Linguistics

University of California, Berkeley

This is an archived copy of the 2015-16 guide. To access the most recent version of the guide, please visit http://guide.berkeley.edu.

Overview

Housing the first linguistics department established in North America in 1901, UC Berkeley has a rich and distinguished tradition of rigorous linguistic documentation and theoretical innovation thus making it an exciting and fulfilling place to carry out linguistic research. The department's original mission, from the anthropologist Alfred Kroeber and the Sanskrit and Dravidian scholar Murray B. Emeneau, was the recording and describing of unwritten languages, especially American Indian languages spoken in California and elsewhere in the United States. The current Department of Linguistics continues this tradition, integrating careful, scholarly documentation with cutting-edge theoretical work in phonetics, phonology, and morphology; syntax, semantics, and pragmatics; psycholinguistics; sociolinguistics and anthropological linguistics; historical linguistics; typology; and cognitive linguistics.

Much of the research is potentially interdisciplinary and/or involves the careful documentation of individual languages, language families, and their histories. The department has always had a strong commitment to the study of American Indian languages, and it also has special strengths in African, Asian, and European languages. Many of the faculty and graduate students participate in the activities of the Institute of Cognitive and Brain Studies, where they interact with scholars from a number of other disciplines including Psychology, Anthropology, Philosophy, Computer Science, Education, etc.

Facilities

The Phonology Lab  is a research and teaching laboratory within the department. Research focuses on documenting and explaining sound patterns in language.

The Survey of California and Other Indian Languages  is a research center within the department supporting the documentation, study, and revitalization of the indigenous languages of California and the Americas. The center maintains a major archive of field notes and other documentary materials, accessible in 1311 Dwinelle Hall and cataloged in the California Language Archive  (CLA); some material is digitized and available online. The center also curates the collection of linguistic field recordings from the Berkeley Language Center , many of which can be listened to on the CLA website.

The department has its own noncirculating library  containing thousands of books, decades of journal subscriptions, and copies of (nearly) every linguistics dissertation completed at UC Berkeley as well as many dissertations from other institutions.

Undergraduate Programs

Linguistics : BA, Minor

Graduate Program

Linguistics : PhD

Visit Department Website

Courses

Linguistics

LINGUIS 1A American Sign Language I 5 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Fall 2016, Fall 2015
Introduction of the fundamentals of American Sign Language: comprehension skills, grammatical structures, practice in the production aspects of the language, and exposure to Deaf culture.

LINGUIS 1B American Sign Language II 5 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2017, Spring 2016, Spring 2015
Continuation of the study of the fundamentals of American Sign Language: comprehension skills, grammatical structures, practice in the production aspects of the language, and exposure to Deaf culture.

LINGUIS R1B Endangered Languages: What We Lose when a Language Dies 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Summer 2017 First 6 Week Session, Summer 2017 Second 6 Week Session
In this course, we will investigate such questions as: What causes language endangerment and death, and why does it matter? Can dying languages be revitalized? How are thought, identity, and culture influenced by language, and vice versa? The course is designed to hone students' reading, writing, and research skills. Satisfies the second half of the reading and composition requirement.

LINGUIS 2A American Sign Language 3 5 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2015, Fall 2014, Fall 2008
Continuation of the study of the fundamentals of American Sign Language; comprehension skills, grammatical structures, practice in the production aspects (expressive and receptive) aspects of the language, and increased exposure to Deaf Culture.

LINGUIS R2B Language and Linguistics in Science Fiction 4 Units

Terms offered: Summer 2016 Second 6 Week Session
If representatives from an alien species appeared on earth from outer space, how would we communicate with them?What if they were not organic creatures, but were instead machines?What would an alien species sound like?What kinds of changes will happen to languages over the next several centuries?The genre of science fiction raises many such linguistic questions, but the science of linguistics has rarely been applied to science fiction texts.
But key science fiction tropes like aliens,robots,and time travel richly reward linguistic investigation.In this class, we will apply current linguistic theory to various works of science fiction, asking first and foremost: How linguistically plausible are the scenarios, tropes, and narratives depicted?

LINGUIS 3 Linguistic Diversity 3 Units

Terms offered: Summer 2017 Second 6 Week Session, Fall 2013
(For students with no previous background in linguistics.) Introduction to the scope of human linguistic diversity. Concepts for understanding in what ways human languages can vary and how such variation is constrained. Overview of how linguistic structures are distributed among the world's major linguistic families, and how these linguistics structures cluster geographically. Theories of how and why languages change, diverge, diversify
, and in some cases, become extinct.

LINGUIS 5 Language and Linguistics 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Summer 2017 Second 6 Week Session, Spring 2017
A general survey of the field of linguistics. Students are introduced to a wide range of data from diverse languages to basic principles of linguistic analysis.

LINGUIS 10 The Sounds of English 3 Units

Terms offered: Summer 2017 First 6 Week Session, Spring 2017, Summer 2016 Second 6 Week Session
In this course, students will learn the fundamentals of speech production and perception with special emphasis on the sounds of English. Students who take this course will learn the basics of vocal tract anatomy and speech production. Using English as a case study, they will gain a deeper knowledge of a language they already speak. They will also gain tools to study other languages inventories and
phonological processes. The course focuses on practical skills, such as ear and production training. Students will have practice in distinguishing and producing sounds of various dialects of English. This course also lays a foundation for further study in phonetics and phonology.

