Courses by semester
Courses for
Complete Cornell University course descriptions are in the Courses of Study .
| Course ID | Title | Offered |
|---|---|---|
| LING1100 |
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.
Full details for LING 1100 - FWS: Language, Thought, and Reality |
Fall, Spring. |
| LING1101 |
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.
|
Fall, Spring. |
| LING1121 |
Insights into Language and Culture: Tools for the Global Learner
In this course we explore the linguistic aspects of language learning, either in a classroom setting or "in-country" as part of Study Abroad or International Engaged learning. This includes structural properties of language that aid in learning a second language and the process of first language acquisition and second language learning. These issues are addressed in the context of the social and cultural dimensions of language, including the role of dialects and style, issues of cross-cultural awareness, and the complexities of translation and English as a "global" language.
Full details for LING 1121 - Insights into Language and Culture: Tools for the Global Learner |
Fall. |
| LING1131 |
Elementary Sanskrit I
An introduction to the essentials of Sanskrit grammar. Designed to enable the student to read classical and epic Sanskrit as soon as possible.
|
Fall. |
| LING2251 |
Intermediate Sanskrit I
Review of grammar and reading of selections from Sanskrit epic poetry and narrative prose.
|
Fall. |
| LING2285 |
Linguistic Theory and Poetic Structure
Poems are among the most highly structured linguistic objects that human beings produce. While some of the devices used in poetry are arbitrary and purely conventional, most are natural extensions of structural properties inherent in natural language itself. The aim of this course is to reveal the ways in which poetry is structured at every level, from rhyme to metaphor, and to show how certain results of modern linguistics can usefully be applied to the analysis and interpretation of poetry. After introducing some of the basic concepts of modern phonology, syntax and semantics, it will be shown how literary notions such as rhyme, meter, enjambment and metaphor can be formally defined in linguistic terms. These results will then be applied to the analysis of particular poems and shown to yield novel and interesting insights into both their structure and interpretation.
Full details for LING 2285 - Linguistic Theory and Poetic Structure |
Fall. |
| LING3303 |
Introduction to Syntax and Semantics
This course explores both syntax (how words and phrases are combined into sentences) and semantics (how the meanings of words, phrases, and sentences are interpreted). The course aims to give students to the ability to address questions regarding syntactic and semantic properties of languages in a rigorous and informed fashion. Topics covered include phrase structure, grammatical relations, transformations, semantic composition, modification, quantification, and the syntax/semantics interface. Emphasis throughout the course is placed on forming and testing hypotheses.
Full details for LING 3303 - Introduction to Syntax and Semantics |
Fall. |
| LING3315 |
Old Norse I
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. The structure of Old Norse (Old Icelandic), phonology, and morphology, with reading of selections from the Prose-Edda, a 13th-century narrative based on the Eddaic poetry.
|
Fall. |
| LING3321 |
History of Romance Languages
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.).
|
Fall. |
| LING3390 |
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. |
| LING4401 |
Phonology I
Provides an introduction to phonological theory. The empirical basis, theoretical approaches, and relevant literature are explored through extensive data analysis and critical reading.
|
Fall. |
| LING4403 |
Syntax I
An advanced introduction to syntactic theory within the principles and parameters/minimalist frameworks. Topics include phrase structure, argument structure (unaccusative verbs, unergative verbs, double object constructions), principles of word order, and the binding theory.
|
Fall. |
| LING4419 |
Phonetics I
This course provides advanced instruction in phonetic analysis and experimental methodology. Students learn about various theories of speech perception, production, and cognitive representation. This provides a background in which students develop an original research project. The goals of this course are for students to gain a conceptual understanding of phonetic analyses and to acquire practical experience in using phonetic analyses to explore cognitive dimensions of speech.
|
Fall. |
| LING4421 |
Semantics I
Introduces methods for theorizing about meaning within generative grammar. These techniques allow the creation of grammars that pair syntactic structures with meanings. Students look at several empirical areas in detail, among them complementation (combining heads with their arguments), modification, conjunction, definite descriptions, relative clauses, traces, bound pronouns, and quantification. An introduction to logical and mathematical concepts used in linguistic semantics (e.g., set theory, functions and their types, and the lambda notation for naming linguistic meanings) is included in the course.
