1

FLE 261.01: LINGUISTICS II

2016-2017 FALL
Lecturer:
Office:
Tel:

Assoc. Prof. Dr. iler Hatipolu

EFB-B 12
(0312) 210 4075

E-mail:

ciler@metu.edu.tr

Course Day:
Time:
Place:

Monday
08:40-11:30
EFB 23

Welcome to FLE 261 Linguistics II

This course aims to help students further their understanding of the workings of the language as a system. After closely examining
some basic topics related to human and animal language in Linguistics I, in this course, we will concentrate on some of the subbranches of linguistics which will help us expand our knowledge of the intricate mechanism called language. We will start with
Phonetics and Phonology (i.e., branches of linguistics that examine and describe the sound systems of the world's languages) and
then we will acquaint ourselves with some theories and terms in the area of Morphology (i.e., branch of linguistics that studies the
formation of words). We will finish our Linguistics II course by discussing the rules of Syntax (i.e., a linguistics sub-branch that seeks
to describe the way words fit together to form sentences and utterances) as proposed by Noam Chomsky.
Each session will be composed of two hours of lecturing and one hour of tutorial. Lectures will provide the overall framework while
tutorials will present the forum for discussion of issues touched upon in the lectures. Students are expected to be actively involved in
the discussions, presentations and practical analysis in tutorials. Sometimes students will be asked to prepare work in advance of the
tutorial, thus, giving them the opportunity to sharpen their critical awareness and the metalanguage required to express their insights.
Students will be able to access the course outline, handouts, lecture notes, announcements and grades through METU Class/LMS.
That is why you are expected to check the web site on a regular basis.
If you have a problem or query, do not hesitate to contact me at the lecture or tutorial, in my office or via e-mail.
Good luck!
iler Hatipolu

LEARNING OUTCOMES

On successful completion of this course, students will be able to

*use linguistic terms and concepts appropriately where/when necessary
*define and explain what sub-brunches of linguistics such as phonetics, phonology, morphology and syntax deal with
*discuss the basic theories and terms put forward in the areas of phonetics, phonology, morphology and syntax
*analyse linguistic data
*formulate linguistic rules
*explain why some structures are ungrammatical/unacceptable in English (and Turkish)

MATERIALS

2.1 Main Texts:

Finegan, Edward. (2012). Language: Its Structure and Use (Sixth Edition). Boston, MA: Wadsworth.
Fromkin, Victoria, Robert Rodman & Nina Hyams. (2013). An Introduction to Language (Tenth Edition). Boston, MA:
Wadsworth.
Haegeman, Liliane. (1994). Introduction to Government and Binding Theory (Second Edition). Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.
Radford, Andrew. (2001). Syntax: A Minimalist Introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Radford, Andrew. (2004). Minimalist Syntax: Exploring the Structure of English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
2.2 Other readings:
2.2.1 Phonetics and Phonology
Carr, Philip. (1993). Phonology. London: Macmillan.
Davenport, Mike & Hannahs, S. J. (1998). Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology. London: Arnold.
Finegan, Edward. (1999). Language: Its Structure and Use (Third Edition). London: Hardcourt Brace College Publishers (pp.
74-140).
Fromkin, Victoria (Ed.) (2000). Linguistics: An Introduction to Linguistic Theory (Part IV). Oxford: Blackwell Publishers (pp.
475-681).
Gut, Ulrike. (2009). Introduction to English Phonetics and Phonology. Berlin: Peter Lang.
Gussenhover, Carlos & Jacobs, Haike. (1998). Understanding Phonology. New York: Arnold.
Halle, Morris & Clements, G. N. (1987). Problem Book in Phonology: A Workbook for Introductory Courses in Linguistics and
in Modern Phonology. London: MIT Press.
Ladefoged, Peter. (2001). A Course in Phonetics. New York: Harcourt Brace Javanovich.
Ladefoged, Peter. (2001). Vowels and Consonants. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.
Stageberg, Norman C. (1971). An Introductory English Grammar (Second Edition). New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston,
Inc. (pp. 5-44, 75-82).
Zsiga, Elizabeth C. (2013). The Sounds of Language: An Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology. Oxford: Whiley-Blackwell
Publishing.
2.2.2 Morphology
Lieber, Rochelle. (2009). Introducing Morphology. Cambrdge: Cambridge Unversty Press.
Tottie, Gunnel. (2002). An Introduction to American English. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers (pp. 105-125).
2.2.3 Syntax
Baker, C. L. (1995). English Syntax (Second Edition). London: The MIT Press.
Brown, Keith & Miller, Jim. (1992). Syntax: A Linguistic Introduction to Sentence Structure (Second Edition). London & New
York: Routledge.
Burton-Roberts, Noel. (1986). Analysing Sentence: An Introduction to English Syntax. London: Longman.
Culicover, Peter. (1997). Principles and Parameters: An Introduction to Syntactic Theory. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

