Courses by semester
Courses for Spring 2025
Complete Cornell University course descriptions and section times are in the Class Roster.
| Course ID | Title | Offered |
|---|---|---|
| ASL 1100 |
Survey of American Sign Language and Deaf History
This course provides origins and historical perspectives on sign language, basics of sign language linguistics, the communication debate between manualism vs. oralism, Deaf education and the establishment and growth of Deaf communities. Students will acquire basic vocabulary and grammar through interactive activities in development of basic conversational skills in ASL. Catalog Distribution: (SCD-AS) (D-AG) Full details for ASL 1100 - Survey of American Sign Language and Deaf History |
Spring. |
| ASL 1102 |
American Sign Language II
This is the second in a sequence of courses in American Sign Language and Deaf Culture offered at Cornell. This course is a continuation of ASL 1101 and focuses on development of conversational and storytelling skills in ASL. Grammatical principles and functions will be emphasized. Appropriate cultural behaviors and conversational regulators in ASL will continue to be an important part of class. Readings and class discussions will acquaint students with American Deaf culture and social issues related to the Deaf community. Catalog Distribution: (FL-AG) |
Spring, Summer. |
| ASL 2202 |
Intermediate American Sign Language II
This course is a continuation of ASL 2201, comprehension and production skills emphasizing on complex grammar, short stories, narratives, and interactive use of ASL. The student will continue a study in depth about the Deaf Community and Deaf Culture globally. Full details for ASL 2202 - Intermediate American Sign Language II |
Spring. |
| ASL 2301 |
Modern Deaf Culture
This course, taught by a culturally Deaf individual, will offer students an opportunity of learning first-hand about a culture within the American cultural context, with constructions of Deaf people as a linguistic minority. A major focus of this course is to bring students to an understanding of how differently the world can be viewed through "Deaf eyes" and how understanding this worldview can account for views toward the teaching and enculturation of deaf children, Deafhood, biomedical ethics, oppression of signed languages, the provision of accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act, and a host of other issues at the interface between hearing and Deaf cultures. Catalog Distribution: (SCD-AS) (D-AG) |
Spring. |
| ASL 3215 |
Deaf Art, Film and Theatre
This course will explore approaches to the Deaf experience taken by Deaf artists from the 1900s to the present. Analysis of chosen works of Deaf art, film and theater will illuminate the expression of the Deaf narrative through symbolism, themes, and genres. We will examine the interaction of these works in multiple social, historical, cultural and political contexts and how they have contributed to the construction of Deaf culture and identity. This course will be taught in advanced ASL, with emphasis on the production and comprehension of academic ASL. Catalog Distribution: (ALC-AS) (CA-AG, LA-AG) |
Spring. |
| LING 1100 |
FWS: Language, Thought, and Reality
In this course the students learn the skill of writing at the university level. Instructors offer themes for their courses within their own special areas of expertise. Catalog Distribution: (WRT-AG) Full details for LING 1100 - FWS: Language, Thought, and Reality |
Fall, Spring. |
| LING 1101 |
Introduction to Linguistics
Overview of the science of language, especially its theoretical underpinnings, methods, and major findings. Areas covered include: the relation between sound and meaning in human languages, social variation in language, language change over time, universals of language, and the mental representation of linguistic knowledge. Students are introduced to a wide variety of language phenomena, drawn not only from languages resembling English, but also from many that appear to be quite unlike English, such as those native to the Americas, Africa, Asia, Australia, and the South Pacific. Catalog Distribution: (ETM-AS, SSC-AS) (KCM-AG, SBA-AG) |
Fall, Spring. |
| LING 1109 |
English Words: Histories and Mysteries
Where do the words we use come from? This course examines the history and structure of the English vocabulary from its distant Indo-European roots to the latest in technical jargon and slang. Topics include formal and semantic change, taboo and euphemism, borrowing, new words from old, "learned" English loans from Greek and Latin, slang, and society. Catalog Distribution: (ETM-AS, HST-AS) (HA-AG, KCM-AG) Full details for LING 1109 - English Words: Histories and Mysteries |
Fall. |
| LING 2212 |
Hieroglyphs to HTML: History of Writing
An introduction to the history and theory of writing systems from cuneiform to the alphabet, historical and new writing media, and the complex relationship of writing technologies to human language and culture. Through hands-on activities and collaborative work, students will explore the shifting definitions of "writing" and the diverse ways in which cultures through time have developed and used writing systems. We will also investigate the traditional divisions of "oral" vs. "written" and consider how digital technologies have affected how we use and think about writing in encoding systems from Morse code to emoji. Catalog Distribution: (ALC-AS, HST-AS) (CA-AG, HA-AG, LA-AG) Full details for LING 2212 - Hieroglyphs to HTML: History of Writing |
