Overview
Prerequisites: Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology (Ling 301)
This course is about phonological theory development and argumentation: how formal phonological models are evaluated and revised in order to meet empirical and conceptual goals. We focus in particular on constraint-based frameworks, especially Optimality Theory (OT: Prince and Smolensky 1993/2004), which is the major competitor to rule-based frameworks in the tradition of Chomsky and Halle’s (1968) Sound Pattern of English. We discuss OT’s motivations, its formal architecture, some of its results, and some of its shortcomings. OT makes predictions about phonological typology, and this course involves data from many familiar and unfamiliar languages, especially regarding syllabification, stress, and reduplication.
When this course is completed, you will…
- be able to find generalizations in a data set and describe phonological patterns in relatively theory-neutral terms,
- be able to formulate analyses in OT and understand the predictions that they make,
- be able to argue effectively for a given analysis (especially able to justify constraints),
- be able to read and interpret original research in OT,
- have begun to develop your own research project that makes use of the concepts discussed in class.
Materials
Textbooks and handouts
- There are two required textbooks
- Doing Optimality Theory by John J. McCarthy (2008)
- Optimality Theory by René Kager (1999)
- There is some overlap between the two textbooks, which means that sometimes you will read things you already know. This is a good thing! The two textbooks also contradict each other in small ways, something not uncommon at higher levels of study.
- Handouts are posted on the website for USC Advanced Undergraduate Phonology.
- The class forum is hosted on Slack.
- Readings are downloadable at a private link I’ve shared via Slack. Please don’t share this link.
Electronic device policy
- Please bring your charged laptop to class. Throughout the semester, we’ll collaborate using Google Docs and Slack.
- However, I ask that outside of these activities, you minimize your electronic device usage, restricting it to accessing readings and taking notes.
- Using electronic devices during class can serve as a distraction not only to you, but also to others.
- Please silence phones and stow them during class. Texts, emails, web browsing and so on, can wait until afterwards.
- Your respect for this policy is appreciated – it makes a real difference to the classroom environment as a whole.
- My personal advice is to take handwritten notes and focus on the handout.
- Studies seem to agree that handwritten notes result in better recall and increased focus, relative to typed notes.
Requirements
Class participation
- This is the most important requirement.
- Our shared goal is to get everyone talking roughly the same amount.
- Running out of time is never an issue: the goal of the course is to develop skills – not cover any particular material.
- For every class, you are required to post (on Slack) a short question or comment on one of the assigned readings. If an assignment or presentation is due that day, posting is not required.
- Comments make you accountable for the readings and give you practice critically engaging with phonology.
- See Slack for a post about ideas about types of comments or questions you can write. One to three sentences is sufficient and ideal, and a single one-sentence question is all I expect.
- The deadline is the night before class.
Opt-out office hours
- Since the class is small, I’m going to schedule a weekly 20–30 minute meeting with each of you.
- You can use this time to discuss the final paper, class material, additional readings, or whatever else you’d like to.
- You can always opt out: if you’d like to skip a meeting, e-mail me the night before.
Weekly quizzes
- There is a quiz every Monday, 12:30pm–12:45pm.
- Quizzes help you assess your comprehension of assigned readings and class material.
- They are intended to be relatively easy if you’ve been following the material.
- The lowest two quiz grades are dropped.
- Quizzes are assessed on a 5 point scale:
- 0 (didn’t complete)
- 1–2 (serious misunderstanding of material – major mistakes)
- 3 (some understanding – many small mistakes)
- 4 (thorough understanding – a few small mistakes)
- 5 (absolutely perfect in every way – no improvement possible)
Homework assignments
- These provide hands-on practice with analysis, argumentation, and applying, extending and revising theories.
- Think of them as mini-papers.
- There will be about five or six of them.
- You are encouraged to collaborate with others, but you must write up and submit your own solution, listing anyone with whom you collaborated.
- Submit hard copies at the beginning of class on the due date. The late penalty is 10 points per day late.
- Assignments are returned in class within seven days of submission.
- Submitted assignments shouldn’t contain text, figures, tables, and so on that have been copied electronically or otherwise from another student or any other source.
- Quotations or other forms of reference to other work are of course acceptable with the appropriate citations.
- USC takes academic integrity very seriously and enforces it strictly.
- You can read more at the Academic Conduct section of the syllabus.
- If you have any questions about what constitutes plagiarism or cheating, please come and see me.
A term paper
- Your goal is to demonstrate all of the skills you’ve developed in class.
- The aims of the paper are threefold:
- To show your ability to describe and analyze a set of data.
- To apply techniques of current theory.
- To effectively argue for your proposed account.
- In the paper, you will:
- Describe a phonological pattern from some language in theory-neutral terms, using data from a grammar, dissertation, or published paper (including proceedings papers).
- Write an original rule-based analysis of the pattern.
- Write a constraint-based analysis of the pattern.
- Compare the rule-based and constraint-based analysis, and argue for one over the other.
- “Original” analysis?
- I don’t require you to read everything written on the topic, or even other OT analyses of the phenomenon.
- This means you might inadvertently replicate an existing analysis, which is okay.
