HSL/HUL2424Credits(310)

FundamentalsofLanguageSciences
ISemester201718

Coursecoordinator:DrRajakrishnanRajkumar
Classroom&time:Monday,Tuesday,Friday12to1pm(Jslot);
Room:LH316

Tutorials:5to6pm,MondayandTuesday
Tutorialroom:TBD

Email:raja@iitd.ac.in(bestwaytoreachme)
OfficeHours:ByappointmentatBlock2,Room402(H)
TAs:WasimOdudandRiyaSingh
CourseWebsite:HUL242onhttps://moodle.iitd.ac.in

Courseobjectives

Thiscoursedealswiththedescriptionofvariousaspectsofnaturallanguagesstartingfrom
soundsandrangingtothegrammaticalstructure.Themainthemeofthiscourseis:

Howcanwedescribevariedaspectsoflinguisticorganization,includingstructuresofsounds,
wordsandsentences?

A secondary objective is to acquire some basic insights about the question: Howislanguage
processedbythemind?

Prerequisities

1.ShouldhavepassedNLN100(formerlyHUN100)

EvaluationPolicy

Attendance:5%
Tutorialpresentation:6%
Participation:3%
Homeworks:10%
Minor1:22%
Minor2:22%
Major:32%

40% is the minimum for passing the course

EvaluationPolicyforAuditors

The audit pass (NP) grade is awarded if the students attendance is above 75% in the class. In
addition, they will need to score 40% of the components below.

Attendance:10%
Participation:10%
Tutorialpresentation:30%
Handwrittenreport:30%
Homeworks:20%

Important Note:
As per IITD's course of study document:
http://www.iitd.ac.in/sites/default/files/semsch/Courses_of_Study_2012_13.pdf
The grading reflects a students own proficiency in the course. While relative standing of the
student is clearly indicated by his/her grades, the process of awarding grades is not based upon
fitting performance of the class to some statistical distribution. The course coordinator and
associated faculty for a course formulate appropriate procedure to award grades that are reflective
of the students performance vis--vis instructors expectation.
An A grade stands for outstanding achievement. The minimum marks for award of an A grade is
80 %. However, individual course coordinators may set a higher performance requirement. The D
grade stands for marginal performance; i.e. it is the minimum passing grade in any course. The
minimum marks for award of D grade is 30 %, however, individual course coordinators may set a
higher marks requirement.

Attendance&InClassActivities: Therewillbeseveralgradedinclassgroupactivities
throughoutthequarter.Theremightbetestquestionsbasedontheseactivities.Attendance
isagradedcourserequirement.Everylectureisworth2pointsandeverytutorialworth1
point.Studentswhoarelateformorethan15minsorwholeaveearlywillnotbeeligible
forattendanceforthatday.Giventhathomeworks,quizzes,andtheexamsaddressthe
materialcoveredinclass,attendanceisessentialfordoingwellinthisclass.

AcademicMisconduct:Noacademicmisconductwillbetolerated,andasrequiredbyIIT
Delhipolicies,anysuspicionsofcheatingand/orplagiarismwillbereported.Ifthereisany
doubtastowhatconstitutesacademicmisconduct,pleaseASKbeforecommittingtheact.
Cheating/plagiarismcommittedinignoranceisstillconsideredacademicmisconduct.

Classroometiquette:Pleasedonotengageincellphoneconversationsandtextmessaging
duringclass.Youarenotallowedtouseyourlaptopsduringclassasitmightdistractother
students.Rudebehaviorwillresultinexpulsionfromtheclass.Pleasebecourteoustothe
instructorsandfellowstudents.

MakeupPolicy:
1.Astudentwhoisabsentduetoillnessoranyotheremergency,uptoamaximumoftwo
weeks,shouldapproachthecoursecoordinatorwithadequatedocumentationformakeup
quizzes,assignmentsandlaboratorywork.

2. Astudentwhohasbeenabsentfromaminortestduetoillnessshouldapproachthe
coursecoordinator foramakeuptestwithin2daysofthetest.Therequestshouldbe
supportedwithamedicalcertificatefrominstitutesmedicalofficer.Acertificatefroma
registered medical practitioner will also be acceptable for a student normally residing
offcampusprovidedregistrationnumberofthemedicalpractitionerappearsexplicitlyon
thecertificate.ExternalmedicalcertificatesshouldalsobecountersignedbytheUGdean.
3.Incaseastudentcannotappearinaminortestonthesamedayinwhichhe/shehas
appearedinatest,amedicalcertificateonlyfromtheinstitutesmedicalofficerwillbe
acceptable.

4. At a date after Minor2, there will be one combined re-minor exam for all students who miss
either Minor1 or Minor2. Students will be tested on all topics covered in class till Minor2.

Homeworks

An integral part of the course is a set of computerbased assignments. Students are

expected to submit assignments via moodle before the stipulated deadline. Late
assignmentswillNOTbegraded(norequestforconcessionforwhateverreason).

EssentialReadings

AnIntroductiontoLanguage,9thEditionbyVictoriaFromkin,RobertRodmanandNina
Hyms

FundamentalsofPsycholinguistics,EvaFernandezandHelenSmithCairns,WileyBlackwell,
2012

IntroductiontoPsycholinguistics:UnderstandingLanguageScience,MatthewJ.Traxler.John
WileyandSonsLtd.,2012

The Language Instinct: How the mind creates language. Pinker, Steven. First Perennial Classics
Edition. Harper Collins. 2000.

The Atoms of Language: The Mind's Hidden Rules of Grammar. Baker, Mark. First Edition. Basic
Books. 2001.

Imightassignmorereadingsduringthecourseofthesemester.

Scheduleoflecturesandreadings

Thisisatentativeschedule.Wewillfollowthestructureoutlinedbelow,butit'shardto
predictinadvancehowlongwewillspendoneachtopic.Imayalsoaltersomeofthe
readingsaswegoalong,andassignadditionalreadings.

Maintopics:

Topic I: Introduction

- Nature of human language

Topic II: Sounds and Sound Patterns

Basics of articulatory phonetics

Basics of English and Hindi Sounds using the IPA chart
Sound patterns: Phonological analysis
Topic III: Structure of Words

- Morphology: structure of words

- Communicative efficiency and Zipf's law

Topic IV: Sentence structure

Basicsofsentencestructure
Creatingsentencestructureusinggrammarrules
Ambuityinnaturallanguage
Principlesofhumansentenceprocessing

Topic V: Language learning

- Language acquisition by humans

Ifthereismoretime,Iwilladdmoretopics.