10730 Introduction to Theoretical Linguistics

Credits: 6 intermediate credits in Linguistics

Prerequisites: none

Authors: Galit Adam, Irena Botwinik-Rotem, Aldo Sevi, Evan Cohen

Theoretical linguistics is the field of research that deals with the human ability to acquire a natural language and use it. The course presents the basic premises of theoretical linguistics and its objectives in each of its major areas of research: words and sentences (morphology and syntax), meaning (semantics and pragmatics), sound systems in languages (phonetics and phonology), and the acquisition of linguistic knowledge by children.

The course is primarily intended for students of language and the cognitive sciences but also provides essential knowledge for those interested in additional fields, such as brain studies, education, speech therapy, music, and others.

Topics: Language and linguistics: Foundations of linguistic theory, linguistic theory and language acquisition, biological foundations of language; Words and sentences (morphology and syntax): Word structure and word formation, foundations of syntactic structure, principles and parameters in the formation of syntactic structures, the acquisition of syntactic structures; Meaning in language (semantics and pragmatics): Foundations of the semantic theory of natural language, major topics in semantics, meaning in context – pragmatics, the acquisition of meaning; Linguistic sounds and prosodic structures (phonetics and phonology): The sounds of language – phonetics, systems of sounds – phonology, the organization of sounds in a language – prosodic phonology, the acquisition of sounds and prosodic structures.