Patience L. Epps

Course Description

An introduction to the study of how languages change and to the
principles developed by linguists to account for these changes. The
course will investigate the social and linguistic motivations for
change and learn about change in sound systems, word structure, word
meaning, and grammar. Students will also learn the methods linguists
have developed for reconstructing the vocabularies and grammars of  the
prehistoric parent languages of languages which exist today, or  which
have been preserved in writing.

Requirements:
Classes will be a mix of lectures, discussion, and problem solving
using data from a wide range of languages. Grade is based on homework
assignments (60%), two in-class examinations (40%).

Textbook:
"An Introduction to Historical Linguistics" by Terry Crowley and
Claire Bowern (ISBN: 9780195365542), and supplementary readings.

This course will be a combination of discussion and presentations and will cover topics such as recent trends in the documentation and description of the world’s languages, research ethics, research technology, and preparation for research including research design, types of data and how they fit into specific research agendas, funding and IRB proposal writing, presentation and publication of research data and analysis, and dissertation writing. The course will give students the opportunity to pursue their own research in a guided, collegial environment. Graduate students from other departments are welcome!

The Signature Course (UGS 302 and 303) introduces first-year students to the university’s academic community through the exploration of new interests. The Signature Course is your opportunity to engage in college-level thinking and learning.

Instructors: Pattie Epps and Tony Woodbury

This is a course in socio-historical linguistics on the grandest possible scale of time, space, and human diversity. New languages come into being via various pathways: the splitting of proto-languages into daughters, the emergence of pidgins, creoles, and mixed languages in extreme contact situations, and the spontaneous development of signed languages. At the same time, languages die out – at unprecedented rates in recent decades – especially via processes of language shift in contexts of cultural and environmental change and of social and economic inequality. These processes raise intriguing questions regarding the cognitive motivations for linguistic structures (function-driven or innate), the nature of human communication, and the relationship between language and the dynamics of social interaction. In particular, the puzzle of contemporary linguistic diversity around the globe – where regions such as New Guinea and South America are home to many more languages than are found in Eurasia and other areas – presents a challenge to linguists and scholars of human prehistory. Why have the processes of language diversification and death applied so differently in different parts of the world? What can these patterns tell us about human social, cultural, and linguistic history and practice, and vice versa? While this course deals primarily with linguistic problems and evidence, it emphasizes the importance of a cross-disciplinary approach – drawing on evidence from archaeology, population genetics, cultural anthropology, and other fields – to understand the human processes behind the linguistic patterns.

Readings:

Readings will consist of articles on Canvas. This is the tentative plan for topics and readings week-by-week:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XML6-6YSlUvIkBiTw0mUIbaBRpNYB_hGH7_aN9en92c/edit#

Assignment plan:

Near-weekly assignments will aim each student toward building a paper that treats the grand scale socio-historical framework for a language or language family or region where you are working or plan to work. The paper could end up as a part of your dissertation, or as a frame for on-going research you're doing, or as a stand-alone overview such as you find in handbooks or in journals like Language and Linguistic Compass or Language Documentation and Description. Each assignment asks you to consider the topics raised in the new readings in light of your project area. In the final presentation and paper, you'll be putting your separate assignment writings into one coherent whole.

Grading:

Regular assignments 30%

Final presentation 20%

Final paper 40%

Class participation 10%

Course Description

An introduction to the study of how languages change and to the
principles developed by linguists to account for these changes. The
course will investigate the social and linguistic motivations for
change and learn about change in sound systems, word structure, word
meaning, and grammar. Students will also learn the methods linguists
have developed for reconstructing the vocabularies and grammars of  the
prehistoric parent languages of languages which exist today, or  which
have been preserved in writing.

Requirements:
Classes will be a mix of lectures, discussion, and problem solving
using data from a wide range of languages. Grade is based on homework
assignments (60%), two in-class examinations (40%).

Textbook:
"An Introduction to Historical Linguistics" by Terry Crowley and
Claire Bowern (ISBN: 9780195365542), and supplementary readings.

The Signature Course (UGS 302 and 303) introduces first-year students to the university’s academic community through the exploration of new interests. The Signature Course is your opportunity to engage in college-level thinking and learning.

