音韻學

This course is a graduate-level introduction to phonological theories. The basic goal is to teach you i) how to organize primary data, make descriptive generalizations, and provide formal analyses, and ii) to critically evaluate the existing phonological theories based on the empirical data. We will cover topics such as phonological units (features, syllables, feet, & prosodic words), phonological processes (e.g. place & manner assimilation, epenthesis, deletion, & harmony) attested in the languages around the world, and linguistic typology. In doing so, two competing formal models in the field of phonology will be adopted and explicitly compared in explaining empirical data: Rule-based approach in the tradition of Sound Pattern of English (SPE) (Chomsky and Halle 1968) vs. Optimality Theory (Prince and Smolensky 1993/2004). We will finish off the course with more recent interests among theoretical phonologists, including variation, learnability and phonetically informed phonological patterns.

This is one of the required courses for the graduate students in our program, and there are, in principle, no formal prerequisites for this course. But I’d assume that you have basic knowledge of introductory linguistics in which you would have learned things like: • basic International Phonetic Alphabets: e.g. [ɨ], [ŋ], ... • the meaning of rewrite rules: A  B/ C__D Don’t be discouraged even if you have no background in linguistics, though you may have to put significant efforts especially at the beginning of the course. I’d suggest (quickly) reading through Understanding Phonology (one of our textbooks, see below) as soon as you can.

Week Date Quiz Topics Readings HW; Project 1 2/13 (Background survey) What is phonology? UP Chs.1-2 2 2/20 Quiz#1 Phonetics review; Phonological distribution: Phonemes, Allophones UP Chs.3-5 HW#1 due 2/27 3 2/27 No class 4 3/6 Quiz#2 Natural classes, Features; Dynamic Alternations Feature review (Gouskova) HW#2 due 3/13 5 3/13 Quiz#3 Rule ordering, opacity, etc. UP Chs.6-7 HW#3 due 3/20 6 3/20 Quiz#4 Problems with early GP; The architecture of OT Kisseberth 1970, Doing OT Ch.1-2, Kager Ch1 HW#4 due 3/27 7 3/27 Quiz#5 Syllables and syllable typology Kager Ch.3 HW#5 due 4/3 8 4/3 No class 9 4/10 Midterm 10 4/17 Midterm review; Topics in Phonology HW#6 (Project prospectus) due 5/8 11 4/24 Stress, feet & stress typology Kager Ch.4 HW#7 due 5/1 12 5/1 Quantity/Sonority sensitive stress systems 13 5/8 Correspondence & Positional faithfulness; P-map Kager Ch.9.5, Beckman 1997, Kang 2014 14 5/15 Autosegmental Phonology UP Ch.10 HW#8 due 5/22 15 5/22 Remaining issues: Opacity, Variation, & Learnability; Writing phonology papers UP Ch.8, Borsema & Hayes 2001; Pater 2006 16 5/29 No class 17 6/5 Project presentations 18 6/12 Project presentations Project draft due 6/14

• Quizzes (5%): There will be a few in-class quizzes at the beginning of the semester. The primary purpose of the quizzes is to make sure you have reviewed the course materials thoroughly and you are ready to move forward. • Problem sets (35%): In order to learn from this course, it is essential to do the problem sets thoroughly and turn them in on time. Consider each assignment as a small research paper; your analyses should be backed up with sufficient argumentation and evidence. You will have a substantial homework assignment nearly every week. The frequency of the problem sets will decrease as the final project comes near. • Class participation (5%): You will be asked to participate in the discussions of quizzes and problem sets in class. Ditto for in-class exercises. • Midterm (25%): The midterm exam will be an extension of the homework assignments given in previous weeks. The data will be smaller in size so that you can finish relatively quickly. • Final project (30%): A short squib (8-12 pp) that presents your original analyses on the data collected by yourself; I will provide you with detailed instructions about how to do this in a separate handout, but think about possible topics early on, as this is one of the major components of the course requirements. o Project prospectus by May 1: a short proposal for the final project (1-2 pp), including the topic of the project and specific plans on how to proceed (meet with me individually before you submit this). o Project 1st draft by May 29: a rough draft presenting research questions, organized data, sketches of formal analyses, and (optional) discussions. o Project presentations in class on Jun 12: 20 min presentation followed by 5 min Q&A, handouts or Powerpoint presentations are all welcome. Do it as if you are presenting your work in a conference. o Project final draft by Jun 14: a revised final paper that reflects all the comments that you received on the way. The final paper should look like a complete research paper.

• Required: Kager, Rene (1999) Optimality Theory. Cambridge University Press. (available at Hua-Tung Bookstore and also at the library) • Supplementary o McCarthy, John (2008) Doing Optimality Theory: Applying Theory to Data. Blackwell. (eBook is available in our library) o Gussenhoven, Carlos and Haike Jacobs (2011) Understanding Phonology. (3rd edition) London: Hodder Education. (2nd edition is reserved in the library) o Copies of other readings will be provided in PDFs.

地點

F306, Humanities 2, NCTU

時間

Fridays 2-4pm & by appointment

聯絡方式

sangimleekim@nctu.edu.tw