| Professor: | Jonathan North Washington | |
| Office: | Pearson 105 | |
| Office phone: | x6134 | |
| Office hours: | T 13:30-15:00 & by appointment also available by messaging on Google Chat | |
| Email/messaging: | jwashin1@swarthno scrapers please...more.edu | |
| Lecture Time: | TTh 9:55-11:10 a.m. | |
| Classroom: | Trotter 201 | |
| Course website: | http://jnw.domains.swarthmore.edu/ling052 | |
| Course moodle site: | F22 - LING052.01 | |
You can call me either Jonathan or Professor Washington, and refer to me using any pronoun. Please let me know how you'd like to be addressed and referred to in this space. Let's try to respect everyone's wishes in this regard—don't hesitate to correct me if I ever get any of it wrong!
The central goal of this course is for students to gain an understanding of the main concepts in the field of Historical and Comparative Linguistics and the skills needed to solve the types of problems encountered in this field. Here's the official course description:
This course is an introduction to the study of linguistic change.
Various models of language change are explored to seek to understand how and why languages change. Students will work directly with raw linguistic material from a wide range of languages to find patterns, argue for analyses, and figure out how the past shapes the linguistic present. Changes at all levels of the grammar (phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, lexicon) will be analysed, and various factors that can contribute to linguistic change will be explored. We will learn how it is possible to reconstruct linguistic systems that we have no direct record of, and will consider what it means for languages to diverge and converge.
Major themes of the course include the comparative method and the relationship between sociolinguistics and historical linguistics. The topics of language shift; language marginalisation and endangerment; language maintenance, revitalisation, and reclamation; and language planning will also be addressed. Assigned work and projects will develop the skills to conduct historical linguistics research through electronic and library resources.
The following textbook is required, and is available from the bookstore.
Classroom discussion will often deal with content from the book, so please bring the book to class every day.
Also, you'll need to be able to access Moodle (moodle.swarthmore.edu). This is where you'll take reading quizzes, submit assignments, and view your grades for the course, so make sure you can access it as soon as possible. If you have any trouble with it, let me know as soon as possible.
The course website (listed above, and linked to from the Moodle course) contains the syllabus and schedule for the semester, which will be adjusted as needed. This schedule might be more up to date than other materials. I will make announcements about any major changes.
I hold regular office hours (listed above), and can be available at other times by appointment—just send me a message letting me know when you might prefer to meet.
If you are having any trouble with class, such as with understanding a concept or completing an assignment, please don't hesitate to ask me for help. I'm here to help you learn, so I encourage you to take advantage of my availability.
But even if you're not having trouble, it never hurts to come to office hours from time to time. We can discuss course content, ideas for the final project, or whatever's on your mind in a more relaxed atmosphere.
Show up on time and silence cell phones. You may eat and drink as long as it doesn't disturb other students and the lecturer. If you need to step out of the class for any reason (bathroom, emergency phone call, etc.), please do so with minimum disruption (i.e., don't ask for permission).
If you use a computer, tablet, or other electronic device for taking notes (etc.), please use it only for relevant classroom activities. In other words, please refrain from any sort of non-class-related activities, including messaging (e-mail, social media, etc.), homework for other courses, or even planning for next week's presentation. Even the best multitaskers are still not participating fully when they're engaging in unrelated endeavours. If it's too difficult to avoid the temptation of these other distractions, you may try strategies like turning off the device's wifi, or simply taking notes on paper.
All material covered during course-related activities—including assigned readings, quizzes, and homeworks—should be assumed to be required course content, and may be included in exams. It is each student's responsibility to attend all classes to learn the material covered. If you must miss a class, it is courteous to notify your professor ahead of time if at all possible, but it will be your responsibility to learn about missed material from classmates. It is not my responsibility to make up for your absence or re-teach the material. (That said, let me know if you're having trouble making something up.) Also see COVID considerations below.
The assigned readings are to be read in advance of the class dates they're assigned for, and the online quizzes will test your understanding of the content. The readings complement in-class activities and provide the necessary background; however, you should not assume that they will be fully summarized or reviewed in class. Students should be prepared to evaluate, integrate, or respond to the readings in class discussions.
