24.900 Introduction to Linguistics
Spring 2020
Language is more orderly than this building, but even more spectacular.
Instructor: David Pesetsky
TAs: Elise S Newman, Patrick Michael Niedzielski, Vincent S Rouillard, Tatiana Igorevna Bondarenko
Writing advisors: Janis Melvold (melvold@mit.edu), Michael Maune (mmaune@mit.edu):
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Lecture: TR11-12.30
(35-225)
Information:
Course descriptionThis course will provide some answers to basic questions about
the nature of human language. Throughout the semester, we will be
examining a number of ways in which human language is a complex but
law-governed mental system.
During the first two-thirds of the semester, we will examine
various aspects of linguistic structure: the structure of words
(morphology), the organization of sounds (phonetics, phonology),
word order (syntax), and the meaning of sentences (semantics). You
will use what you learn to investigate the structure of a language
that is unfamiliar to you. We will then look at how linguistic
structure influences and is affected by language transmission: how
is language acquired? how do languages change over time? how do new
dialects and languages arise?
Announcements
new version of last class video
This was the first time I tried including extensive video clips in the class lecture, and there were some small problems (audio issues, aspect ratio, etc.). I put a new version on DropBox just now, and I'm uploading it to YouTube now, stitched together with a different app, that may fix them. Feel free to watch either; the content is the same; the only difference is the app that put it together — but try the newer one first (currently uploading on YouTube) once it's there for you.Announced on 12 May 2020 12:18 p.m. by David Pesetsky
final class video uploaded - topic: Dialects
Dear 24.900 people,The final class has finally been uploaded! It runs a little long, but I very much hope you will sit down and watch it. As I mention at the beginning, it is in many ways the most important class of the semester — you'll see why I think so in the second half. It is also ornamented with a number of audio and video clips that I think you will enjoy and find interesting.
It is on Dropbox now, and as usual will take a bit of time to get fully processed on Youtube.
I will have the usual meetings tomorrow at 11:00 and 9:00pm, and would be happy to discuss any aspect of the class (including your papers) then. Looking forward to seeing many of you.
-David
Announced on 11 May 2020 10:53 p.m. by David Pesetsky
Questions being answered on Piazza
Some of you are asking useful questions about the assignment on Piazza, thank you! If you haven't looked there for possible answers to questions you may have, I urge you to do so. And feel free to ask your own questions there, or by email (to the instructor, your TA, your writing advisor, or combinations thereof).Announced on 10 May 2020 9:11 a.m. by David Pesetsky
Writing assignment #2 additional helpful material
The slides from the workshops and the promised text by me about the "Sketch what you have learned about the language already" section have been uploaded. Look for them on the Materials page here on Stellar, in the "Writing Assignment #2" section.Announced on 07 May 2020 10:18 p.m. by David Pesetsky
tip for the pset
Your fellow students attending the morning discussion today agreed that this tip might be helpful. For answering part 2, question 2, consult the final semantics slide for a guide to how to provide the justifications for your answer that the question requests. (Missing from that flow-chart is the "wait a minute" test for presupposition, which should also be part of your repertoire.)Also, if you are unsure of your answer to any of the semantics questions, because you see more than one way of thinking about it (which can happen), the safest thing to do is to write a few sentences stating what you were uncertain about in addition to giving the answer.
Hope these pointers are helpful.
-David
Announced on 05 May 2020 12:15 p.m. by David Pesetsky