LINGUIS 11 Writing Systems 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2016, Fall 2014, Fall 2011
Examines different writing systems in terms of their historical origin and their cognitive properties. Enrollment limited to 15 students.

LINGUIS 16 The English Vocabulary 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2014, Fall 2013, Fall 2012
The sources and the resources of the English lexicon. The structures, meanings, formational principles, and pronunciation of complex words in English. Native and borrowed word-formational processes. The development of technical terminologies. Etymology and semantic change.

LINGUIS S16 The English Vocabulary 3 Units

Terms offered: Prior to 2007
The sources and the resources of the English lexicon. The structures, meanings, formational principles, and pronunciation of complex words in English. Native and borrowed word-formational processes. The development of technical terminologies Etymology and semantic change.

LINGUIS 22 Introduction to the History of the English Language 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2014, Fall 2011
An introduction to the major ways in which the English language has changed over the past 1,200 years. Students will be expected to learn and be able to apply a few basic linguistic concepts in order to understand better the developments we observe. We will investigate data from both literary and non-literary texts.

LINGUIS 23 Language and Sex 3 Units

Terms offered: Summer 2017 Second 6 Week Session, Summer 2013 10 Week Session, Summer 2013 Second 6 Week Session
Introduction to linguistic principles through analysis of sexual terminology and collocations. Exploration of sociolinguistic issues related to sex, gender, and sexuality. Examination of how societal attitudes about sexuality are reflected in language, and how different languages express sexual concepts differently.

LINGUIS 24 Freshman Seminar 1 Unit

Terms offered: Spring 2017, Fall 2016, Spring 2016
The Freshman Seminar Program has been designed to provide new students with the opportunity to explore an intellectual topic with a faculty member in a small seminar setting. Freshman seminars are offered in all campus departments, and topics vary from department to department and semester to semester. Enrollment limited to 15 freshmen.

LINGUIS 40 Language of Advertising 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Spring 2015, Spring 2013
The ways in which language is used in advertising. An introduction to basic linguistic principles of how speech acts work, the semantic effects of framing, and the contribution of language to multimodal print and video advertising: the division of labor between images and words, and different strategies in integrating them into a single message. Cultural differences both in advertising "message strategies" (what content is presented)
and in "formal strategies" (how is it presented?).

LINGUIS 47 Language and Communication Disorders 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Spring 2017, Spring 2015
An overview of major communication disorders, and an introduction to career options in speech/language pathology and related career paths. The characteristics of all major types of adult aphasia and several other common adult-onset communication disorders, including dysarthria, apraxia of speech, and communication disorders accompanying right-hemisphere disorders. Principal differences and similarities between symptoms of aphasia and the effects
of aging in neuro-typical speakers, and between symptoms of aphasia and effects of dementia on language processing. Career paths related to language disorders, such as speech language pathology, and how to prepare for them. Resources for people living with aphasia in the Bay Area and U.S.

LINGUIS 51 The Brain's Politics: How the Framing of Issues Works 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2016, Fall 2014, Fall 2013
The ways in which knowledge about the brain, mind, and language illuminates politics. Covers political topics of current interest.

LINGUIS S55 The American Languages 3 Units

Terms offered: Prior to 2007
A linguistic view of the history, society and culture of the United States. The variety of languages spoken in our country, and the issues surrounding them: language and ethnicity, politics of linguistic pluralism vs. societal monolingualism, language and education, language shift, loss, retention and renewal. Languages include English (standard and nonstandard; Black English), pidgins and creoles, Native American languages, Spanish, French, and immigrant languages
from Asia and Europe.

LINGUIS S55X The American Languages 3 Units

Terms offered: Summer 1995 10 Week Session
A linguistic view of the history, society, and culture of the United States. The variety of languages spoken in our country and the issues surrounding them: language and ethnicity, politics of linguistic pluralism vs. societal monolingualism, language and education, language shift, loss, retention, and renewal. Languages include English (standard and nonstandard; Black English), pidgins and creoles, Native American languages, Spanish, French, and immigrant
languages from Asia and Europe.

LINGUIS 65 Music and Language 3 Units

Terms offered: Summer 2013 Second 6 Week Session, Summer 2012 Second 6 Week Session
This course investigates the musical characteristics of human language. Major questions include: the relationship between musical and linguistic structures, such as tone, stress, and rhythm; the role of ethnomusicology in language study; how music and language are perceived and processed in the brain differently; and the acoustic properties of speech and music.

LINGUIS 97 Research Practicum 1 - 3 Units

Terms offered: Prior to 2007
Individual research on projects in the subfields of Linguistics, sponsored by a faculty member; written reports required.

LINGUIS 98 Directed Group Study 1 - 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2017, Spring 2016, Fall 2015
Group study of a topic not included in the regular department curriculum.

LINGUIS 100 Introduction to Linguistic Science 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Summer 2017 First 6 Week Session, Spring 2017
An intensive introduction of linguistic analysis, including core areas such as phonetics and phonology, morphology, and syntax and semantics, with data from a range of languages. Argumentation and writing skills are developed through substantial weekly homework assignments.

