reflecting his or her learning. Where work from other sources is used, it must be properly acknowledged and referenced. This requirement also applies to sources on the world-wide web. A student's assessed work may be reviewed against electronic source material using computerised detection mechanisms. Upon reasonable request, students may be required to provide an electronic version of their work for computerised review.
Week-by-week course schedule
Week 1 From (many) rules to (a few) principles
The role of the syllable in licensing segments. Starting with some English phonological rules from Halle & Mohanan (1985), we will give consideration to the reason behind the processes involved and come up with a simpler and more general analysis.
[Historical background: SPE and the syllable]
Week 2 Syllable structure
The syllable is made up of the onset and the rime, but what evidence is there that the onset is a constituent? Constraints on English syllable structure.
[Markedness; 3 ways of handling exceptions]
Week 3 The mora
Compensatory lengthening. Are both the syllable and the mora necessary? If so, how do their representations coexist?
Reading: Sezer, Engin (1985) “An autosegmental analysis of compensatory lengthening in Turkish”, in L. Wetzels & E. Sezer (eds.) Studies in Compensatory Lengthening pp.227-50. Dordrecht: Foris.
Week 4 English stress assignment
An overview of the stress system of Modern English. Is the location of the stresses in English words predictable (cf. réfuse (n.) vs. refúse (vb.), bárrister vs. barísta)?
Readings: From Hayes, Bruce (1996) Metrical Stress Theory: Principles and Case Studies. Chicago Il.: The University of Chicago Press. Pages 5-23, 26-61.
[Historical background: the foot] Assignment 1 issued.
Week 5 Feet and extrametricality
Non-stress-related applications of the foot. The different types of foot. Extrametricality and infixation.
Readings: Mitchell, T.F. (1962) Colloquial Arabic. Seven Oaks, Kent: Teach Yourself Books/Hodder and Stoughton. Pp.26-8.
Week 6 Reduplication
A review of reduplication, with a look at how it is viewed within Prosodic Morphology, and some issues with infixation as prosodic optimization.
Reading: Katamba, Francis and John Stonham (1993) Morphology. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Pp. 180-203
Assignment 2 issued.
MID SEMESTER BREAK: Monday 7 September – Friday 18 September
Week 7 Abstract representations?
What kind of evidence is there that language speakers use abstract representations (i.e. representations that differ from the surface form)? What considerations enable a native speaker to acquire abstract representations?
Week 8 Lexical phonology
The Strict Cyclicity Condition, derived vs non-derived environments, and structure-building vs structure-changing processes.
Reading: Jensen, John T. (2004) Principles of Generative Phonology: An introduction. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Pp. 297-304.
[Historical background: junctures and SPE]
Assignment 3 issued.
Week 9 Haplology and feature underspecification
Contrastive specification of features and radical underspecification.
[Historical background: distinctive features]
Word structure and the head
We can easily explain why some people use governor-generals as the plural of governor-general, but how come others use governors-general? What plural-formation rule are they using?
Week 10 Bad analyses and better analyses
A look at some phonological analyses in the literature, and a discussion of their weaknesses and why other analyses are to be preferred.
Week 11 Optimality theory
A constraint-based theory of phonology where there are no phonological rules.
Week 12 Course review
No lecture this week, as Monday is a public holiday. The tutorial will review the content of the course.
Course summary:
| Date | Details | Due |
|---|---|---|