Eric Potsdam
Department of Linguistics, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences
Structure of Human Language
This grant will be used to improve the undergraduate Linguistics course LIN 3460 Structure of Human Language. The course studies word formation (morphology) and sentence structure (syntax) in the world’s languages, looking at the similarities and differences among languages. LIN 3460 is international in its scope. Although linguistic phenomena are sometimes best illustrated with familiar languages like English or Spanish, most examples are consciously taken from languages spoken in other parts of the world: the Americas, Asia, Africa, the Pacific, and Australia, for example. The class emphasizes the fact that all languages are equally valued from a linguistic perspective and are equally worthy of study.
Part of the coursework consists of a Language Project in which students investigate one of the world’s many understudied languages on their own. Throughout the semester they document the morphology and syntax of their project languages. The grant funding will be used to purchase grammars that will be suitable references for the students’ language projects. The grammars will be chosen will the goal of steering students towards work on under-studied languages that are representative of different cultures and geographic areas, specifically the following kinds of languages: endangered languages (roughly half of the world’s 6500 languages are expected to become extinct within the next 100 years), minority languages (indigenous languages under pressure from dominant languages), Native American languages, and African languages (UF has a particularly strong and vibrant African Languages program).
The funds will promote undergraduate interest in and research on these languages, hopefully leading to continued interest in the project language beyond the course and the possibility of advanced research with faculty.