In this graduate-level course, we will examine the phenomenon of language contact from both structural and sociocultural angles.  We will investigate the formation of pidgins, creoles, and koines; grammaticalization in response to contact influence; and strategies for tracing borrowing and other contact-related influences in a given language.  We will discuss the concept of a ‘linguistic area’ and look at examples of linguistic areas, in particular the Vaupés region of Amazonia. Finally, we will consider the role of discourse strategies and norms, bilingualism, and code-switching, and cultural practices in determining the nature of the contact that takes place and its effects on the languages involved. How do shared narrative genres and cultural practices transport features across language boundaries? What happens in situations of linguistic exogamy – where people are culturally required to marry outside their own language group? Why do speakers assimilate one feature from a neighboring language into their speech, and not another? What causes languages to grow closer and closer together in their grammars, while preserving distinct lexicons?

The Signature Course (UGS 302 and 303) introduces first-year students to the university’s academic community through the exploration of new interests. The Signature Course is your opportunity to engage in college-level thinking and learning.

Course Description

An introduction to the study of how languages change and to the
principles developed by linguists to account for these changes. The
course will investigate the social and linguistic motivations for
change and learn about change in sound systems, word structure, word
meaning, and grammar. Students will also learn the methods linguists
have developed for reconstructing the vocabularies and grammars of  the
prehistoric parent languages of languages which exist today, or  which
have been preserved in writing.

Requirements:
Classes will be a mix of lectures, discussion, and problem solving
using data from a wide range of languages. Grade is based on homework
assignments (60%), two in-class examinations (40%).

Textbook:
"An Introduction to Historical Linguistics" by Terry Crowley and
Claire Bowern (ISBN: 9780195365542), and supplementary readings.

This course will be a combination of discussion and presentations and will cover topics such as recent trends in the documentation and description of the world’s languages, research ethics, research technology, and preparation for research including research design, types of data and how they fit into specific research agendas, funding and IRB proposal writing, presentation and publication of research data and analysis, and dissertation writing. The course will give students the opportunity to pursue their own research in a guided, collegial environment. Graduate students from other departments are welcome!

The Signature Course (UGS 302 and 303) introduces first-year students to the university’s academic community through the exploration of new interests. The Signature Course is your opportunity to engage in college-level thinking and learning.

Course Description

An introduction to the study of how languages change and to the
principles developed by linguists to account for these changes. The
course will investigate the social and linguistic motivations for
change and learn about change in sound systems, word structure, word
meaning, and grammar. Students will also learn the methods linguists
have developed for reconstructing the vocabularies and grammars of  the
prehistoric parent languages of languages which exist today, or  which
have been preserved in writing.

Requirements:
Classes will be a mix of lectures, discussion, and problem solving
using data from a wide range of languages. Grade is based on homework
assignments (60%), two in-class examinations (40%).

Textbook:
"An Introduction to Historical Linguistics" by Terry Crowley and
Claire Bowern (ISBN: 9780195365542), and supplementary readings.

This course is an introduction to the typological study of language – the investigation into the nature of human language as informed by cross-linguistic comparison.  Despite the immense variation among the world’s languages, basic patterns emerge through large-scale comparison of linguistic phenomena, allowing the identification of cross-linguistic universals and tendencies. This course will explore these patterns and investigate explanations for their existence, appealing primarily to the communicative  function of language and the historical evolution of languages in doing so.

In this graduate-level course, we will examine the phenomenon of language contact from both structural and sociocultural angles.  We will investigate the formation of pidgins, creoles, and koines; grammaticalization in response to contact influence; and strategies for tracing borrowing and other contact-related influences in a given language.  We will discuss the concept of a ‘linguistic area’ and look at examples of linguistic areas, in particular the Vaupés region of Amazonia. Finally, we will consider the role of discourse strategies and norms, bilingualism, and code-switching, and cultural practices in determining the nature of the contact that takes place and its effects on the languages involved. How do shared narrative genres and cultural practices transport features across language boundaries? What happens in situations of linguistic exogamy – where people are culturally required to marry outside their own language group? Why do speakers assimilate one feature from a neighboring language into their speech, and not another? What causes languages to grow closer and closer together in their grammars, while preserving distinct lexicons?

The Signature Course (UGS 302 and 303) introduces first-year students to the university’s academic community through the exploration of new interests. The Signature Course is your opportunity to engage in college-level thinking and learning.

This course will be a combination of discussion and presentations and will cover topics such as recent trends in the documentation and description of the world’s languages, research ethics, research technology, and preparation for research including research design, types of data and how they fit into specific research agendas, funding and IRB proposal writing, presentation and publication of research data and analysis, and dissertation writing. The course will give students the opportunity to pursue their own research in a guided, collegial environment. Graduate students from other departments are welcome!

Course Description

An introduction to the study of how languages change and to the
principles developed by linguists to account for these changes. The
course will investigate the social and linguistic motivations for
change and learn about change in sound systems, word structure, word
meaning, and grammar. Students will also learn the methods linguists
have developed for reconstructing the vocabularies and grammars of  the
prehistoric parent languages of languages which exist today, or  which
have been preserved in writing.

