The Program in Linguistics is excited to announce two new courses offered for the first time in Spring 2021. Alongside the core linguistics courses, students are offered a course looking at constructed languages taught by Steven Foley and an advanced phonology course taught by Florian Lionnet.
For the full list of linguistics courses offered in Spring 2021, visit: https://linguistics.princeton.edu/courses/
New Courses
LIN 202 / LIN 202
CONSTRUCTED LANGUAGES: FROM ELVISH TO ESPERANTO
Instructor: Steven Foley
This course is about constructed languages (those deliberately created for artistic or political purposes; think Elvish or Esperanto) and how they relate to or differ from natural languages (which arise spontaneously in human communities; think English or Ewe). By studying and analyzing variation in natural languages, we will learn to appreciate language constructors’ aesthetic, ethical, and philosophical intentions. We will survey the history and properties of existing constructed languages, as well as collaboratively construct our own class language, providing hands-on experience with language creation and diverse grammatical structures.
LIN 401 / LIN 401
ADVANCED PHONOLOGY
Instructor: Florian Lionnet
This course offers an intensive study of phonological theory and analysis, following the introduction offered in LIN 301. Both rule-based and constraint-based approaches will be introduced. The course will explore the typology of phonological properties and processes (assimilation and dissimilation, vowel and consonant harmony, tonal processes, syllable structure, stress), with examples from geographically, typologically, and genetically diverse languages. The focus will be both on description and theory.