LINGUIS C104 The Mind, Language, and Politics 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2011, Spring 2011, Fall 2009
An analysis of contemporary liberal and conservative thought and language, in terms of the basic mechanisms of mind: frames, prototypes, radial categories, contested concepts, conceptual metaphor, metonymy, and blends. The framing of political discourse. The logic of political thought. The purpose of the course is to provide students interested in political and social issues with the tools to analyze the framing of, and logic behind, contemporary
political discourse.

LINGUIS C105 The Mind and Language 4 Units

Terms offered: Summer 2017 8 Week Session, Summer 2016 10 Week Session, Summer 2016 8 Week Session, Spring 2016
Conceptual systems and language from the perspective of cognitive science. How language gives insight into conceptual structure, reasoning, category-formation, metaphorical understanding, and the framing of experience. Cognitive versus formal linguistics. Implications from and for philosophy, anthropology, literature, artificial intelligence, and politics.

LINGUIS 106 Metaphor 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Fall 2016, Fall 2015
The role of metaphor in structuring our everyday language, conceptual system, and world view. Topics include cross-cultural differences, literary metaphor, sound symbolism, and related theoretical issues in philosophy, linguistics, psychology and anthropology.

LINGUIS 108 Introduction to Psycholinguistics 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Spring 2017
Psycholinguistics is the study of the mechanisms underlying the human ability to talk and to
understand language. The goal of this course is to provide an introduction to questions, methods, and key findings in
Psycholinguistics for undergraduate students.

LINGUIS 110 Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Fall 2016, Fall 2015
Introduction to (1) phonetic transcription of speech using the International Phonetic Alphabet, (2) acoustic analysis of speech, (3) physiological and cognitive aspects of speech production and perception, and (4) phonological analysis of language sound systems.

LINGUIS 113 Experimental Phonetics 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2017, Spring 2016, Spring 2015
Practical training in experimental phonetics; acoustic, physiological, and perceptual analysis of speech.

LINGUIS 115 Phonology and Morphology 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2017, Spring 2016, Spring 2015
Introduction to important cross-linguistic phonological and morphological phenomena as well as standard methods of description and analysis.

LINGUIS 120 Introduction to Syntax and Semantics 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2017, Spring 2016, Spring 2015
An introduction to the study of the structural properties of sentences and the connections between sentence structure and sentence meaning.

LINGUIS 121 Logical Semantics 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2015
Basic logical concepts. Truth, denotation, and their relation. Models and interpretation. Translation from natural language into logical form and compositionality. Quantification and scope. Intensionality, context-dependency, and presupposition.

LINGUIS 122 Language Typology and Linguistic Universals 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2016, Fall 2015, Fall 2014
Issues in language typology and linguistic universals. An examination of various linguistic subsystems in different languages. Topics will include interrogatives, pronominal systems, relative clause formation, case systems, etc.

LINGUIS 123 Pragmatics 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2015, Fall 2014, Fall 2012
The relation between language use and human actions. Some topics to be emphasized are conversational logic, speech act theory, politeness, social role, psychological perception of oneself and language, variation in language use.

LINGUIS 124 Discourse 3 Units

Terms offered: Summer 2015 Second 6 Week Session, Fall 2011, Spring 2011
This course explores how discourse within small group interaction is structured by socio­cultural forces such as age, gender, race, ethnicity, and regional/political affiliation. It looks at various contexts of interaction, from weblogs to political debates to casual chat, in audio, video and text form, covering topics and methods in pragmatics, conversation and discourse analysis, and sociolinguistics.

LINGUIS 125 Gesture, Cognition, and Culture 3 Units

Terms offered: Summer 2015 First 6 Week Session, Summer 2015 Second 6 Week Session, Summer 2014 First 6 Week Session
Everyone gestures – even when they might not realize it. This course seeks to uncover what we can learn about cognition and culture through the lens of this integral aspect of our communicative and cognitive selves. We will consider the relationship between language and gesture including its role in language acquisition and in signed languages, and study how gestures help us
communicate and help us think. We will also look at cross-cultural differences in gesture, the role of gesture in child development, applications of gesture from education to politics, and unpack the possibility of the gestural origins of human language.

LINGUIS 127 Cross-Cultural Verbal Art 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2009
This course examines parallels and differences between language art in different cultures, both at the level of form (linguistic parallelism, rhyme, alliteration) and meaning (how is metaphor used, what rhetorical patterns are artistic?). This course is intended to help students develop a sense of what artistic language is, crossculturally, and to let them examine a chosen poetic tradition in detail for their project. The course readings and the theoretical models
will be drawn equally from Anthropology and Linguistics.

LINGUIS 128 Linguistic Analysis of Literature 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2016, Spring 2014, Fall 2010
Literary texts provide unique material for linguists: good authors manage to use everyday grammatical forms in exceptional ways. In this course, students will read scholarly linguistic works on literary analysis, and also analyze literary texts using the tools they acquire. Linguistics readings will focus on narratology and cognitive linguistic approaches, including mental spaces theory, conceptual metaphor theory, and work on iconicity, viewpoint
, and causal structure.

