Department of Linguistics
General linguistics
Linguistics Tripos: Preliminary Paper 1 (Old Regulations)
MML Pt. IB and Pt. II: Paper Li.1 (Old Regulations)
This paper will be taught for the last time in 2009-10.
Reading List available on web
- Exam paper 2009 (PDF)
- Examination paper 2008 (PDF)
- Examination paper 2007 (PDF)
Examiners' reports can be foundin the MML Library
The overall aim of this paper is to introduce students to the phenomena found in languages, to the ways we can best describe these phenomena in order to explain them, and to the insights such linguistic descriptions can give us into the nature of language in general.
The basic course of lectures is divided into sections dealing with the different 'levels' of analysis by which linguists organise their study of language and languages. In Michaelmas, parallel lecture series deal with meaning (Semantics - meaning in words and sentences; and Pragmatics - how utterances convey meaning in context) and with sound (Phonetics - concerned with the physical properties of sounds; and Phonology - the way languages structure the sound material). In Lent, a single series of lectures starts with Morphology - the grammatical analysis of the composition of words - and continues with Syntax - the study of the ways words are arranged in sentences and the relations that hold between them.
When applied to a particular language, these levels form the core of what is often called the 'system' of the language. At the level of theory, they tell us what kind of system languages, in general, are: what features they all have or must have, and within what limits they can vary. In Easter Term, the lectures deal with the general theory of language and linguistic systems, tackling issues such as: how do languages differ from other systems of communication? How far is language, in the traditional phrase, a matter of 'nature' and how far a matter of 'nurture'? Are there aspects of language which cannot be learned and so suggest an innate 'language faculty', a structuring of the mind which predisposes us to expect grammars of a particular type?
Within the 'core' of the subject, particular attention will be paid to the connections between traditional subdisciplines. Can a clear and useful dividing line be drawn between morphology and syntax? What exactly is the scope of phonology? How does the lexicon of a language (what is traditionally in a dictionary) relate to its syntax? How does the meaning of sentences relate to what speakers convey by their utterances?
Preliminary reading:
Anderson S. and D. Lightfoot (2002) The Language Organ. Cambridge University Press.
Fromkin, V. et al (2000) Linguistics: an introduction to linguistic theory. Oxford: Blackwell.
Jackendoff, R. (2002) Foundations of Language. Oxford University Press.
Radford, A. et al. (1999) Linguistics: an introduction. Cambridge:CUP.
Smith, N. (1999) Chomsky: Ideas and Ideals. Cambridge University Press.
For further information contact Dr Bert Vaux (Email: bv230@cam.ac.uk).
Go to other Linguistics papers:
Linguistic Theory (Linguistics Tripos only)
Language Variation
Phonetics
Syntax
Semantics and pragmatics
Phonology and Morphology
Historical Linguistics
The structure of English
Foundations of
Speech Communication
