Linguistics

This course covers the organization and structure of English lexicon. It describes basic lexical and morphological concepts and introduces the structure of lexicon and the processes of word formation in English. Topics include: the structure of lexicon--kinds of words, lexeme, syntactic and semantic features, and lexical models; inflectional morphology--word forms, morpheme, morphosyntactic features, and syntactic and semantic implications; lexical morphology--word formation and syntactic and semantic implications. 

This course provides deepened insight into English grammar and the linguistic analysis of English. There is a focus on syntactic description, analysis and argumentation, and on the relationship between linguistic form and grammatical function. Particular attention is given to the forms and functions of the noun phrase and the verb phrase as well as to clause structure and information packaging.

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale degree program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrolment is by permission of the instructor. The global aim of this course is to provide students with an expert knowledge on the use of language and other semiotic systems in contemporary discourse. Including lectures and language classes, the course covers a number of aspects of English linguistics in order to develop a critical understanding of the relationship between discourse and society and to strengthen English language proficiency. Students are able to identify and describe metalinguistic factors and semiotic resources at play in discourse as they are provided with theoretical knowledge related to one or more of the following areas of English linguistics: phonology, morphology, syntax, lexicology, semantics, pragmatics, sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, stylistics, corpus linguistics, multimodality, and social semiotics. Theories and concepts are applied to samples of authentic texts (written and/or spoken, belonging to different registers), including the use of language and multimodal corpora as sources of examples. The course is divided into two modules. Module 1 aims at acquiring the theoretical knowledge and practical skills needed to master the relationship between language, cognition, and emotion within persuasive communication. Module 2 focuses on discourse as a social phenomenon.

This course provides an overview of major subfields in linguistics, including phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics, sociolinguistics, and historical linguistics. By the end of the course, students are expected to better understand key issues, methodologies, and data involved in modern linguistic theories, and how linguists approach the study of human language. 

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale degree program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrolment is by permission of the instructor. This course focuses on the linguistic theory related to the coding of the linguistic message into sounds, particularly the fundamentals of articulatory/acoustic phonetics and segmental/suprasegmental phonology. In particular, students are able to analyze the phonetic and phonological aspects of a language or linguistic variety from different perspectives: synchronic, diachronic, sociolinguistic, and acquisitional. Students analyze phenomena of phonetic and phonological disruption in pathological speech; and set up autonomously theoretical and experimental research in the fields outlined above. Topics include: articulatory phonetics, acoustic phonetics, form and substance of the signifier; and the development of phonetic/phonological competence during childhood.

This course introduces the scientific study of human language. Utilizing Andrew Radford’s An Introduction to English Sentence Structure (2009), the course provides a concise and clear introduction to current work in syntactic theory, drawing on the key concepts of Noam Chomsky's The Minimalist Program. By looking at data mainly from English, it also introduces students to a few linguistic mysteries found not only in present-day English but also in languages like Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Belfast English, Elizabethan English, etc.  

This course provides the opportunity to gain analytical skills which will be a solid foundation for conducting research in the following linguistics-related fields: child language, language acquisition, computational linguistics, machine translation, sign language, pidgin and creole, comparative linguistics, historical linguistics, language and thought, speech therapy, textbook writing, etc.  
 
A companion course (CO310) focuses on more traditional ideas of generative syntax, which forms a basis of the current theory. Students are encouraged to take this course as well. 

This is an intermediate English Historical Linguistics course which should be taken after studying the basics of linguistics offered in CO201 Introduction to Language Studies and/or CO202 Introduction to English Linguistics at this school or anything equivalent to these anywhere.  

Building on the knowledge from these introductory courses, this course investigates the internal linguistic development of the English language from a synthetic to an analytic language, i.e. loss of inflections, depending on a more fixed word order, and emerging periphrases and function words such as auxiliaries and prepositions in constructing sentences. It also delves into the external influences on the English language throughout its history, namely, lexical borrowings from Greek, Latin (Classical and Medieval), Old Norse, and (Norman-)French words. 

The course first studies selected features of pronunciation, spelling, and grammar of English from its earliest stage of development. It also considers the cultural, social, and political aspects of the external history of English, especially in terms of vocabulary.  

By the end of the course one will have understood why the English language has become the lingua franca of the world but, for many speakers of it, whether native or non-native, ‘”English is among the easiest languages to speak badly, but the most difficult to use well’ (C. L. Wrenn, The English Language, 1977, p.9). 

This course focuses on the practical aspects of the automated processing of human languages. It develops knowledge of useful and logical aspects, as well as useful prototypes of the same nature. The course introduces the basics of the programming language Python.

This course examines a range of issues rooted in language and culture: language and thought; identities, self and ‘othering’; cultural diversity in verbal and nonverbal communication; language, gender and sexuality; popular culture and global cultural flow; language and power; globalization and language planning and policy in different cultural contexts.