GIAL: New Course: Tone: Phenomena, Analysis, and Description

AL 5398 Seminar in Applied Linguistics:
Tone: Phenomena, Analysis, and Description

Fall 2008, Session 4 (Oct. 22 – Dec. 19, 2008)
Mike Cahill & Steve Parker, Instructors

More than half the world's languages are tonal, yet many field workers are underprepared to deal with tone. After completing this course, the student will be able to transcribe and produce tone accurately, analyze it instrumentally and with appropriate linguistic theory, and apply this knowledge to orthographic issues. This seminar will cover basic behavior of tone in different areas of the world (particularly how African and Asian systems differ), how tone functions both lexically and grammatically, practice on hearing and transcribing tone, examining it with Speech Analyzer, organizing and managing tone data, linguistic theory for how to analyze tone (autosegmental, OT, and some Register Tier Theory), tone in orthographies, and a written project in which the student describes the tonal system of a particular language, for which data will be supplied. During the first half of the course, approximately, all of the students and staff will meet together in class for two hours daily. In the second half of the session there will not be any regular class meetings, but rather students will consult with the teachers on an individual basis.

Prerequisite: AL 4302 Principles of Phonetics, AL 4303 Principles of Phonological Analysis,
and permission of the instructors.

AL 5398 Seminar in Applied Linguistics: Tone: Phenomena, Analysis, and Description

AL 5398 Seminar in Applied Linguistics:
Tone: Phenomena, Analysis, and Description