This course provides answers to basic questions about the nature and constitution of human language in the mind/brain of native speakers. Varied aspects of linguistic organization, including structures of sounds, words and sentences are considered to understand the core universals of all... Read more
Language is a part of the human cognitive apparatus and intricately interlinked with the manner in which we experience the world. While this has been a central understanding of cognitive science, the second language classroom, usually focuses on syllabus and content, like any other "subject... Read more
This course offers a wide-ranging introduction to, and analysis of, varieties of spoken and written language. From political oratory to examination answer scripts to computer codes, not to mention jokes, riddles and poetry, human language offers an amazingly rich set of structures for expressing... Read more
All human beings without exception learn and use language. Yet, it is more common to associate it with cultural phenomena than as a cognitive or biological phenomena. The objective of this course is to look at language as a form of computation in the mind. It will introduce both symbolic and non... Read more
This course examines different aspects of meaning/semantics in language. Some specific questions addressed here are: a) what is meaning?, b) how do we use words to convey meanings?, and c) how does our grammatical knowledge interact with the interpretive system? We try to answer these and other... Read more
Exploratory in nature, the course seeks to debate questions such as: What are the implications of conceiving the mind as a 'machine'? Can evolutionary theories about language and tool- using help us understand how we continually manage today to process the world around us 'online'? On this... Read more
This course will introduce students to most recent generative/transformational theories of syntax of languages. It will start with the basic assumptions of the Principles and the Parameters Approach, highlighting some aspects of Chomsky’s 1981 Government and Binding Theory. It will then move on... Read more
This course aims to develop an understanding of the physiological as well as psychological basis for phonological theory. In doing so the course discusses the manner in which the gradient acoustic properties of a speech signal, like frequency, amplitude, harmonic frequency or formants, time-... Read more
On successful completion of this course the student will be able to analyze data from any natural language with respect to the following concepts in linguistics:
• Markedness and Faithfulness
• Correspondence between Prosodic and lexical word
• Root vs Affix faithfulness and... Read more
On successful completion of this, a student should be able to understand the cognitive underpinning of language. The student will appreciate the immense complexity that underly our language cognition, he/she will be introduced to relevant questions along with the theories that attempt to answer... Read more