Phonological Analysis

There are several important abilities involved in the use of human language, one of these being the ability to organize speech sounds. The system that the brain uses to accomplish this task is the subject matter of phonology. This course will explore phonology from several perspectives within generative linguistics, including both traditional rule-based and current Optimality Theoretic approaches. Topics to be discussed include phonological features, lexical phonology, prosodic morphology, tone, and metrical stress. Assignments will help students learn to analyze phonological problems in a variety of languages and to evaluate the consequences of using different analytic approaches. Prerequisite: Ling 170D or permission of instructor.