Requirements:
Classes will be a mix of lectures, discussion, and problem solving
using data from a wide range of languages. Grade is based on homework
assignments (60%), two in-class examinations (40%).

Textbook:
"An Introduction to Historical Linguistics" by Terry Crowley and
Claire Bowern (ISBN: 9780195365542), and supplementary readings.

The Signature Course (UGS 302 and 303) introduces first-year students to the university’s academic community through the exploration of new interests. The Signature Course is your opportunity to engage in college-level thinking and learning.

Course Description

An introduction to the study of how languages change and to the
principles developed by linguists to account for these changes. The
course will investigate the social and linguistic motivations for
change and learn about change in sound systems, word structure, word
meaning, and grammar. Students will also learn the methods linguists
have developed for reconstructing the vocabularies and grammars of  the
prehistoric parent languages of languages which exist today, or  which
have been preserved in writing.

Requirements:
Classes will be a mix of lectures, discussion, and problem solving
using data from a wide range of languages. Grade is based on homework
assignments (60%), two in-class examinations (40%).

Textbook:
"An Introduction to Historical Linguistics" by Terry Crowley and
Claire Bowern (ISBN: 9780195365542), and supplementary readings.

Instructors: Pattie Epps and Tony Woodbury

New languages come into being via various pathways: the splitting of proto-languages into daughters, the emergence of pidgins, creoles, and mixed languages in extreme contact situations, and the spontaneous development of signed languages. At the same time, languages die out – at unprecedented rates in recent decades – primarily via processes of language shift. These processes raise intriguing questions regarding the cognitive motivations for linguistic structures (function-driven or innate), the nature of human communication, and the relationship between language and the dynamics of social interaction. While this course deals primarily with linguistic problems and evidence, it emphasizes the importance of a cross-disciplinary approach – drawing on evidence from archaeology, population genetics, cultural anthropology, and other fields – to understand the human processes behind the linguistic patterns.

Readings:

Comrie,Bernard (ed.). In press./Language and genes/. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Comrie, Bernard, Stephen Matthews and Maria Polinsky. 2003. /The Atlas of Languages: The Origin and Development of Languages throughout the World./ Facts on File, Inc.

Joseph, Brian D. (Ed.). (2003). /When languages collide: Perspectives on language conflict, language competition, and language coexistence/. Columbus: Ohio State University.

Laks,Bernard (ed.). 2009. /Origin and Evolution of Languages//: Approaches, Models, Paradigms/. Equinox Publishing.

Nichols, Johanna. 1992. /Linguistic Diversity in Space and Time/. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

Plus a range of recent journal articles.

Assignments:

40%: Short essays

10%: In-class presentations

50%: Final paper (initial and revised drafts)

An introduction to the typological study of language, the investigation into the nature of human language from an empirical perspective informed by cross-linguistic comparison. Despite the immense variation among the world's languages, basic patterns emerge through large-scale comparison of linguistic phenomena, allowing the identification of cross-linguistic universals and tendencies. This course will explore these patterns and investigate explanations for their existence, appealing primarily to the communicative function of language and the historical evolution of languages in doing so.Grading Policy Class requirements will consist of a series of short writeups on various linguistic phenomena in a language of the student's choice (drawing from original fieldwork or published grammatical description) for comparison and discussion in class (40%), class participation and a presentation based on one of the write-ups (20%), and a 15-20 page final term paper (40%).

The Signature Course (UGS 302 and 303) introduces first-year students to the university’s academic community through the exploration of new interests. The Signature Course is your opportunity to engage in college-level thinking and learning.

An introduction to the study of how languages change and to the principles developed by linguists to account for these changes. The course will investigate the social and linguistic motivations forchange and learn about change in sound systems, word structure, word meaning, and grammar. Students will also learn the methods linguists have developed for reconstructing the vocabularies and grammars of  the prehistoric parent languages of languages which exist today, or  which have been preserved in writing. Requirements: Classes will be a mix of lectures, discussion, and problem solving using data from a wide range of languages. Grade is based on homework assignments (50%), and two in-class examinations (50%).

Textbook:  "An Introduction to Historical Linguistics" by Terry Crowley and Claire Bowern (ISBN: 9780195365542), and supplementary readings.