- However, if you want to use this paper as a writing sample for graduate school, originality and thoroughness are important.
- Paper timeline:
- By November 13: select a proposed topic and meet with me for approval of the topic.
- By November 20: submit a 1–2 page outline of your paper proposal. Your proposal should summarize the key aspects of the data/problem that you are interested in investigating.
- On December 4: present your paper in class with a handout (or slides) outlining your analysis.
- By December 13 at 1pm: submit a written version of the research paper that takes into account comments received during your presentation. The paper will probably be about 8–15 pages (double-spaced), including data and references. No late papers are accepted, barring a student taking an “incomplete” for the class.
Grade breakdown
| Assignments |
50% |
| Term paper (due 12/13) |
25% |
| Participation, readings, reading comments |
15% |
| Quizzes |
10% |
Important dates
| 9/2 |
Labor Day – no classes |
| 10/17–10/18 |
Fall recess |
| 11/13 |
Deadline for in-person approval of paper topic |
| 11/20 |
Deadline for submission of outline of paper proposal |
| 11/27–12/1 |
Thanksgiving Holiday – no classes |
| 12/4 |
In class presentations of term papers |
| 12/13 |
Due date for final paper |
Schedule and topics
- See this page for an up-to-date daily schedule, including readings.
- Changes to readings or due dates will be announced in class.
| Dates |
Topics |
Deadlines |
| 8/26–8/28 |
Introduction and Review— Review of distributions |
|
| 9/4–9/16 |
Introducing constraints— Review of rules and features— The conspiracy problem— A conceptual crisis |
HW #1 due on 9/4 |
| 9/18–9/25 |
OT Mechanics— Introducing OT: Gen, Con, Eval— The selection problem— The ranking problem— Comparative tableaux— Ranking arguments— Harmonic bounding |
HW #2 due on 9/18 |
| 9/25–9/30 |
Phonemes, allophones, and contrast— Richness of the base— Factorial typology— Lexicon optimization |
HW #3 due on 9/25 |
| 10/2 |
Constraint ranking by algorithm— Recursive Constraint Demotion— ERC Fusion— Using OT-Help |
|
| 10/7–10/9 |
Factorial typology and universals— Syllable structure typology— Correspondence theory— Positional faithfulness— Assimilation typology |
HW #4 due on 10/9 |
| 10/14 |
Justifying constraints— Phonetic grounding— Alignment constraints |
|
| 10/16 |
Writing and review— A class for review— Writing— Responsible scholarship |
|
| 10/21–10/30 |
Stress— Diagnosing stress patterns — The metrical foot— Generalized Alignment— Quantity-insensitive stress— Quantity-sensitive stress |
HW #5 due on 10/23 |
| 11/4–11/13 |
Prosodic morphology— The Emergence of the Unmarked — Templates— A typology of reduplication— B–R Correspondence |
HW #6 due on 11/6Paper topic approval by 11/13 |
| 11/18–11/20 |
Over and undergeneration— Opacity and transparency— Output-output faithfulness— The Too-Many–Solutions Problem |
Paper outline due on 11/20 |
| 11/25–12/2 |
Variation — What is phonological variation?— Weighted constraints |
|
| 12/4 |
In-class presentations |
Final paper due on 12/13 |
Statement on Academic Conduct and Support Systems
Academic Conduct
- Plagiarism – presenting someone else’s ideas as your own, either verbatim or recast in your own words – is a serious academic offense with serious consequences.
Support Systems
- Student Counseling Services (SCS)
- (213) 740–7711 (24/7 on call)
- Free and confidential mental health treatment for students, including short-term psychotherapy, group counseling, stress fitness workshops, and crisis intervention.
- engemannshc.usc.edu/counseling
- National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
- 1 (800) 273–8255
- Provides free and confidential emotional support to people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
- www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org
- Relationship and Sexual Violence Prevention Services (RSVP)
- (213) 740–4900 (24/7 on call)
- Free and confidential therapy services, workshops, and training for situations related to gender-based harm.
- engemannshc.usc.edu/rsvp
- Sexual Assault Resource Center
- For more information about how to get help or help a survivor, rights, reporting options, and additional resources, visit the website.
- sarc.usc.edu
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- (213) 740–5086
- Works with faculty, staff, visitors, applicants, and students around issues of protected class.
- equity.usc.edu
- Bias Assessment Response and Support
- The Office of Disability Services and Programs
- Provides certification for students with disabilities and helps arrange relevant accommodations.
- dsp.usc.edu
- Student Support and Advocacy
- (213) 821–4710
- Assists students and families in resolving complex issues adversely affecting their success as a student EX: personal, financial, and academic.
- studentaffairs.usc.edu/ssa
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- Information on events, programs and training, the Diversity Task Force (including representatives for each school), chronology, participation, and various resources for students.
- diversity.usc.edu
- USC Emergency Information
- Provides safety and other updates, including ways in which instruction will be continued if an officially declared emergency makes travel to campus infeasible.
- emergency.usc.edu
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- UPC: (213) 740–4321
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- Provides overall safety to USC community.
- dps.usc.edu