Academic Calendar 2023-2024

Linguistics (LING)

LING 100  Introduction to Linguistics  Units: 6.00  

This course provides an introduction to the linguistic study of language. Topics covered include phonetics, phonology, morphology, and syntax. The course focuses on universal characteristics of language and draws on examples from a variety of languages.

Learning Hours: 240 (72 Lecture, 24 Tutorial, 144 Private Study)  
Requirements: Prerequisite None.  
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science  
LING 202  Canadian English  Units: 3.00  

This course investigates the distinctive characteristics of Canadian English as it is spoken and written today. Topics include historical development, regional dialects, and current changes. Students will have access to the extensive bibliographic and computer corpus resources of the Strathy Language Unit.

Learning Hours: 120 (36 Lecture, 84 Private Study)  
Requirements: Prerequisite None.  
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science  
LING 205  Language and Power  Units: 3.00  

This course examines how language reflects and creates power relations in society. Students will learn fundamentals in the linguistic study of language usage and style, and examine language and power in areas such as language socialization, language and age, language and gender, language and education, and language and culture.

Learning Hours: 120 (36 Lecture, 84 Private Study)  
Requirements: Prerequisite None.  
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science  
LING 210  Language Acquisition and Learning  Units: 3.00  

How do children acquire their first language? How are second/subsequent languages learned? Topics include first language stages of learning, bilingualism, language disorders, theories of learning, individual differences, interlanguage, and language instruction, including contexts of heritage languages and language revitalization.

Learning Hours: 120 (36 Lecture, 84 Private Study)  
Requirements: Prerequisite LING 100 or permission of the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures.  
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science  
LING 310  Phonetics  Units: 3.00  

This course provides a foundation in the study of speech sounds. The focus is on articulatory phonetics, how to classify and transcribe different sounds of speech according to their articulatory features. The course also offers an introduction to acoustic phonetics and feature geometry theory.

Learning Hours: 120 (36 Lecture, 84 Private Study)  
Requirements: Prerequisite LING 100 or permission of the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures.  
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science  
LING 320  Phonology  Units: 3.00  

Principles and methods of modern generative phonology. Examination of the formal properties of the sound systems of languages. Current theoretical controversies as well as particular synchronic and diachronic problems in a variety of languages.

Learning Hours: 120 (18 Lecture, 18 Group Learning, 84 Private Study)  
Requirements: Prerequisite LING 100 or permission of the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures.  
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science  
LING 330  Morphology  Units: 3.00  

This course provides a foundation in principles of morphological analysis. Topics covered include inflectional and derivational morphology as well as the morphology-syntax and morphology-phonology interfaces. Emphasis is placed on practical discovery method, and formal analysis and explanation.

Learning Hours: 120 (36 Lecture, 84 Private Study)  
Requirements: Prerequisite LING 100 or permission of the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures.  
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science  
LING 340  Syntax  Units: 3.00  

This course provides a foundation in syntactic analysis and explanation. The course focuses on the relation between structure and meaning, and assumes the framework of Universal Grammar Theory. Topics covered include thematic roles, case, anaphora, NP movement and WH movement.

Learning Hours: 120 (36 Lecture, 84 Private Study)  
Requirements: Prerequisite LING 100 or permission of the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures.  
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science  
LING 350  Introduction to Historical Linguistics  Units: 3.00  

This course introduces the linguistic study of historical language change. The focus is on principles and method in the study of phonological, morphological and syntactic change. Case studies will be drawn from a cross-section of languages, including but not limited to members of the Indo-European language family.

Learning Hours: 120 (18 Lecture, 18 Group Learning, 84 Private Study)  
Requirements: Prerequisite LING 320 or permission of the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures.  
Course Equivalencies: LING350, LING405  
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science  
LING 360  Comparative Morpho-Syntax  Units: 3.00  

This course examines morpho-syntactic variation across languages. Topics covered include argument structure, derivation versus compounding, case, anaphora, determiners, clause typing and related phenomena. The course assumes the framework of Universal Grammar theory with a focus on how comparative studies in morpho-syntax inform linguistic analysis and theory.