2
Fromkin, Victoria (Ed.) (2000). Linguistics: An Introduction to Linguistic Theory (Part I). Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.
Haegeman, Liliane (Ed.) (1997). The New Comparative Syntax. London: Longman.
Tallerman, Maggie. (1998). Understanding Syntax. London: Arnold.
Thomas, Linda. (1993). Beginning Syntax. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.
Van Valin, Robert D. & Lapolla, Randy J. (1997). Syntax: Structure, Meaning and Function. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.
Van Valin, Robert D. (2001). An Introduction to Syntax. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Werner, Abraham, Samuel David Epstein, Hoskuldur Trainsson & C. Jan-Wouter Zwart (Eds.) (1996). Syntactic Studies
in the Minimalist Framework. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
2.2.4 Linguistics Workbooks
Farmer, K, Ann & Demers, A. Richard. (1995). A Linguistics Workbook. Cambridge, Mass: MAT Press.
Language Files. (1991). Ohio State University, Department of Linguistics.
3 ASSESSMENT
Final:
Midterms:

35%
60% (Midterm 1: 30% + Midterm 2: 30%)

The final and the midterm exams will be two-/three-hour long written exams which will include two main types of questions:
(1) questions testing students knowledge of the theoretical material covered in lectures;
(2) practical data analysis.

Attendance and participation:

5%

Bonus: Data collection

10%

A data collection questionnaire will be available on LMS. If the students are willing to undertake a data collection task they will need to collect data
from informants with characteristics identified in the Questionnaire.
The questionnaires are to be submitted to the course lecturer on the day of the Final exam and the students will get 0.5 points for each authentic
questionnaire. If the instructor realises that the data presented in any of the data collection tools are fabricated by the students, the students will
not get any points for these particular questionnaires.

4 TENTATIVE COURSE SCHEDULE

PART 1:
WEEK
Week 1

PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY

DATE
03.10.2016

TOPIC
1) General introduction to the course
1) Introduction to Phonetics and its sub-branches:
a) Acoustic phonetics; b) Auditory phonetics; c) Articulatory phonetics.
2) Articulatory Phonetics Consonants 1
a) voiced vs. voiceless consonants; b) place of articulation
1) Articulatory Phonetics- Consonants 2
a) manner of articulation; b) aspirated and unaspirated consonants
2) Articulatory Phonetics- Vowels
a) lip rounding; b) tongue position; c) part of the tongue involved
3) Supra-segmental features
Phonology - Phonemes, Phones, and Allophones 1
a) Defining phonemes; b) Minimal pairs/sets; c) Allophones; d) Free variations; e) Distinctive features
Phonology Phonological Process
a) Assimilation and dissimilation; b) Feature addition; c) Segment deletion/addition; d) Metathesis

Week 2

10.10.2016

Week 3

17.10.2016

Week 4

24.10.2016

Week 5

31.10.2016

Week 6

07.11.2016

Data Analysis and Revision

Week 6

12.11.2016

MIDTERM 1

PART 2:

MORPHOLOGY
1) Classes of words
a) Lexical content words; b) Function words
2) Morphemes 1
a) Morpheme, morph, allomorph; b) Bound and free morphemes; c) Root, base and stem
d) Phonological and grammatical conditioning
1) Morphemes 2
a) Prefixes, suffixes, infixes, circumfixes; b) Inflectional and derivational morphemes
2) Morphological Typology of Languages
a) Isolating; b) Fusional; c) Agglutinating
1) Morphological Analysis Identifying morphemes
2) Word Coinage
a) Compounds; b) Acronyms; c) Back-Formation; d) Abbreviations; e) Words From Names; f) Blends

Week 7

14.11.2016

Week 8

21.11.2016

Week 9

28.11.2016

Week 10

05.12.2016

Data Analysis

Week 10

10.12.2016

MIDTERM 2

PART 3:

SYNTAX

Week 11

12.12.2016

1. Grammatical/Lexical Categories
2. Function/Non-lexical Categories

Week 12

19.12.2016

1. Hierarchical tree structures, Terminology, X theory

2. The structure of phrases: IPs, VPs

Week 13

26.12.2016

1. The structure of phrases: NPs, PPs

2. The structure of phrases: APs, ADVPs, CPs

Week 14

02.01.2017

REVIEW