Reading quizzes are to be completed online every week by the beginning of class on the day they are due, and Moodle will enforce this by deactivating the quiz then. If for some reason you won't be able to take an assigned quiz, please let me know ahead of time so an alternative can be arranged; however, because you will usually have nearly a week to complete these quizzes and may do so at your convenience, you will have to have a pretty good excuse to be granted an alternative to a quiz.
Homework assignments are to be completed online every week by the beginning of the class on the day they are due, and Moodle will enforce this by deactivating submissions then. If you anticipate a problem getting the homework in on time, please let me know ahead of time so that an alternative can be arranged; however, because you will usually have most of a week to complete these assignments and may do so at your convenience, you will have to have a pretty good excuse to be granted an alternative to an assignment.
You are always expected to do your own work on assignments. On the other hand, for completing homework assignments, you are allowed to collaborate with other students and use the internet as a resource (as long as you avoid resources that present answers or solutions outright). You may also consult other sources when preparing presentations. However, please cite any sources you use or other students you worked with on both homeworks and presentations. In the end, you must always do your own work—this means that you must state things in your own words and show that you understand any ideas that you got from another source.
Using words or ideas from another source without attribution constitutes plagiarism, and misrepresenting another student's work as your own (or allowing another student to misrepresent your work as their own) is cheating. Please see the student handbook for the College's policies on academic misconduct (http://www.swarthmore.edu/student-handbook/academic-policies#academic_misconduct). Suspected cases of academic misconduct will be pursued to the full extent of College policy, including referral to the College Judicial Committee.
So please just be honest. And if you have any questions about what's considered acceptable, ask me first.
Please don't come to class if you have symptoms that could be COVID-19, even if you think it probably isn't. If you let me know a little bit ahead of time, and are feeling up to it, you can join class by Zoom or I can make an audio recording of class for you to review later.
Likewise, if I have such symptoms, I will not come to class. I will try to let you know ahead of time, and arrange to hold class that day on Zoom.
Since College policy is fairly lax regarding COVID-19, and some of us are still in situations where we are trying to avoid it, We will establish safety agreements as a group. The following criteria will be discussed, and the syllabus will be updated with what is agreed upon:
We may revise these and other COVID-related class practices as needed and as appropriate throughout the semester. College policy may change, for example, and we can adjust accordingly. My priority in all this is our collective and individual health and safety.
There's a form on Moodle for anonymous feedback on the course. I encourage everyone to periodically consider what's going well and what they would like to see changed about the course and let me know via the form.
Most of your assignments will be graded with a fine-grained measure of completion and correctness based on normal letters grades and grade points (A = 4.0, B = 3.0, C = 2.0, D = 1.0, and F = 0.0), with the standard modifiers + (one-third of a grade point higher) and - (one-third of a grade point lower). In addition, intermediate grades using parentheses or a slash may be used, giving the following correspondence between letter grade and grade points:
| A+ | 4.33 |
| A(+) | 4.17 |
| A | 4.00 |
| A(-) | 3.83 |
| A- | 3.67 |
| A/B | 3.50 |
| B+ | 3.33 |
| B(+) | 3.17 |
| B | 3.00 |
| B(-) | 2.83 |
| B- | 2.67 |
| B/C | 2.50 |
| C+ | 2.33 |
| C(+) | 2.17 |
| C | 2.00 |
| C(-) | 1.83 |
| C- | 1.67 |
| C/D | 1.50 |
| D+ | 1.33 |
| D(+) | 1.17 |
| D | 1.00 |
| D(-) | 0.83 |
| D- | 0.67 |
| D/F | 0.50 |
The grade in this course is broken down into the following components. Each component is expounded upon following the table.
| Homeworks (about 12): | 36% |
| Reading quizzes (about 12): | 24% |
| Exams (2): | 20% |
| Presentations (2): | 10% |
| Participation: | 10% |
There will be approximately 12 homeworks assigned (i.e., one almost every week). These assignments will be posted to Moodle every week, and must be completed by class on the assigned day. They will be related to the content of the class on that day.
You may collaborate on the problem solving portions of homeworks, but you must write up your own responses, unique from other students'. I suggest you only take notes when working with friends and then write up your responses alone, in your own words. Work identical to another student's, even partially, will be investigated for plagiarism.