LINGUIS 130 Comparative and Historical Linguistics 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Fall 2016, Fall 2015
Methods of reconstruction. Types and explanations of language change. Dialectology. The establishment of language relationships and subgroupings.

LINGUIS 131 Indo-European Comparative Linguistics 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2014, Spring 2008, Spring 2007
The affinities of the Indo-European languages and the reconstruction of their common ancestor.

LINGUIS C137 Introduction to Slavic Linguistics 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2015, Fall 2013
An introduction to best practices in applying linguistic analysis to Slavic languages. Development of critical thinking and analytical skills.

LINGUIS C139 Language Spread 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2013, Spring 2010, Spring 2006
Linguistic background and the general principles of language spread. Mechanisms of language spread, including creolization-decreolization, language planning, and the role of bilingualism. Case studies in language spread, including Austronesian, Indo-European, Amerindian, Uralic, African, Sinitic, and Australian languages. Relationship of language spread to immigration and culture spreads.

LINGUIS 140 Introduction to Field Methods 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2016, Spring 2016, Fall 2013
"Covers the methods and practice in collecting, processing, and analyzing data based on work with a native speaker of a particular language. Requires students to discriminate and transcribe sounds, collect texts, and to describe and analyze grammatical phenomena from their own data. The language varies each time the course is taught, at the choice on the instructor."

LINGUIS 141 Empiricism and Linguistics 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2011, Fall 2010, Fall 2009
This course considers the status of linguistics as a scientific field of inquiry. Methodological approaches and the type of information that serve as data in linguistics are surveyed and placed in the context of other social science methodology and data. Throughout the course, the practice of linguistics as the science of language, its successes and weaknesses, are placed in the context of thought on the philosophy of science. Students design
and carry out projects using subject methodologies (introspection, corpus, statistical, fieldwork, experimental).

LINGUIS C142 Language and Thought 3 Units

Terms offered: Summer 2017 First 6 Week Session, Spring 2017, Summer 2016, Spring 2016
This seminar explores the relation of language and thought. Is language uniquely human, and if so, what does this reveal about the human mind? Does the particular language you speak affect the way you think, or do human languages reflect a universal conceptual repertoire? The goal of this class is to familiarize you with a set of classic arguments on these themes, together with current research that evaluates
these arguments, through weekly reading and discussion.

LINGUIS 146 Language Acquisition 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2014
An overview of topics and theories in language acquisition: early development of speech perception and production, word learning, generalizing linguistic structure, and differences between first language acquisition, second language acquisition, and bilingualism. We will also compare different theoretical approaches, and address the classic "nature vs. nurture" question by examining both traditional generativist approaches and more recent usage based models.

LINGUIS C146 Language Acquisition 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2017, Spring 2016, Spring 2015
An overview of topics and theories in language acquisition: early development of speech perception and production, word learning, generalizing linguistic structure, and differences between first language acquisition, second language acquisition, and bilingualism. We will also compare different theoretical approaches, and address the classic "nature vs. nurture" question by examining both traditional generativist approaches and more
recent usage based models.

LINGUIS C147 Language Disorders 3 Units

Terms offered: Summer 2016 First 6 Week Session, Summer 2016 Second 6 Week Session, Summer 2015 10 Week Session, Summer 2015 Second 6 Week Session, Spring 2013
An introduction to experimental and theoretical research on language disorders, particularly acquired aphasia in adults. Major course themes include the relationship between normal and pathological language, and the usefulness of linguistic analysis for empirical research. Topics include phonetic, phonological, morphological, semantic
, syntactic, and pragmatic aspects of language disorders in mono- and multilingual speakers of typologically diverse languages.

LINGUIS 148 Phonological Development 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2016
This class will explore phonological development, focusing primarily on first language acquisition. How do young children acquire the phonological and phonetic patterns of the language surrounding them? It is well-established that children exhibit pronunciation patterns that differ from those of adult speakers. We will examine a range of factors that might contribute to this: perceptual, articulatory, speech-planning, grammatical. In the last part of the course we will
briefly discuss phonological delays and second-language acquisition. Students will gain knowledge of phonological development, experience in reading, critiquing and presenting journal articles, and hands-on experience analyzing transcribed acquisition data.

LINGUIS 150 Sociolinguistics 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2013, Fall 2012, Fall 2011
The principles and methods of sociolinguistics. Topics to be covered include linguistic pragmatics, variation theory, social and regional dialectology, and oral styles.

LINGUIS 151 Language and Gender 3 Units

Terms offered: Summer 2017 First 6 Week Session, Summer 2016 First 6 Week Session, Spring 2012
An overview of research over the past 30 years on the relationship between language and gender: how women's use of language differs from men's, in U.S. and other cultures; how men and women are spoken of differently; how women and men have different amounts of access to power via public discourse; gender differences in nondominant groups (e.g., lesbians and gays; African Americans); the role of stereotyping
in linguistic differences between the sexes; role of gender in discourse genres.

LINGUIS 152 Pidgin and Creole Languages 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2011, Fall 2001, Fall 1998
This course will cover various pidgins and creoles of the world, examining their linguistic and sociohistorical significance, as well as their use in the modern world.

