Readings | Assignments, Tests and Grading | Schedule and Handouts



Instructor:Jirka Hana
e-mail for homeworks etc:  Jirka.LastName@gmail.com (start the email's subject with NPFL063)
Office hours: by appointment
Time & Place: Mon 9:00-11:20 in S1   (Notice the change. It is now every week for 3 hours.)

1  Description and objectives of the course

The course will help students to get familiar with the fundamental features of human language, its structure and development, its place in the society, etc. It also introduces linguistics as a science, its history and methodology, with focus on structural linguistics.

2  Readings

Readings (when assigned) are to be read before class. Some of the readings will not be covered in class, but homeworks and exams will assume that you have read them all.
In most cases, the assigned reading will be from the following books (the Library has several copies):

3  Assignments, Tests and Grading

3.1  Homeworks
On some classes, a homework will be assigned. Unless specified otherwise, it will be due by the begining of the the following class. If it is reasonably easy to type it in a textprocesor, send it by e-mail as an attachment (use PDF, MS Word or plain text). Otherwise you can email a scan or bring it to class. Please write legibly.

When emailing, use the following subject "NPFL063 <YourFirstName>.<YourLastName> <AssignmentNumber>"

You can use English or Czech.

It is a good idea to work on homeworks in a group of two or three people (write who you worked with at the top of the page). However you have to write it up individually, in your own words. Each homework will be graded on a scale 0-100%. Incorrect answers are better than no answers.
Homework Due
[HW 1 - phonology] Nov 7
[HW 2 - Trees] Nov 28
[HW 3 - Imported NP clusters] Jan 9
[HW 4 - Implicature in Adds] Before grade


3.2  Paper
You will create a wikipedia-like article on a selected linguistic topic. Consider writing about something that can be useful for your thesis. For details see this page.
3.3  Exam
There will be an in-class final exam. You can bring and use any notes or literature, but you have to work on your own.

You can use English or Czech.

3.4  Active class participation
"Active participation" refers to your comments and questions during class, your answers to my questions, etc. I do not keep track of whether your answers, etc. are correct, but simply whether or not you participate.
If you miss a class, it is your responsibility to get reliable notes from a fellow student.

3.5  Grading
Homeworks 0-20
Article 0-30
Final 0-40
Active class participation 0-10
Total: 0-100

Grade Points
1 90-100
2 76-89
3 60-75
4 0-59

4  Schedule and Handouts

The schedule below is preliminary and can slightly change. I post handouts usually a week before we need need them in class to help you with reading.
Date Topic Handout Reading Other
3 Oct Introduction [handout]    
10 Oct Animal Communication [handout]    
17 Oct Phonetics [handout] Fromkin Ch 6  
24 Oct Phonetics; Phonology [handout] Fromkin Ch 7  
31 Oct Phonology     paper topic deadline
7 Nov Morphology [handout], [slides] Fromkin Ch 5  
14 Nov Syntax [handout] Fromkin Ch 4  
21 Nov Syntax [slides]    
28 Nov Linguistic Theories [GB slides], [DG slides]   paper summary deadline
5 Dec Prague School - in Czech      
12 Dec Semantics, Pragmatics [handout], [slides], [handout]    
19 Dec Historical Linguistics [hadnout], [slides] Fromkin Ch 12  
9 Jan Psycholinguistics [slides]   paper draft deadline