In this graduate-level course, we will examine the phenomenon of language contact from both structural and sociocultural angles. We will investigate the formation of pidgins, creoles, and koines; grammaticalization in response to contact influence; and strategies for tracing borrowing and other contactrelated influences in a given language. We will discuss the concept of a ‘linguistic area’ and look at examples of linguistic areas, in particular the Vaupés region of Amazonia. Finally, we will consider the role of discourse strategies and norms, bilingualism, and code-switching, and cultural practices in determining the nature of the contact that takes place and its effects on the languages involved. How do shared narrative genres and cultural practices transport features across language boundaries? What happens in situations of linguistic exogamy – where people are culturally required to marry outside their own language group? Why do speakers assimilate one feature from a neighboring language into their speech, and not another? What causes languages to grow closer and closer together in their grammars, while preserving distinct lexicons?

Texts:Winford, Donald. 2003. An Introduction to Contact Linguistics, Blackwell.Other readings (available on Blackboard at http://courses.utexas.edu)

The Signature Course (UGS 302 and 303) introduces first-year students to the university’s academic community through the exploration of new interests. The Signature Course is your opportunity to engage in college-level thinking and learning.

Course Description

An introduction to the study of how languages change and to the
principles developed by linguists to account for these changes. The
course will investigate the social and linguistic motivations for
change and learn about change in sound systems, word structure, word
meaning, and grammar. Students will also learn the methods linguists
have developed for reconstructing the vocabularies and grammars of  the
prehistoric parent languages of languages which exist today, or  which
have been preserved in writing.

Requirements:
Classes will be a mix of lectures, discussion, and problem solving
using data from a wide range of languages. Grade is based on homework
assignments (60%), two in-class examinations (40%).

Textbook:
"An Introduction to Historical Linguistics" by Terry Crowley and
Claire Bowern (ISBN: 9780195365542), and supplementary readings.

An introduction to the typological study of language, the investigation into the nature of human language from an empirical perspective informed by cross-linguistic comparison. Despite the immense variation among the world's languages, basic patterns emerge through large-scale comparison of linguistic phenomena, allowing the identification of cross-linguistic universals and tendencies. This course will explore these patterns and investigate explanations for their existence, appealing primarily to the communicative function of language and the historical evolution of languages in doing so.Grading Policy Class requirements will consist of a series of short writeups on various linguistic phenomena in a language of the student's choice (drawing from original fieldwork or published grammatical description) for comparison and discussion in class (40%), class participation and a presentation based on one of the write-ups (20%), and a 15-20 page final term paper (40%).

Does the language we speak influence the way we think? And does our social, cultural, and physical environment help to shape our language, even on the level of grammatical structures? This upper-division course examines the relationship between language, culture, and thought, bringing together aspects of linguistics, anthropology, and cognitive science.  We will consider whether the structure of our language and grammar influences the way we attend to things in our daily lives, such as the shapes of objects, the materials they are made of, their position in the landscape, or the genders of people and animals. We will explore how the role of our experience as physical and social beings is reflected in linguistic structures, such as metaphor and noun classification. Within this investigation, we will explore current debates on the nature of the relationship between language and thought, and will gain insight into the ways in which languages are structured and how these structures may vary cross-linguistically.

Texts:

Dedre Gentner and Susan Goldin-Meadow (eds.) 2003. Language in Mind: Advances in the Study of Language and Thought. Cambridge, MA/London: MIT Press.

Cross-listed with CGS 360

This course explores traditional and contemporary approaches to historical linguistics, the study of language change. We will address various types of change - phonological, morphological (particularly involving analogy), semantic, and syntactic - and the methods used to investigate these changes, most notably the Comparative Method and internal reconstruction. We will also explore the social and linguistic motivations for change, and the role of synchronic variation. Finally, the course will consider the effects of language contact, the genetic/genealogical classification of languages, and the insights historical linguistics brings to understanding prehistory.

For detailed Course Schedule, download attachment

For detailed Course Schedule, download attachment.

In this graduate-level course, we will examine the phenomenon of language contact from both structural and sociocultural angles. We will investigate the formation of pidgins, creoles, and koines; grammaticalization in response to contact influence; and strategies for tracing borrowing and other contactrelated influences in a given language. We will discuss the concept of a ‘linguistic area’ and look at examples of linguistic areas, in particular the Vaupés region of Amazonia. Finally, we will consider the role of discourse strategies and norms, bilingualism, and code-switching, and cultural practices in determining the nature of the contact that takes place and its effects on the languages involved. How do shared narrative genres and cultural practices transport features across language boundaries? What happens in situations of linguistic exogamy – where people are culturally required to marry outside their own language group? Why do speakers assimilate one feature from a neighboring language into their speech, and not another? What causes languages to grow closer and closer together in their grammars, while preserving distinct lexicons?