LINGUIS 153 Speech in Society 3 Units

Terms offered: Summer 2016 10 Week Session, Summer 2016 Second 6 Week Session
Even within a single language or dialect, speech can vary greatly. Variation occurs between groups, between individuals, and even within individuals in different contexts. The primary influence for such speech variation is social factors such as gender or class. While many differences can be found in word choice or sentence structure, most variability occurs in pronunciation. The study of social influences on pronunciation
is known as 'sociophonetics', an interface of the two subfield, sociolinguistics and phonetics. In this course we will explore the development of the field, the linguistic features which vary, the social factors influencing these differences, questions of how children acquire knowledge of sociophonetic variation, as well

LINGUIS 154 Language Revitalization: Theory and Practice 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Fall 2016
This course will explore a range of theories and practices that undergird efforts by linguists and language activists to revitalize and revalorize endangered languages in communities around the world, with a focus on the Americas. Beginning with an exploration of how linguistic diversity, language vitality, and language politics interact, the course will narrow focus toward individual student projects that explore language revitalization issues in the context
of a specific language or community, including the option to create usable revital- ization materials for that community.

LINGUIS 155AC Language in the United States: a Capsule History 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2015, Spring 2014, Spring 2013
This course brings together history, sociology, and linguistics to develop a deeper view of who we are as a nation. It is organized as a narrative history of the U.S. from the perspective of immigration and language. We devote significant portions to the languages of Native Americans, African American English, and to the Spanish spoken in the U.S., as well as addressing the various other dialects of American English, the numerous smaller
immigrant languages, Hawaiian, and ASL.

LINGUIS 158 Computational Methods 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2012, Fall 2002, Fall 2001
An introduction to computational methods for linguists. No prior programming experience required. Students will learn how to program, and will use that knowledge to manipulate and analyze linguistic datasets, including corpora. The course will also prepare students for further study in computational modeling.

LINGUIS 159 The Deaf Community and American Sign Language 3 Units

Terms offered: Summer 2003 10 Week Session, Summer 2002 10 Week Session, Summer 2001 10 Week Session
Social and linguistic aspects of the deaf community and its language--American Sign Language (A.S.L.). Lecture, discussion, and videotape presentations will provide an introductory survey of American Deaf Culture in general; the Bay Area community in particular. Specific areas covered include historical, social and political aspects of A.S.L. with particular emphasis on educational and legal
institutions. All presentations are conducted in American Sign Language and English.

LINGUIS 159L American Sign Language Laboratory 2 Units

Terms offered: Summer 2003 10 Week Session, Summer 2002 10 Week Session, Summer 2001 10 Week Session
Introduction to American Sign Language with native speaker. Adjunct to Linguistics 159.

LINGUIS C160 Quantitative Methods in Linguistics 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Spring 2017, Spring 2016, Spring 2015
An introduction to research using quantitative analysis in linguistics and cognitive science. Students will learn how to use the R programming environment for statistical analysis and data visualization.

LINGUIS 165 Topics in Music and Linguistics: Rhythm, Meter, and Text-setting 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2013
This course will introduce the basics of meter and phrasing in both music and linguistics. It will examine the similarities and differences between the two domains, and go on to consider what happens when elements of the two domains are combined, as in music and lyrics.

LINGUIS 170 History, Structure, and Sociolinguistics of a Particular Language 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2016, Spring 2016, Fall 2015
In this course, students explore with a faculty member the history, structure, and sociolinguistics of a particular language. Generally, this is a language that is a research interest of the professor. The language investigated changes with each offering of this course.

LINGUIS 175 American Indian Languages 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2015, Spring 2013, Spring 2011
Introduction to the native languages of the Americas.

LINGUIS 181 Lexical Semantics 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2016, Spring 2013, Fall 2012
Lectures and exercises in the description of word meanings, the organization of lexical systems, the lexicalization of particular semantic domains (kinship, color, etc.), and contrastive lexicology: lexicalization pattern differences across languages.

LINGUIS H195A Linguistics Honors Course 2 - 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2016
A two-semester course consisting of independent study of an advanced topic, supervised by a facutly member, and culminating with a senior honors thesis which will be evaluated by a faculty honors committee. Thesis is due on the Monday of the 13th week of the second semester, and honors students will be invited to present their research at an Undergraduate Colloquium.

LINGUIS H195B Linguistics Honors Course 2 - 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2016
A two-semester course consisting of independent study of an advanced topic, supervised by a facutly member, and culminating with a senior honors thesis which will be evaluated by a faculty honors committee. Thesis is due on the Monday of the 13th week of the second semester, and honors students will be invited to present their research at an Undergraduate Colloquium.

LINGUIS 197 Research Practicum 1 - 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2016
Individual research on projects in the subfields of Linguistics, sponsored by a faculty member; written reports required.

LINGUIS 198 Directed Group Study and Research 1 - 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Summer 2017 Second 6 Week Session, Spring 2017

LINGUIS 199 Supervised Independent Study and Research 1 - 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Summer 2017 8 Week Session, Summer 2017 First 6 Week Session

LINGUIS 200 Graduate Proseminar in Linguistics 1 Unit

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Fall 2016, Fall 2015
Required of graduate students during first year in program. An introduction to linguistics as a profession, its history, subfields, and methodologies.