No make-up or extra credit assignments will be given, and if you miss class, it is still your responsibility to make sure you understand the requirements of the assignment. Please talk with the instructor if you think you will miss a class.
One reading quiz will be assigned approximately each week. Each of these quizzes will cover material from the assigned reading. They are meant to test your understanding of the reading and provide you with materials from which to study. The quizzes will be accessible on Moodle and are to be completed outside of class by the beginning of class they are assigned for; they will be deactivated automatically as class starts. You can take each quiz as many times as you want, and your highest score will be recorded; however, you will not be shown which answers you got wrong. There will be no make-ups for quizzes without a valid excuse (see late assignment policy above).
There will be two exams: a mid-term exam involving the material covered up to that point in the course, and a cumulative final exam covering topics starting from the first day of class. The midterm exam will be a take-home exam, which will take the place of a homework assignment. The exams will be like homeworks in style and content, but you may not work with your classmates on them. No early or make-up exams will be given except in extreme circumstances. The time that the final exam is due will be posted later in the semester.
A language family presentation will be part of your final exam, and will take place during our final exam period. Students will choose different language families, which will be used as a platform to incorporate issues touched on throughout the semester. More specific guidance on these presentations will be provided later in the semester.
Each student will give two presentations over the course of the semester in addition to the final presentation. They will both be on a scholarly article chosen by the student.
I'll provide a list of available articles and dates that each should be presented on, and students will indicate their preference for which articles they would like to present. Articles will be assigned to students based on this. You may not get your first choice, but I'll try to make sure everyone gets an article they're happy with. However, since the point is to expand your horizons, it can be a good thing to read on a topic you have a little bit less interest in or context for. Links to articles can be found on the course website, and most of them will be in Moodle too. Only the student assigned each article is required to read it (though everyone else is encouraged to at least have a look!).
Article presentations should walk the class through the main ideas of the article, present an assessment of these ideas, and provide a point of departure for discussion of the ideas (e.g., in the form of discussion questions). Each presenter should consider the presentation to be providing background for a discussion that they will lead, and hence should be prepared to answer questions about the article, as their classmates will [mostly] not have read it. The formal part of the presentation is expected to last more than 10 and up to 20 minutes, and discussion may continue for any amount of time, depending on constraints of the day. Presenters should make use of slides and/or handouts, and should connect the content of the article to the course as a whole and the current topic. Presentations will be graded for completeness (covering all the main ideas), clarity, time, and response (thoughtfulness about the article's content, leading discussion on its ideas).
Presenters are encouraged to schedule a meeting with me and/or a Speaking Associate (http://www.swarthmore.edu/writing/spas-speaking-associates) to discuss the article and their upcoming presentation during the week preceding their presentation.
I do not grade on attendance, but you will be graded on engagement in the class, and this requires attendance. Beyond simply showing up and participating, you're encouraged to contribute to discussions by asking questions, answering prompts, making relevant comments, working with classmates on in-class activities, etc. You will not be ridiculed for asking even simple questions—I want to make sure everyone grasps the concepts, and many are not as straightforward as they may first seem (or as I think they are).
You are encouraged to engage with your classmates' presentations and postings to Moodle as well.
You are also expected to come to class prepared for discussion; this includes having completed readings and assignments due by class.
If you believe you need accommodations for a disability or a chronic medical condition, please contact Student Disability Services via email at studentdisabilityservices@swarthmore.edu to arrange an appointment to discuss your needs. As appropriate, the office will issue students with documented disabilities or medical conditions a formal Accommodations Letter. Since accommodations require early planning and are not retroactive, please contact Student Disability Services as soon as possible. For details about the accommodations process, visit the Student Disability Services website (https://www.swarthmore.edu/office-academic-success/welcome-to-student-disability-services). You are also welcome to contact me privately to discuss your academic needs. However, all disability-related accommodations must be arranged, in advance, through Student Disability Services.
