Image from clip-art by Cari Buziak
Structure of the English Language
We dissect nature along lines laid down by our native language. ... We cut nature up, organize it into concepts, and ascribe significances as we do, largely because we are parties to an agreement to organize it this way--an agreement that holds throughout our speech community and is codified in the patterns of our language. --Benjamin Lee Whorf


This class will study phonemes, morphemes, words, and syntactical patterns in order to analyze the structure of present-day English. But what do we mean when we speak of "present-day English"? How can we use it to study itself? We will begin with a discussion of linguistic theory so that we have a common conceptual framework for the analysis of the structure of the language. Required texts: Norman C. Stageberg, An Introductory English Grammar (5th edn), and Virginia P. Clark etal, Language: Readings in Language and Culture.

There will be weekly quizzes on the material covered the previous week, a midterm, and a comprehensive final examination for all students. Because of the amount of material to be mastered, a student's grade for examinations will under no circumstances be lower than that of the final IF he or she has taken all of the quizzes and the midterm. A consistently high performance on the weekly quizzes and the midterm can count in the student's favor, but any missed quiz will be averaged in as zero in the student's grade. With the permission of the instructor, some missed quizzes may be made up. Attendance is mandatory, and more than two unexcused absences will reduce the final grade by one letter grade.

For undergraduates, the final grade will be the "examination grade." For graduate students, the "examination grade" will be worth 3/4 of the final grade. The other l/4 will be the grade for a paper due Thursday, May 31. Suggested paper topics will be distributed, but students are welcome to develop their own topics and submit them to the instructor for approval prior to May 24.

Grade Distribution:
Undergraduates Quizzes 80, Midterm 100, Final 220;  Course Total 400
Graduates Quizzes 80, Midterm 100, Final 220Paper 100;  Course Total 500

Schedule of Assignments

Tuesday, March 27  INTRODUCTION

Thursday, March 29  "Nine Ideas About Language" and "Language: An Introduction," Clark, 43-73

Tuesday, April 3  "True Language?" Clark, 74-77 and "Signals, Signs, and Words" Clark, 658-680
QUIZ #1

Thursday, April 5   "Phonetics" Clark, 113-33 and "English Phonemes," Stageberg, 7-30; Ex. 1-19

Tuesday, April 10   "Phonetic Processes," Stageberg, 31-38; Exercises 2-1, 2-6, 2-7, 2-8, and 2-9; "Spelling and Pronunciation," Stageberg, 39-46; Exercises 3-3 and 3-8
QUIZ #2

Thursday, April 12   "Stress," Stageberg, 47-55; Exercises 4-10 and 4-12; Internal Open Juncture," Stageberg, 69-73; Exercises 6-l and 6-2

Tuesday, April 17   "The Minimal Units of Meaning: Morphemes" Clark, 134-43 and "Morphemes," Stageberg, 87-118; Exercises 8-2, 8-6, 8-7, 8-8, 8-11, 8-12, 8-17, 8-19, and 8-26
QUIZ #3

Thursday, April 19   "Word-Making: Some Sources of New Words" Clark, 154-165 and "Words," Stageberg, 119-25; Exercises 9-2, 9-3, 9-4, and 9-5; "Processes of Word Formation" and "Inflectional Paradigms," Stageberg, 127-61; Exercises 11-5, 11-9, and 11-10

Tuesday, April 24   "Form Classes," Stageberg, 163-77; Exercises 12-3, 12-5, 12-8, and 12-9; "Structure Classes," Stageberg, 179-87; Exercises 13-2, 13-5, 13-6, 13-8, and 13-9
QUIZ #4

Thursday, April 26   "Structure Classes," Stageberg, 187-99; Exercises 13-11, 13-14, 13-15, and 13-16; "Noun and Verb Phrases," Stageberg, 203-21; Exercises 14-2, 14-6, 14-8, 14-13, and 14-18

Tuesday, May 1   First Hour: Review
Second Hour: MIDTERM

Thursday, May 3   "The Acquisition of Language" Clark, 529-556 and "Languages and Writing," Clark, 705-722

Tuesday, May 8   "Basic Sentence Patterns," Stageberg, 223-32; Exercises 15-1, 15-2, 15-3, 15-4, 15-5, 15-6, and 15-7; "Syntax," Clark, 189-223
QUIZ #5

Thursday, May 10   "Basic Sentence Patterns," Stageberg, 232-48; Exercises 15-8, 15-9, 15-10, 15-11, 15-12, 15-13, 15-14, 15-16, 15-17,  and 15-18

Tuesday, May 15   "Parts of Speech: Positional Classes," Stageberg, 249-76; Exercises 16-2, 16-3, 16-4, 16-6, 16-7, 16-9, 16-12, 16-13, 16-18, 16-19, 16-21, 16-22, and 16-26
QUIZ #6

Thursday, May 17   "Modification," Stageberg, 277-314; Exercises 17-4, 17-6, 17-8, 17-14, 17-18, 17-20, 17-21, 17-23, 17-24, 17-28, 17-32, 17-33, 17-35, 17-36, 17-37, and 17-38

Tuesday, May 22   "Usage," Stageberg, 317-45; Exercises 18-3, 18-4, 18-7, and 18-12
QUIZ #7

Thursday, May 24   "The Tower of Babel" Clark, 240-256 and "Language Change: Progress or Decay?" Clark, 431-441

Tuesday, May 29   "The Family Tree and Wave Models," Clark, 416-419, "Comparative and Historical Linguistics," Clark, 411-415, and "A Brief History of English," Clark, 420-430
QUIZ #8

Thursday, May 31   REVIEW
PAPER DUE

Go to top of page

Go to courses page

Revised 3/26/01