LINGUIS 201 Advanced Graduate Proseminar in Linguistics 2 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Fall 2016, Fall 2013
The course is designed to help students become professional linguists by showing them how to write abstracts of papers, how to prepare papers for presentation at conferences, and how to prepare written versions of papers for submission as qualifying papers (and for journal publication), as well as to give students practical experience in the public presentation of their work.

LINGUIS 201A Second-Year Proseminar in Linguistics 1 Unit

Terms offered: Fall 2015, Fall 2014
The goal of the course is to help second-year graduate students navigate the graduate program and develop professional skills.

LINGUIS 201B Advanced Graduate Proseminar in Linguistics 2 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2015, Fall 2014
The course is designed to help students become professional linguists by showing them how to write abstracts of papers, how to prepare papers for presentation at conferences, and how to prepare written versions of papers for submission as qualifying papers (and for journal publication), as well as to give students practical experience in the public presentation of their work.

LINGUIS 205 Advanced Cognitive Linguistics 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2015, Fall 2014, Fall 2013
This will be an advanced course in cognitive linguistics. Among the topics covered will be cognitive bases for aspects of grammatical structure, cognitive constraints on language change and grammaticalization, and motivations for linguistic universals (i.e., constraints on variability).

LINGUIS 208 Psycholinguistics 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2016, Fall 2015, Fall 2014
This is a graduate-level introduction to psycholinguistics. This course provides an overview of key questions and research findings in psycholinguistics. Psycholinguistics focuses on the mechanisms underlying human language production and comprehension. Central to psycholinguistics is the formulation of conceptual and computational models of those mechanisms.

LINGUIS 210 Phonetic Theory 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2014, Fall 2012, Fall 2011
A reading course focusing on theories of speech production, perception, and acoustics as they relate to phonetic and phonological patterns found in the languages of the world. Students write 5-8 "responses" to target articles, and the class as a whole reads background articles and books that place the target articles into their context.

LINGUIS 211A Advanced Phonological Theory 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2017, Spring 2016, Spring 2015
Introduction to phonological theory at the graduate level with an emphasis on cross-linguistic phonological patterns.

LINGUIS 211B Topics in Phonological Theory 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2016, Fall 2015, Fall 2014
Continuation of 211A focusing on topics of current interest in phonological theory.

LINGUIS 213 Advanced Experimental Phonetics 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2016
The goal of this course is to provide graduate students with advanced practical training in experimental methods within phonetics. This is a rotating topics course. The specific techniques taught will depend on the instructor.

LINGUIS 215 Advanced Morphology 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2015, Spring 2014, Spring 2012
Examination of complex morphological systems. Issues in the theory of word morphology.

LINGUIS 220A Syntax and Semantics 1 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Fall 2016, Fall 2015
This course aims at developing a solid conceptual, analytical, and empirical foundation for doing research in syntax and semantics. The emphasis is on gaining familiarity with the central empirical phenomena, as well as core theoretical notions, methodology, and argumentation.

LINGUIS 220B Syntax and Semantics II 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2017, Spring 2016, Spring 2015
This course continues 220A with an in-depth examination of selected syntactic and semantic phenomena and the methods of their analysis. The phonomena investigated varies with each offering of the course.

LINGUIS 221 Advanced Logical Semantics 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Spring 2016, Spring 2014
This course is designed to introduce graduate students to the core principles and empirical issues addressed
by formal semantics and to familiarize them with the analytical tools involved in the investigation of this
domain. The focus of this class is truth-conditional aspects of meaning and the compositional interpretation
of phrases and sentences. Students will develop skills in semantic analysis and argumentation by focusing
on semantic questions that arise in the analysis of a range of different phenomena, including quantification,
the semantics of definite/indefinite descriptions, degree semantics, modality, and events.

LINGUIS 222 Linguistic Typology 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2014
This course is a graduate level introduction to linguistic typology that covers quantitative, formal, and functional approaches to the typology of morphosyntactic and phonological phenomena. Students will be introduced to: 1) influential frameworks and tools for typological research including implicational hierarchies, semantic maps, and combinatorial typologies; 2) the status of universals in typology and formal, functional, and diachronic explanations for universals;
3) key topics in typology, including word order correlations and sampling methodology, grammatical relations typology, areal typology, and phonological typology.

LINGUIS 225 Construction Grammar: The Relationship Between Thought and Language 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2015
Construction grammar arose in cognitive linguistics from phenomena showing how thought structures language and how language also structures thought, and from grammatical phenomena that could not be accounted for by transformational grammars. Over the past three decades two major theoretical approaches have evolved: One based on embodied cognition results, conceptual metaphor, and the neural modeling of brain mechanisms necessary to account for thought and language;
and another theoretical approach that is disembodied, purely formal, and uses feature structures and head-driven grammars. The course will discuss these and other approaches.


LINGUIS 230 Historical Linguistics 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2017, Spring 2016, Spring 2015
The scholarly tradition of historical and comparative linguistics. Methods of reconstruction.

LINGUIS 234 Indo-European Linguistics 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2016, Fall 2013, Spring 2012
A survey of Indo-European (IE) linguistics, intended for general linguists interested in learning about the most fully developed sub-area of historical linguistics and for language-area specialists interested in how specific language areas relate to IE as a whole. All areas of the field will be surveyed (phonology, morphology, syntax, lexical semantics, cultural reconstruction, and subgrouping and diversification), with special emphasis on
issues of broad current research interest.