| week | date | topic | reading | due | presentations |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 30 Aug | Introductions, syllabus What/why is Historical Linguistics Intro to history of English | |||
| 01 Sep | Intro to Historical Ling (ctd) Typology of language change | ||||
| 2 | 06 Sep | Typology of language change (ctd) | HW1 | D'Arcy et al. (2013) - Asymmetrical trajectories: The past and present of -body/-one Hickey (2012) - Early English and the Celtic Hypothesis |
|
| 08 Sep | Lexical and semantic change | ||||
| 3 | 13 Sep | Lexical and semantic change | HW2 | Zenner et al. (2014) - Core vocabulary, borrowability and entrenchment Wales (2004) - Second Person Pronouns in Contemporary English: The End of a Story or Just the Beginning? Thomas Grano (2006) - “Me and her” meets “he and I”: Case, person, and linear ordering in English coordinated pronouns OR Van Engen (2007) - Coordinated Pronoun Variation in American English |
|
| 15 Sep | Sound change | ||||
| 4 | 20 Sep | Sound change | HW3 | Michaud, Jacques, & Rankin (2012) - Historical transfer of nasality between consonantal onset and vowel: From C to V or from V to C? |
|
| 22 Sep | Sound system change | ||||
| 5 | 27 Sep | Sound system change | Haspelmath (2006) - Against markedness Matisoff (2006) - Genetic versus Contact Relationship: Prosodic Diffusibility in South-East Asian Languages |
||
| 29 Sep | Morphological and Syntactic change | ||||
| 6 | 4 Oct | Morphological and Syntactic change | DeLancey (2001) - The mirative and evidentiality Cutler, Hawkins, & Gilligan (1985) - The suffixing preference: a processing explanation Vennemann (2002) - On the Rise of ‘Celtic’ Syntax in Middle English |
||
| 6 Oct | Relatedness between languages | ||||
| 11 Oct | No class — Fall break! | ||||
| 13 Oct | No class — Fall break! | ||||
| 7 | 18 Oct | Relatedness between languages The comparative method | Jacques & List (2019) - Save the trees: Why we need tree models in linguistic reconstruction (and when we should apply them) Matras (2005) - The classification of Romani dialects - A geographical-historic perspective Wichmann et al. (2010) - Homelands of the world's language families: A quantitative approach Georg et al. (1998) |
||
| 20 Oct | The comparative method | ||||
| 8 | 25 Oct | The comparative method | |||
| 27 Oct | Internal reconstruction | ||||
| 9 | 1 Nov | Internal reconstruction | |||
| 3 Nov | The origin and propagation of change | ||||
| 10 | 8 Nov | The origin and propagation of change | Nagy (2011) - Lexical change and language contact: Faetar in Italy and Canada |
||
| 10 Nov | Language contact and linguistic areas | ||||
| 11 | 15 Nov | Language contact and linguistic areas | Thomason & Kaufman (1989) - Contact-Induced Language Change: An Analytic Framework Masica (2001) - The Definition and Significance of Linguistic Areas: Methods, Pitfalls, and Possibilities (with Special Reference to the Validity of South Asia as a Linguistic Area) Haspelmath (2001) - The European linguistic area: Standard Average European Friedman (2006) - The Balkans as a Linguistic Area Matras & Sakel (2007) - Investigating the mechanisms of pattern replication in language convergence |
||
| 17 Nov | Language shift, planning, and revitalisation | ||||
| 12 | 22 Nov | Language shift, planning, and revitalisation | McWhorter (2006) - Creole Transplantation: A source of solutions to resistant anomalies Burling (2009) - The Lingua Franca Cycle: Implications for Language Shift, Language Change, and Language Classification |
||
| 24 Nov | No class — Thanksgiving / National Day of Mourning | ||||
| 13 | 29 Nov | Language and prehistory | Garrett (2000) - A new model of Indo-European Subgrouping and Dispersal Ringe (2009) - The Linguistic Diversity of Aboriginal Europe Stemberger (1979) - Reconstructing the Proto-Indo-Europeans Starostin (2012) - Dene-Yeniseian: a critical assessment (and Vajda’s reply) |
||
| 1 Dec | Language and prehistory / flex day | Sneller & Roberts (2018) - Why some behaviors spread while others don’t: A laboratory simulation of dialect contact | |||
| 14 | 6 Dec | Historical linguistics in the lab | TBA | ||
| 13 Dec | (9:00-12:00) Language family presentations |