Subject Area: Linguistics

This is an introductory course in phonology – the systematic study of the sound system of language. The course addresses questions such as: What are the distinctive sounds in a language? How do these sounds interact with each other? It will focus on techniques of phonological analysis. Topics include: phonological processes and alternations, natural classes of speech sounds and distinctive features, syllabification, and the role of morphology and syntax in phonological systems. You will have the opportunity to analyse phonological data from English and a variety of different languages.