|
Fall. |
| LING4423 |
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.
|
Fall. |
| LING4456 |
Archaic Latin
A close reading of selected Plautine comedies with special attention to language and meter.
|
Fall. |
| LING4474 |
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, automatic conversational assistants and Internet search. Possible topics include methods for handling underlying linguistic phenomena (e.g., syntactic analysis, word sense disambiguation and discourse analysis) and vital emerging applications (e.g., machine translation, sentiment analysis, summarization and information extraction).
|
Fall. |
| LING4491 |
Honors Research Workshop I
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 prepare presentations and written materials including topic, background, outline, methodology for honors project for class presentation and discussion. The course also covers aspects of linguistics research methodology.
|
Fall. |
| LING4493 |
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.
|
Fall. |
| LING6285 |
Linguistic Theory and Poetic Structure
Poems are among the most highly structured linguistic objects that human beings produce. While some of the devices used in poetry are arbitrary and purely conventional, most are natural extensions of structural properties inherent in natural language itself. The aim of this course is to reveal the ways in which poetry is structured at every level, from rhyme to metaphor, and to show how certain results of modern linguistics can usefully be applied to the analysis and interpretation of poetry. After introducing some of the basic concepts of modern phonology, syntax and semantics, it will be shown how literary notions such as rhyme, meter, enjambment and metaphor can be formally defined in linguistic terms. These results will then be applied to the analysis of particular poems and shown to yield novel and interesting insights into both their structure and interpretation.
Full details for LING 6285 - Linguistic Theory and Poetic Structure |
Fall. |
| LING6401 |
Phonology I
Provides an introduction to phonological theory. The empirical basis, theoretical approaches, and relevant literature are explored through extensive data analysis and critical reading.
|
Fall. |
| LING6403 |
Syntax I
An advanced introduction to syntactic theory within the principles and parameters/minimalist frameworks. Topics include phrase structure, argument structure (unaccusative verbs, unergative verbs, double object constructions), principles of word order, and the binding theory.
|
Fall. |
| LING6419 |
Phonetics I
This course provides advanced instruction in phonetic analysis and experimental methodology. Students learn about various theories of speech perception, production, and cognitive representation. This provides a background in which students develop an original research project. The goals of this course are for students to gain a conceptual understanding of phonetic analyses and to acquire practical experience in using phonetic analyses to explore cognitive dimensions of speech.
|
Fall. |
| LING6421 |
Semantics I
Introduces methods for theorizing about meaning within generative grammar. These techniques allow the creation of grammars that pair syntactic structures with meanings. Students look at several empirical areas in detail, among them complementation (combining heads with their arguments), modification, conjunction, definite descriptions, relative clauses, traces, bound pronouns, and quantification. An introduction to logical and mathematical concepts used in linguistic semantics (e.g., set theory, functions and their types, and the lambda notation for naming linguistic meanings) is included in the course.
|
Fall. |
| LING6423 |
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.
|
Fall. |
| LING6456 |
Archaic Latin
A close reading of selected Plautine comedies with special attention to language and meter.
|
Fall. |
| LING6601 |
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. |
| LING6616 |
Topics in Syntactic Theory
Examination of recent developments in syntactic theory, including "minimalist" approaches to phrase structure, derivations/representations and the nature of economy conditions, and parametric differences.
|
Fall. |
| LING6635 |
Indo-European Workshop
An assortment of subjects intended for students with previous training in Indo-European linguistics: problems in the reconstruction of Proto Indo-European, topics in the historical grammars of the various IE languages, reading and historical linguistic analysis of texts, and grammatical sketches of "minor" IE languages.
|
Fall, Spring. |
| LING6692 |
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, Spring. |
| LING7701 |
Directed Research
An independent study for graduate students.
|
Fall. |
| LING7711 |
Semantics Seminar
Addresses current theoretical and empirical issues in semantics.
|
Fall. |