Spring. |
| LING 2215 |
Psychology of Language
Provides an introduction to the psychology of language. The purpose of the course is to introduce students to the scientific study of psycholinguistic phenomena. Covers a broad range of topics from psycholinguistics, including the origin of language, the different components of language (phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics), processes involved in reading, computational modeling of language processes, the acquisition of language (both under normal and special circumstances), and the brain bases of language. Catalog Distribution: (ETM-AS) (KCM-AG) |
Spring. |
| LING 2248 |
Native American Languages
This course explores the wide variety of languages indigenous to the Americas. There were thousands of languages spoken in the Americas before the arrival of Europeans and hundreds of these languages are still spoken today. We will look at several of these languages in terms of their linguistic structure as well as from social, historical, and political perspectives. No prior linguistic background is required and no previous knowledge of any Native American languages is presumed. Catalog Distribution: (GLC-AS, SCD-AS) (CA-AG, D-AG) |
Spring. |
| LING 3150 |
Language and Power
In this course, we will explore how language interacts with power: how does language reflect, shape, threaten and reinforce power relations in human society? From childhood through old age, language is an ever-present source of symbolic power. We use it to develop and express our identities, to position ourselves in hierarchies, and to establish group membership and exclusion throughout life. Language shapes ourselves, our families, our social lives, and our institutions. Understanding how people use language can provide a window into hidden aspects of both individuals and the social world. Catalog Distribution: (SSC-AS) (CA-AG, D-AG, SBA-AG) |
Spring. |
| LING 3302 |
Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology
This course is an introduction to both phonetics (the study of the physical properties of the sounds of human language) and phonology (the organization and patterning of those sounds). The first part of the course focuses on the main areas of phonetics: articulation, acoustics, and perception. Students acquire basic skills, such as production and perception of speech sounds, transcription using the International Phonetic Alphabet, and instrumental analysis of speech. In the second part of the course students are introduced to key concepts in phonology, including rules, representations, and analysis of sound patterns. Throughout the course aspects of the sound systems of a wide range of world languages are studied. Catalog Distribution: (ETM-AS) (KCM-AG) Full details for LING 3302 - Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology |
Spring. |
| LING 3314 |
Introduction to Historical Linguistics
Survey of the basic mechanisms of linguistic change, with examples from a variety of languages. Catalog Distribution: (HST-AS) (HA-AG) Full details for LING 3314 - Introduction to Historical Linguistics |
Spring. |
| LING 3316 |
Old Norse II
Old Norse is a collective term for the earliest North Germanic literary languages: Old Icelandic, Old Norwegian, Old Danish, and Old Swedish. The richly documented Old Icelandic is the center of attention, and the purpose is twofold: the students gain knowledge of an ancient North Germanic language, important from a linguistic point of view, and gain access to the medieval Icelandic (and Scandinavian) literature. Extensive reading of Old Norse texts, among them selections from some of the major Icelandic family sagas: Njals saga, Grettis saga, and Egils saga, as well as the whole Hrafnkels saga. |
Spring. |
| LING 3321 |
History of Romance Languages I
The Romance languages are the lasting imprint of all that happened to the Latin language as it moved through time, territories, and people of many ethnicities. While the Latin of antiquity retained its prestige in high culture, the natural untutored usage of ordinary people was always free to go its own way. This course covers the following topics, selected to create a panoramic view: Formation of the general Romance seven-vowel system from Latin. Early and widespread sound changes in popular Latin. Finding and interpreting evidence for trends in popular Latin pronunciation. The comparative method and its limitations. Essential later sound changes, some of which ceate a whole new order of consonants unknown to Latin but conspicuous in Romance. Nouns and adjectives from Latin to Romance. Formation of the present indicative: the competing forces of sound change and analogical adjustment. A brief overview of Portuguese. Variants of the seven-vowel system. Salient features of Romanian. Factors that helped shape the vocabulary of Romance. Medieval diglossia. Emergence of Romance vernaculars newly recognized by their speakers as languages distinct from Latin and from each other. Close analysis of the oldest surviving document written unmistakably in Romance (842 C. E.). Catalog Distribution: (HST-AS) (HA-AG) |
Fall. |
| LING 3325 |
Cayuga Language and Culture II
A continuation of LING 3324, with further exploration of Cayuga (Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫʼ) language and culture. Language instruction continues in an immersive learning environment with a focus on plants and growing in the spring. Catalog Distribution: (GLC-AS) (CA-AG) |
