Department of Linguistics

The Department of Linguistics offers two secondary fields, one in Historical Linguistics and the other in Linguistic Theory.

HISTORICAL LINGUISTICS

1. Historical linguistics, the study of how languages change over time, subsumes both the general study of language change and the history of specific languages and language families. The intellectual spectrum thus defined bridges part of the gap between linguistic theory and the areas traditionally known as “philology.” At Harvard, the more theoretical aspects of historical linguistics are covered in courses offered by the Department of Linguistics, while courses dealing with the historical linguistics of specific languages are offered both by the Department of Linguistics and the relevant language departments. In practice, many graduate students in the Classics, Germanic Languages and Literatures, Slavic Languages and Literatures, Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, and other language-centered departments take courses in historical linguistics as part of their ordinary preparation for the Ph.D. The availability of a secondary field in Historical Linguistics allows such students to have their work in linguistics officially recognized.

2. Requirement: four half-courses, to be distributed as follows:

a) one of Linguistics 120 (Introduction to Historical Linguistics) or Linguistics 224 (Historical and Comparative Linguistics)

b) three other courses in Linguistics or cross-listed with Linguistics, two of which must be chosen from the following:

*Linguistics 122 (Introduction to Indo-European) – Fall 2008
Linguistics 123 (Indo-European Phonology and Morphology)
Linguistics 158r (From Indo-European to Old Irish)
Linguistics 168 (Introduction to Germanic Linguistics)
Linguistics 176 (History and Prehistory of the Japanese Language)
*Linguistics 220ar (Advanced Indo-European) – Fall 2008
*Linguistics 221r (Indo-EuropeanWorkshop) – Spring 2009
*Linguistics 247 (Topics in Germanic Linguistics) – Fall 2008
Linguistics 225a (Introduction to Hittite)
*Linguistics 250 (Old Church Slavonic) – Fall 2008
*Linguistics 252 (Comparative Slavic Linguistics) – Spring 2009
Greek 134 (The Language of Homer)
Latin 134 (Archaic Latin)
Semitic Philology 140 (Introduction to the Comparative Study of Semitic Languages)
Semitic Philology 200r (Comparative Semitic Grammar: Seminar)
Slavic 125 (Modern Russian in Historical Perspective)

Other courses with a historical linguistic focus may be added to this list at the discretion of the Director of Graduate Studies in Linguistics.

3. Historical linguistics is one of the Department’s traditional areas of strength, with two dedicated faculty positions (Jasanoff and Rau) and part of a third (Flier). Linguistics 120 and 224 are offered in alternating years. Of the courses in b), Linguistics 122, Linguistics 220r, Linguistics 221r, Linguistics 247, Linguistics 250, and Linguistics 252 are being given in 2008-09.

4. The contact person is the Director of Graduate Studies in Linguistics.

LINGUISTIC THEORY

1. Linguistic theory, the core of the modern field of linguistics, seeks to characterize the linguistic knowledge that normal human beings acquire in the course of mastering their native language between the ages of one and five. Studied as an internalized formal system, language is a source of insight into a wide range of human pursuits and abilities, some of them traditionally approached through the humanities, others through the social sciences, and others through the behavioral and natural sciences. The major divisions of linguistic theory are syntax, the study of sentence structure; phonology, the study of sounds and sound systems; morphology, the study of word structure; and semantics; the study of meaning. Courses in these areas regularly draw students from other Harvard departments, especially Psychology, Philosophy, and other departments associated with the Mind, Brain, Behavior Initiative. The secondary field in Linguistic Theory allows such students to receive official recognition for their linguistics coursework.

2. Requirement: four half-courses, to be distributed as follows:

a) at least one of the following:

*Linguistics 112a (Introduction to Syntactic Theory) – Spring 2009
*Linguistics 114 (Introduction to Morphology) – Spring 2009
*Linguistics 115a (Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology) – Fall 2008
Linguistics 116a (Introduction to Semantics)

b) three other courses in Linguistics, two of which must be chosen from the following:

*Linguistics 112b (Intermediate Syntax) – Fall 2008
*Linguistics 115b (Intermediate Phonology) – Spring 2009
*Linguistics 116b (Intermediate Semantics) – Spring 2009
*Linguistics 117r (Linguistic Field Methods) – Fall 2008
Linguistics 132 (Psychosemantics)
Linguistics 145 (Logical Form)
Linguistics 146 ((Syntax and Processing)
Linguistics 148 (Language Universals)
Linguistics 152 (Prosody and Intonation)
Linguistics 171 (Structure of Chinese)
Linguistics 174 (Tense and Aspect in Japanese)
Linguistics 175 (Structure of Japanese)
*Linguistics 188r (Biolinguistics) – Spring 2009
*Linguistics 202r (Advanced Syntax) – Fall 2008 and Spring 2009
*Linguistics 204r (Topics in Syntax) – Spring 2009
*Linguistics 205r (The Syntax-Semantics Interface) – Spring 2009
*Linguistics 206r (Syntactic Structure and Argument Structure) Fall 2008
Linguistics 207r (Topics in Semantics)
Linguistics 219r (Advanced Phonology)

Other courses with a theoretical focus, including courses in other departments cross-listed
with Linguistics, may be added to this list at the discretion of the Director of Graduate Studies in Linguistics.

3. Although Linguistics has no official “tracks” toward the Ph.D., linguistic theory is the Department’s main intellectual focus, with three tenured and two untenured colleagues (Chierchia, Huang, Polinsky; Boeckx, Nevins) working in this area. Of the four courses in a), three (Linguistics 112a, Linguistics 115a, and Linguistics 116a) are offered every year; Linguistics 114 is offered in alternate years. Of the courses in b), Linguistics 112b, Linguistics 115b, Linguistics 116b, Linguistics 117r, Linguistics 188r, Linguistics 202r, Linguistics 204r, Linguistics 205r, and Linguistics 206r, are being given in 2008-09.

4. The contact person is the Director of Graduate Studies in Linguistics.