Words in English
Linguistics/English 215
Prof. Suzanne Kemmer

Provisional Syllabus

With Assigned Readings from Denning and Leben,
Quiz and Exam Dates to be added

In addition to assigned readings specified below, students are responsible for reading class 'handouts' as they become activated on the web. Exams will cover readings, class discussions, and 'handouts'.

Week 1
Jan. 16-18
Introduction; the breadth and diversity of English. The beginnings of English. (read Ch. 1)
Week 2
Jan. 23-25
The beginnings of English, cont. (read Ch. 2; video; Quiz Morpheme Set 1 Thurs.)
Week 3
Jan. 30-Feb. 1
Layers of borrowings. Overview: The English Vocabulary. (Quiz Set 2 Thurs.)
Week 4
Feb. 6-8
Word structure and word analysis. English word formation processes. (read Ch. 3; Quiz Set 3 Thurs.)
Week 5
Feb. 13-15
Allomorphs: the variant forms of morphemes. (read Ch. 4, Quiz Set 4 Thurs) Midterm #1 on Thursday
Week 6
Feb. 20-22
Some basic phonetics; assimilation. (read Ch. 5 & Ch. 6 to p. 75)
Week 7
Feb. 27-March 1
More allomorphy. Numerals and number words. (read Ch. 6 p. 75-90, Quiz Set 5 on Tuesday)
Week 8
March 5-9
Midterm break, no class. Polysemy and semantic change (read Ch. 7)
Week 9
March 13-15
Semantic change cont. Classical borrowings in selected semantic fields. (Ch. 7 cont.)
Week 10
March 20-22
Latin and Greek inflectional and derivational morphology in English. (read Ch. 9; Quiz Set 6 Thursday)
Week 11
March 27-29
Classical morphology cont.; Latin and Greek phrases and abbreviations. (read Ch. 11; Quiz Set 8) Midterm #2 Thursday
Week 12
April 3-5
The linguistic relatives of English. The Indo-European language family. (Ch. 10; Quiz Set 7 Thursday)
Week 13
April 10-12
(Easter break April 12-13, no class.) Usage and variation. Slang. (read Ch. 8)
Week 14
April 17-19
Slang cont. Sources of new words. (Review Ch. 3, p.35-44; Quiz Set 9 Thursday) New Word Journal due Thursday.
Week 15
April 24-26
New words, cont. Conclusion. (Comprehensive Quiz Sets 1-9 Thursday. Optional. You can use it to replace your lowest score.) Grace period for Word Journal to count as on time: Beginning of class Tuesday April 24.


© 2001 Suzanne Kemmer

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