Spring. |
| LING 3344 |
Superlinguistics: Comics, Signs and Other Sequential Images
Super-linguistics is a subfield of linguistics that applies techniques used for analyzing natural language to non-linguistic materials. This course uses linguistic tools from semantics, pragmatics and syntax to study sequential images found in comics, films, and children's books. We will also study multimedia, gestures, and static images such as instruction signs, emoji, and paintings. Linguistic topics include anaphora, implicature, tense and aspect, attitudes and embedding, indirect discourse, and dynamic semantics. We introduce linguistic accounts of each of the topics and apply them to pictorial data. Catalog Distribution: (ETM-AS) (KCM-AG) Full details for LING 3344 - Superlinguistics: Comics, Signs and Other Sequential Images |
Spring. |
| LING 3390 |
Independent Study in Linguistics
Independent study of linguistics topics not covered in regular curriculum for undergrads. Full details for LING 3390 - Independent Study in Linguistics |
Fall, Spring. |
| LING 4220 |
From the Conquest to Caxton: Middle English Language, Literatures, History
This seminar will explore the English language and its literatures in its most diverse centuries, which 19th century philologists saw as the "middle" span: after the collapse of Old English language, poetic style, and indigenous power-centers at the Norman Conquest (1066), up to printing (1476), the beginnings of "standard Modern English," claims to an "English literary tradition," and the origins of Atlantic adventurism and imperialism. Between those benchmarks we'll consider multilingualism, English linguistic diversity and changes, social identity, literary forms, and ideas about language and literature, sampling many Middle English works and more fully reading the "Katherine Group," Gawain-poet, Piers Plowman, and Julian of Norwich's Showings. Catalog Distribution: (ALC-AS, HST-AS) |
Spring. |
| LING 4423 |
Morphology
Addresses the basic issues in the study of words and their structures. Provides an introduction to different types of morphological structures with examples from a wide range of languages. Catalog Distribution: (ETM-AS) (KCM-AG) |
Spring. |
| LING 4424 |
Computational Linguistics I
Computational models of natural languages. Topics are drawn from: tree syntax and context free grammar, finite state generative morpho-phonology, feature structure grammars, logical semantics, tabular parsing, Hidden Markov models, categorial and minimalist grammars, text corpora, information-theoretic sentence processing, discourse relations, and pronominal coreference. Catalog Distribution: (SMR-AS) |
Spring. |
| LING 4425 |
Pragmatics
What is the relationship between what words mean and how they are used? What is part of the grammar and what is a result of general reasoning? Pragmatics is often thought of as the study of how meaning depends on the context of utterance. However, it can be difficult to draw a line between pragmatics and semantics. In this course, we will investigate various topics that walk this line, including varieties of linguistic inference (including entailment and implicature), the pragmatics and compositional semantics of presupposition, anaphora and dynamic semantics, the semantics and pragmatics of focus, indexicals, and speech acts. Catalog Distribution: (ETM-AS) (KCM-AG) |
Spring. |
| LING 4474 |
Natural Language Processing
This course constitutes an introduction to natural language processing (NLP), the goal of which is to enable computers to use human languages as input, output, or both. NLP is at the heart of many of today's most exciting technological achievements, including machine translation, question answering and automatic conversational assistants. The course will introduce core problems and methodologies in NLP, including machine learning, problem design, and evaluation methods. Catalog Distribution: (SMR-AS) |
Fall. |
| LING 4492 |
Honors Research Workshop II
This course provides structure and guidance to students doing an honors thesis in linguistics. The course consists of biweekly meeting of all honors thesis writers with the course instructor. Students will submit drafts of the introduction, methodology, results, and conclusions. Students will comment on each others drafts. Students will also work on presentation skills. |
Spring. |
| LING 4494 |
Honors Thesis Research
Directed honors thesis research for students working on an honors thesis, taken with the student's honors thesis chair or other committee member. |
Spring. |
| LING 6220 |
From the Conquest to Caxton: Middle English Language, Literatures, History
This seminar will explore the English language and its literatures in its most diverse centuries, which 19th century philologists saw as the "middle" span: after the collapse of Old English language, poetic style, and indigenous power-centers at the Norman Conquest (1066), up to printing (1476), the beginnings of "standard Modern English," claims to an "English literary tradition," and the origins of Atlantic adventurism and imperialism. Between those benchmarks we'll consider multilingualism, English linguistic diversity and changes, social identity, literary forms, and ideas about language and literature, sampling many Middle English works and more fully reading the "Katherine Group," Gawain-poet, Piers Plowman, and Julian of Norwich's Showings. |
Spring. |
| LING 6248 |
Native American Languages
