Introduction to Phonetics & Phonology Aims

Knowledge outcomes
At the end of this module: You will be familiar with the basic symbols of the International Phonetic Alphabet, including all those symbols needed to describe English You will know the terminology appropriate to the description of consonants and vowels, including the parameters of description on the IPA chart You will understand something of the relationship between the sounds of speech and the abstract linguistic system that underlies them, as well as the relationship of phonetics and phonology to the wider linguistic system You will understand the basic structure of sound systems across languages, and the ways in which this is established analytically You will know some of the types of unit that are commonly used in phonology, such as phonemes and features You will be familiar with some common phonological phenomena and formal accounts of them, including a range of notational devices such as rules and hierarchical representation

Behavioural outcomes
At the end of this module: You will be able to recognise many of the sounds of the IPA chart and the parameters along which sounds can vary, and describe them using appropriate terminology and symbolisation You will be able to establish phonological categories on the basis of contrast You will be able to produce simple phonetic descriptions and broad phonetic transcriptions of short stretches of speech You will be able to provide appropriate structural descriptions of syllables using appropriate phonological notation You will be able to compare competing analyses of simple phenomena and evaluate their relative succes

eaching programme (subject to change)

Term

Weeks

Topic

2-3

The anatomy of speech

4-5

Transcribing speech

Reading week (no lecture)

7-8

Vowels

9-10

Consonants

in-class test

2-3

The units of speech

4-5

Explaining phonological inventories

Reading week (no lecture)

7-8

Explaining phonological patterns

Term

Weeks

Topic

9-10

Syllables

1-4

Revision lectures

5-7

exam

Teaching materials
For the phonetics part of the course you must buy ONE of the following: Catford, J C. (2001). A practical introduction to phonetics. Oxford University Press. Ladefoged, Peter. (2001). A course in Phonetics. Harcourt Brace. For the phonology part of the course there is no single set textbook; instead a choice of readings is set each week from the following (in the Key Texts collection in the university library): Carr, P. (1993). Phonology. Macmillan. Davenport, Mike & Hannahs, S.J. (2010). Introducing Phonetics & Phonology. Hodder Arnold. Clark, John, Yallop, Colin & Fletcher, Janet. (2007) Introduction to Phonetics & Phonology. Blackwell (3rd edition) (2nd edition also still useful) Jones, Daniel (1950; 2nd Edition, 1962). The Phoneme: its nature and use. Cambridge: Heffer. Katamba, F (1989) An Introduction to Phonology. Longman. Lass, Roger (1984) Phonology: an introduction to basic concepts. Cambridge University Press. McMahon, April (2002) An introduction to English phonology. Edinburgh University Press. Nathan, G. (2008). Phonology: a cognitive grammar introduction.Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Ogden, Richard (2009) An introduction to English phonetics. Edinburgh University Press. Roca, Iggy & Johnson, Wyn. (1999). A course in phonology. Blackwell. Spencer, Andrew. (1996). Phonology. Blackwell.

Introduction to Sociolinguistics Aims

This module covers the basics of sociolinguistics, the subdiscipline of linguistics which deals with linguistic variability and the social use of language, as well as the relationship between these and language change. The aims of this module are: to give you an awareness of the causes and parameters of variation in language, and the roles of variation in communication to familiarise you with key concepts, terminology and theories in sociolinguistics, particularly those pertaining to linguistic variation and language change to introduce the methodologies used to investigate variation to give you experience in handling data collected from studies of language variation to give you experience of the kinds of argumentation employed in interpreting empirical data to allow you to explore how speakers use variation in their own speech to signal social identity, and how they evaluate other speakers identities through their perception of variation to teach you something of the value of studying variation for the development of linguistic theory Knowledge outcomes a general understanding of the causes and effects of linguistic variation and change a general understanding of methodologies for studying variation and change a general understanding of how variation is structured geographically, socially and through time, in English and other languages a general understanding of how studying variation and change contributes to linguistic theory, and vice versa students will develop an awareness of the ethical considerations involved in performing empirical work in the field Behavioural outcomes students will learn to identify variation in spontaneous speech students will be able to identify internal and external constraints on variability students will be able to handle data quantitatively

students will develop an ability to interpret statistics students will be able to conduct small scale research on variation

Programme
Contact hours
The module is taught over three terms. There will be a weekly lecture supported by a fortnightly seminar.

Teaching programme
Term 1 weeks 25: Standard English, dialects, social class, communities Term 1 weeks 710: Ethnicity, gender, age, style Term 2 weeks 25: William Labov, language change, changes in British English Term 2 weeks 710: bilingualism, pidgins and creoles, attitudes to language Term 3: To be confirmed

Teaching materials
Meyerhoff, M. (2006). Introducing Sociolinguistics. London: Routledge.

Introduction to Syntax Aims

This module familiarises students with two basic skills: Core syntactic concepts Methodologies employed in developing such concepts Modern syntactic theories, as a branch of science, aim to account for as many facts as possible using the smallest number of hypotheses. Students will learn how this is done. Knowledge outcomes You will understand: The goals of syntactic theory: observational, descriptive and explanatory adequacy Scientific (and syntactic) argumentation Cross-linguistic variations and their explanation The notions of productivity and recursion The basic nature of Universal Grammar The competence/performance distinction in linguistics The difference between lexical and functional categories Basic grammatical and thematic relations The distinction between arguments and modifiers Behavioural outcomes You will be able to: Identify the lexical category of English words Apply syntactic tests for constituency Gloss and label examples Identify clause boundaries in complex sentences Identify different types of verbal category Identify grammatical functions, such as subjects and objects Draw trees and labeled brackets for basic English sentences Identify major clause types: passive, relatives, interrogatives etc.