For detailed Course Schedule, download attachment.

Topic 2: Introduction to Cognitive Science

Topic 5: Contemporary American Social Theory

Topic 6: Process Philosophy and Pragmatism

Course Description

An introduction to the study of how languages change and to the
principles developed by linguists to account for these changes. The
course will investigate the social and linguistic motivations for
change and learn about change in sound systems, word structure, word
meaning, and grammar. Students will also learn the methods linguists
have developed for reconstructing the vocabularies and grammars of  the
prehistoric parent languages of languages which exist today, or  which
have been preserved in writing.

Requirements:
Classes will be a mix of lectures, discussion, and problem solving
using data from a wide range of languages. Grade is based on homework
assignments (60%), two in-class examinations (40%).

Textbook:
"An Introduction to Historical Linguistics" by Terry Crowley and
Claire Bowern (ISBN: 9780195365542), and supplementary readings.

This course is an introduction to the typological study of language – the investigation into the nature of human language as informed by cross-linguistic comparison.  Despite the immense variation among the world’s languages, basic patterns emerge through large-scale comparison of linguistic phenomena, allowing the identification of cross-linguistic universals and tendencies. This course will explore these patterns and investigate explanations for their existence, appealing primarily to the communicative  function of language and the historical evolution of languages in doing so.

This lecture course is designed to provide students with an understanding of the process of braindevelopment from embryogenesis through adulthood with emphasis on the role of the environment in directing this process. Initial lectures will focus on the origins of the central nervous system, including topics such as the organization of the brain, neurogenesis, cellular differentiation, migration and targeting of neurons, synapse formation and refinement of the nervous system. In the second half of the course, lectures will focus on the infant brain and the role of experiences during infancy in modifying brain function. Topics will also include recent advances in our understanding of the role of gene-environment interactions and epigenetic programming and shaping brain development. Finally, the adaptive vs. maladaptive outcomes of environmental modifications to the nervous system will be discussed. Throughout the course, students will be guided through examples of how changes in the developing nervous system lead to behavioral patterns both in infancy and adulthood.

Course Description

An introduction to the study of how languages change and to the
principles developed by linguists to account for these changes. The
course will investigate the social and linguistic motivations for
change and learn about change in sound systems, word structure, word
meaning, and grammar. Students will also learn the methods linguists
have developed for reconstructing the vocabularies and grammars of  the
prehistoric parent languages of languages which exist today, or  which
have been preserved in writing.

Requirements:
Classes will be a mix of lectures, discussion, and problem solving
using data from a wide range of languages. Grade is based on homework
assignments (60%), two in-class examinations (40%).

Textbook:
"An Introduction to Historical Linguistics" by Terry Crowley and
Claire Bowern (ISBN: 9780195365542), and supplementary readings.

This course is an introduction to the typological study of language – the investigation into the nature of human language as informed by cross-linguistic comparison.  Despite the immense variation among the world’s languages, basic patterns emerge through large-scale comparison of linguistic phenomena, allowing the identification of cross-linguistic universals and tendencies. This course will explore these patterns and investigate explanations for their existence, appealing primarily to the communicative  function of language and the historical evolution of languages in doing so.

This lecture course is designed to provide students with an understanding of the process of braindevelopment from embryogenesis through adulthood with emphasis on the role of the environment in directing this process. Initial lectures will focus on the origins of the central nervous system, including topics such as the organization of the brain, neurogenesis, cellular differentiation, migration and targeting of neurons, synapse formation and refinement of the nervous system. In the second half of the course, lectures will focus on the infant brain and the role of experiences during infancy in modifying brain function. Topics will also include recent advances in our understanding of the role of gene-environment interactions and epigenetic programming and shaping brain development. Finally, the adaptive vs. maladaptive outcomes of environmental modifications to the nervous system will be discussed. Throughout the course, students will be guided through examples of how changes in the developing nervous system lead to behavioral patterns both in infancy and adulthood.

Course Description

An introduction to the study of how languages change and to the
principles developed by linguists to account for these changes. The
course will investigate the social and linguistic motivations for
change and learn about change in sound systems, word structure, word
meaning, and grammar. Students will also learn the methods linguists
have developed for reconstructing the vocabularies and grammars of  the
prehistoric parent languages of languages which exist today, or  which
have been preserved in writing.

Requirements:
Classes will be a mix of lectures, discussion, and problem solving
using data from a wide range of languages. Grade is based on homework
assignments (60%), two in-class examinations (40%).

Textbook:
"An Introduction to Historical Linguistics" by Terry Crowley and
Claire Bowern (ISBN: 9780195365542), and supplementary readings.