This course explores the wide variety of languages indigenous to the Americas. There were thousands of languages spoken in the Americas before the arrival of Europeans and hundreds of these languages are still spoken today. We will look at several of these languages in terms of their linguistic structure as well as from social, historical, and political perspectives. No prior linguistic background is required and no previous knowledge of any Native American languages is presumed. |
Spring. |
| LING 6314 |
Introduction to Historical Linguistics
Survey of the basic mechanisms of linguistic change, with examples from a variety of languages. Full details for LING 6314 - Introduction to Historical Linguistics |
Spring. |
| LING 6325 |
Cayuga Language and Culture II
A continuation of LING 6324, with further exploration of Cayuga (Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫʼ) language and culture. Language instruction continues in an immersive learning environment with a focus on plants and growing in the spring. |
Spring. |
| LING 6402 |
Phonology II
A continuation of LING 6401 with a focus on developing research skills. |
Spring. |
| LING 6404 |
Syntax II
A continuation of LING 6403, focusing on syntactic dependencies, including the theory of control, an examination of locality constraints on movement, covert versus overt movement, and the syntax of quantification. The purpose of the course is to develop the background needed for independent syntactic research. |
Spring. |
| LING 6422 |
Semantics II
Uses the techniques introduced in Semantics I to analyze linguistic phenomena, including quantifier scope, ellipsis, and referential pronouns. Temporal and possible worlds semantics are introduced and used in the analysis of modality, tense, and belief sentences. The phenomena of presupposition, indefinite descriptions, and anaphora are analyzed in a dynamic compositional framework that formalizes the idea that sentence meaning effects a change in an information state. |
Spring. |
| LING 6423 |
Morphology
Addresses the basic issues in the study of words and their structures. Provides an introduction to different types of morphological structures with examples from a wide range of languages. |
Spring. |
| LING 6424 |
Computational Linguistics I
Computational models of natural languages. Topics are drawn from: tree syntax and context free grammar, finite state generative morphophonology, feature structure grammars, logical semantics, tabular parsing, Hidden Markov models, categorial and minimalist grammars, text corpora, information-theoretic sentence processing, discourse relations, and pronominal coreference. |
Spring. |
| LING 6425 |
Pragmatics
What is the relationship between what words mean and how they are used? What is part of the grammar and what is a result of general reasoning? Pragmatics is often thought of as the study of how meaning depends on the context of utterance. However, it can be difficult to draw a line between pragmatics and semantics. In this course, we will investigate various topics that walk this line, including varieties of linguistic inference including entailment, presupposition, and implicature), anaphora, indexicals, and speech acts. |
Spring. |
| LING 6477 |
Experimental Methods in Language Sciences
The class offers an introduction to the experimental methods and data analysis techniques commonly used in linguistics. Topics covered in the course will include basics of experimental design and statistical inference for hypothesis testing, as well as practical training on a variety of experimental paradigms used in syntax and semantics/pragmatics. Full details for LING 6477 - Experimental Methods in Language Sciences |
Spring. |
| LING 6601 |
Topics in Phonetics-Phonological Theory
Examination of recent developments in the core areas of phonetics and phonology as well as its interfaces with other components of the grammar (e.g., morphosyntax, semantics or pragmatics). Topics covered include current approaches and relevant theoretical and historical perspectives. Full details for LING 6601 - Topics in Phonetics-Phonological Theory |
Fall, Spring. |
| LING 6603 |
Research Workshop
Provides a forum for presentation and discussion of ongoing research, and development of professional skills. |
Spring. |
| LING 6604 |
Research Workshop
Provides a forum for presentation and discussion of ongoing research, and development of professional skills. |
Spring. |
| LING 6692 |
Phonetic Data Analysis Workshop
The phonetics data analysis workshop provides students with practice in analysis and visualization of phonetic data, using Matlab, R, and Praat. Experiment design and statistical methods are emphasized. Full details for LING 6692 - Phonetic Data Analysis Workshop |
Fall. |
| LING 6693 |
Computational Psycholinguistics Discussion
This seminar provides a venue for feedback on research projects, invited speakers, and paper discussions within the area of computational psycholinguistics. Full details for LING 6693 - Computational Psycholinguistics Discussion |
Fall, Spring. |
| LING 6694 |
Linguistic Meaning Lab
This seminar provides a venue for discussion of ongoing research, technical tutorials, invited speakers and paper discussions of topics related to experimental and computational approaches to natural language meaning. |
Spring. |
| LING 7702 |
Directed Research
An independent study for graduate students. |
Spring. |
| LING 7712 |
Syntax Seminar
Addresses current theoretical and empirical issues in syntax. |
Spring. |