LINGUIS 235 History of Linguistics 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2010, Spring 2009, Spring 2007
This course surveys selected topics in the history of linguistics.

LINGUIS 240A Field Methods 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Fall 2016, Fall 2015
Training in elicitation and analysis of linguistic data in a simulated field setting. The same language is used throughout the year. Linguistics 240B is the continuation of 240A.

LINGUIS 240B Field Methods 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2017, Spring 2016, Spring 2015
Training in elicitation and analysis of linguistic data in a simulated field setting. The same language is used throughout the year. Linguistics 240B is the continuation of 240A.

LINGUIS 242 Language, Cognition, and Communication 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2016, Spring 2015
This seminar provides an advanced introduction to the relation of language,
cognition, and communication. We will explore universal aspects of cognition that underlie
language and communication, as well as the effect of one's native language on cognition. We will
do this by: (1) reading a mixture of classic and recent papers on these issues, (2) identifying
interesting questions that are left open by the material covered, and (3) designing
and conducting
research to answer those questions.

LINGUIS 243 Language, Computation, and Cognition 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Spring 2017
Seminars or special lecture courses.

LINGUIS 245 Anthropological Linguistics 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2016, Spring 2010
Graduate level survey of anthropological linguistics which seeks to understand the role of culture in linguistic meaning, language use, and the development of linguistic form and, conversely, the role of linguistic form and structure in social action and in cultural practices.

LINGUIS 250B Sociolinguistic Analysis: Language Contact 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2008
This series of courses is designed to give graduate students in linguistics and related fields advanced training in current theories and methods in sociolinguistics. The five courses (Variation; Language Contact; Language and Gender; Conversation/Discourse Analysis; Endangered Languages) represent five major foci of current sociolinguistic interest. Students will be exposed to historical overviews, readings, discussions, and demonstrations of methods and will be expected
to do original field research, the results of which are to be presented orally and in a 15- to 25-page research paper.

LINGUIS 250C Sociolinguistic Analysis: Language and Gender 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2010, Spring 2009, Spring 2005
This series of courses is designed to give graduate students in linguistics and related fields advanced training in current theories and methods in sociolinguistics. The five courses (Variation; Language Contact; Language and Gender; Conversation/Discourse Analysis; Endangered Languages) represent five major foci of current sociolinguistic interest. Students will be exposed to historical overviews, readings, discussions, and demonstrations
of methods and will be expected to do original field research, the results of which are to be presented orally and in a 15- to 25-page research paper.

LINGUIS 250D Sociolinguistic Analysis: Conversation/Discourse Analysis 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2012, Fall 2009, Fall 2007
This series of courses is designed to give graduate students in linguistics and related fields advanced training in current theories and methods in sociolinguistics. The five courses (Variation; Language Contact; Language and Gender; Conversation/Discourse Analysis; Endangered Languages) represent five major foci of current sociolinguistic interest. Students will be exposed to historical overviews, readings, discussions, and demonstrations of
methods and will be expected to do original field research, the results of which are to be presented orally and in a 15- to 25-page research paper.

LINGUIS 250E Sociolinguistic Analysis: Endangered Languages 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2008
This series of courses is designed to give graduate students in linguistics and related fields advanced training in current theories and methods in sociolinguistics. The five courses (Variation; Language Contact; Language and Gender; Conversation/Discourse Analysis; Endangered Languages) represent five major foci of current sociolinguistic interest. Students will be exposed to historical overviews, readings, discussions, and demonstrations of methods and will be expected
to do original field research, the results of which are to be presented orally and in a 15- to 25-page research paper.

LINGUIS 255 Introduction to Sociocultural Linguistics 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2015, Spring 2013, Spring 2012
This course is a graduate-level introduction to the major traditions that have contributed to understanding the relationship between linguistic structure and the social and cultural contexts in which it is embedded. The course focuses on the sociolinguistic variationist tradition and on ethnographic and semiotic approaches to language that emerge from linguistic anthropology, and examines the emerging coalition of the these two traditions
in the field of sociocultural linguistics.

LINGUIS 270 Structure of a Particular Language 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2015, Spring 2013, Spring 2010
An analysis of the language structure of a particular language. The language investigated changes from year to year.

LINGUIS 290A Topics in Linguistic Theory: Syntax 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2017, Fall 2016, Spring 2016
Seminars or special lecture courses.

LINGUIS 290B Topics in Linguistic Theory: Semantics 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2015, Fall 2014, Spring 2014
Seminars or special lecture courses.

LINGUIS 290D Topics in Linguistic Theory: Pragmatics 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2011, Spring 2010, Spring 2008
Seminars or special lecture courses.

LINGUIS 290E Topics in Linguistic Theory: Phonology 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2015
Seminars or special lecture courses.

LINGUIS 290F Topics in Linguistic Theory: Diachronic Linguistics 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2014, Fall 2012, Fall 2010
Seminars or special lecture courses.

LINGUIS 290H Topics in Linguistic Theory: Linguistic Reconstruction 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2011, Fall 1999, Fall 1998
Seminars or special lecture courses.