Requirements: Prerequisite (LING 330 and LING 340) or permission of the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures.  
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science  
LING 370  Living Language: Resilience and Revitalization in Practice  Units: 3.00  

This course examines how Indigenous and minority peoples globally are responding to the potential loss of their languages. In addition to the social, political, and economic causes and impacts of language loss, we will examine how diverse groups of people are resisting this loss. Strategies for reclaiming and strengthening languages are analyzed.

Learning Hours: 120 (36 Lecture, 84 Private Study)  
Requirements: Prerequisite LING 100 or LING 205 or LLCU 110.  
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science  
LING 400  Linguistic Analysis and Argumentation  Units: 3.00  

This course explores the forms of reasoning and evidence used in constructing and evaluating scientific arguments in linguistics, through discussion of articles that represent significant innovations and controversies in linguistic theory. Emphasis is on the structure of arguments, rather than on the analysis of individual languages or phenomena.

Learning Hours: 120 (36 Seminar, 84 Private Study)  
Requirements: Prerequisite (LING 320 and LING 340) or permission of the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures.  
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science  
LING 415  Semantics  Units: 3.00  

The aim of this course is to provide students with an understanding of the fundamental concepts and tools of analysis in semantics. Students will learn to recognize and identify different features of word meaning and a variety of semantic relations between words and sentences. The characteristics of logical relations and truth-function semantics and the role these play in the interpretation of words and sentences will be discussed.

Learning Hours: 120 (36 Lecture, 84 Private Study)  
Requirements: Prerequisite LING 340 or permission of the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures.  
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science  
LING 435  Advanced Morpho-Syntax  Units: 3.00  

This course addresses advanced topics in the interface between morphology and syntax from a comparative perspective, drawing on evidence from different languages. Readings are selected from the current research literature, and the class includes a substantial component of student presentations and class discussion.

Learning Hours: 120 (36 Lecture, 84 Private Study)  
Requirements: Prerequisite LING 330 and LING 340.  
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science  
LING 475  Field Methods in Linguistics  Units: 6.00  

This course provides instruction in method and procedure in linguistic fieldwork. The course investigates the syntax, morphology and phonology of a language unfamiliar to the participants. The instruction is structured around weekly fieldwork sessions dedicated to data collection working with a native speaker of the language, and weekly workshops devoted to analysis. The course contains an intensive independent study component.

Learning Hours: 210 (18 Seminar, 18 Laboratory, 6 Tutorial, 168 Private Study)  
Requirements: Prerequisite LING 310 and LING 320 and LING 330 and LING 340.  
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science  
LING 490  Special Topics in Linguistics  Units: 3.00  

This is seminar course on a selected topic relating to linguistics. Content varies from year to year; For detailed information, consult the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures web page.

Learning Hours: 120 (36 Seminar, 84 Private Study)  
Requirements: Prerequisite 9.0 units in LING at the 300-level or above.  
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science  
LING 501  Directed Readings in Linguistics  Units: 3.00  

Upon agreement with a qualified instructor, this course may be taken by an upper-year student in Linguistics to explore a specific area or methodology. Regular meetings, directed readings.

Learning Hours: 120 (12 Individual Instruction, 108 Private Study)  
Requirements: Prerequisite (6.0 units in LING at the 300-level or above) and a (cumulative GPA of 3.50 or higher) and permission of the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures.  
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science  
LING 505  Honours Thesis in Linguistics  Units: 9.00  

Upon agreement with a qualified instructor, students with fourth year standing in Linguistics may take this course to develop and demonstrate research skills in Linguistics. Working under supervision, students will choose a specific topic in a particular language, prepare a research proposal which involves the collection and analysis of data, carry out the research, and write a thesis based on the results. 

Learning Hours: 348 (36 Individual Instruction, 312 Private Study)  
Requirements: Prerequisite Level 4 or above and registration in a LING Plan and (12.0 units in LING at the 300-level or above) and a (cumulative GPA of 3.50 or higher) and permission of the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures.  
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science