LINGUIS 290L Additional Seminar on Special Topics to Be Announced 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2016, Fall 2014, Fall 2013
Seminar or special lecture courses on linguistic topics.

LINGUIS 290M Topics in Linguistic Theory: Psycholinguistics 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2011, Fall 2010
Seminars or special lecture courses.

LINGUIS 297 Research Mentorship 1 - 2 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2016
Mentor undergraduates in research on projects in the subfields of linguistics, sponsored by a faculty member; written report required.

LINGUIS 298 Special Group Study 2 - 8 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2016

LINGUIS 299 Special Individual Study 2 - 8 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2016

LINGUIS 301 Teaching Practice and Instruction 2 or 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2017, Fall 2016, Spring 2016
Course may be repeated for credit, but credit for the instructional training portion is to be given only once for each individual course taught by a T.A. For graduate students currently serving as T.A.s in the Department's undergraduate courses. Two units of credit are given for the teaching experience each time a student serving as T.A. enrolls in this course; two more units are given for teaching instruction, this taking the form of weekly
consultations between instructors and their T.A.s.

LINGUIS 375 Training for Linguistics Teaching Assistants 2 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Fall 2016, Fall 2015
A teaching-methods "clinic" for first-time Linguistics GSI's. Sessions will deal with the presentation of linguistic concepts in each of the foundation courses, the creation of homework assignments and examination, policies and practices regarding correction of students' work, grading, and feedback.

LINGUIS 601 Individual Study for Master's Students 1 - 8 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2016
Individual study for the comprehensive or language requirements in consultation with the field adviser.

LINGUIS 602 Individual Study for Doctoral Students 1 - 8 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2016
Individual study in consultation with the major field adviser, intended to provide an opportunity for qualified students to prepare themselves for the various examinations required of candidates for the Ph.D.

LINGUIS 700 Colloquium 0.0 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2016
Colloquium lecture presentations by Berkeley faculty and students, and invited visitors, on topics in language and linguistics. Department students and faculty offer feedback, suggestions, and critiques on work in progress.

Faculty

Professors

Andrew Garrett, Professor. Linguistics, English, California, language change, Indo-European languages, historical linguistics, northern California Indian languages, linguistic structure, typology, ancient Greek, Latin, Irish, Oceanic languages.
Research Profile

Gary B. Holland, Professor. Poetics, historical linguistics, Indo-European linguistics, early Indo-European languages, linguistic typology, historical syntax, history of linguistics.
Research Profile

Larry M. Hyman, Professor. Linguistics, phonological theory, African languages, the Niger-Congo, Bantu, language structure, comparative and historical study of the Bantu language family.
Research Profile

Sharon Inkelas, Professor. Morphology, phonology, reduplication, child phonology.
Research Profile

Keith Johnson, Professor. Phonetics.
Research Profile

George P. Lakoff, Professor. Mathematics, literature, philosophy, cognitive linguistics, the neural theory of language, conceptual systems, conceptual metaphor, syntax-semantics-pragmatics, the application of cognitive linguistics to politics.
Research Profile

Terry Regier, Professor. Computational methods, language and thought, semantic universals.
Research Profile

Eve E. Sweetser, Professor. Subjectivity, syntax, semantics, cognitive linguistics, historical linguistics, Celtic languages, speech act theory, semantic change, grammaticalization, gesture, metaphor, iconicity, viewpoint, construction grammar, semantics of grammatical constructions.
Research Profile

Associate Professors

Susanne Gahl, Associate ProfessorLinguistics, psycholinguistics, linguistic structure, language production, aphasia and related language disorders.
Research Profile

Lev D. Michael, Associate ProfessorLinguistic typology, Amazonian languages, anthropological linguistics, language contact and areal typology, language documentation and description.
Research Profile

Line Mikkelsen, Associate Professor. Morphology, syntax, semantics, Germanic and California languages.
Research Profile

Richard Rhodes, Associate Professor. American Indian languages, lexical semantics, lexicography, Algonquian languages, Ojibwe, Mixe-Zoquean languages, mixed languages, Michif (Métchif), Sayula Popoluca (Sayuleño).
Research Profile

Assistant Professors

Amy Rose Deal, Assistant ProfessorMeaning, grammar, endangered languages, Native American languages, semantics, syntax, word structure, language universals, language variation, Nez Perce language.
Research Profile

Peter S. Jenks, Assistant ProfessorSyntax, semantics, linguistics, linguistic theory, Thai, Sudanese languages, African languages, Southeast Asian languages.
Research Profile

Susan Lin, Assistant ProfessorPhonetics, articulatory phonetics, ultrasound speech research.
Research Profile

Contact Information

Department of Linguistics

1203 Dwinelle Hall

Phone: 510-642-2757

linginfo@berkeley.edu

Visit Department Website

Department Chair

Andrew Garrett, PhD

1218 Dwinelle Hall

Phone: 510-664-4087

Fax: 510-643-5688

garrett@berkeley.edu

Undergraduate Adviser

Martine Alexander

Phone: 510-642-2757

martinea@berkeley.edu

Graduate Student Services Adviser

Belen Flores

Phone: 510-643-7224

belenhf@berkeley.edu

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