ESP Biography

“Human language appears to be a unique phenomenon, without significant analogue in the animal world.” - Noam Chomsky Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. In other words, linguists are concerned with how humans speak, and not so much with how they SHOULD speak. Language has rules, but these rules are not always what you learn in school. We all know that the plural form of “wug” is “wugs,” even though these aren’t real words. We know you can ask “Aren’t I funny?” but you can’t say “I aren’t funny.” And why exactly are “swimming trunks” plural, but “bikini” is singular? Where, how, and why did we learn all of this? (Credits to Tom Wasow and Jean Berko Gleason for these examples.) This lecture will be an orientation to many of the fun and exciting subfields of study within linguistics, including syntax, morphology, phonetics, phonology, semantics and pragmatics, sociolinguistics, historical linguistics, and psycholinguistics. Examples will be sure to entertain; we’ll also do fun little problem sets.

Teaching those without any prior knowledge of the Yiddish language how to begin using it effectively. Topics include: Learning the alphabet, essential phrases, and basic sentences. What is Yiddish? A thousand-year-old language spoken by the majority of the world's Jews until the mid-twentieth century. It is written in the Hebrew alphabet, and its grammar and vocabulary combine Germanic, Hebrew/Aramaic, and Slavic elements. Anybody who has eaten a bagel knows that the Yiddish language has also been a major influence on American English. If you're already shlepping out to Stanford, you might as well join in on the class for a little taste of this wonderful language and culture! If you're curious about how it sounds, Yiddish was recently featured in the opening scene of the Coen Brothers' film A Serious Man: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bWlzQLLVlA

"Human language appears to be a unique phenomenon, without significant analogue in the animal world." - Noam Chomsky Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. In other words, linguists are concerned with how humans speak, and not so much with how they SHOULD speak. Language has rules, but these rules are not always what you learn in school. We all know that the plural form of "wug" is "wugs," even though these aren't real words. We know you can ask "Aren't I funny?" but you can't say "I aren't funny." And why exactly are "swimming trunks" plural, but "bikini" is singular? Where, how, and why did we learn all of this? (Credits to Tom Wasow and Jean Berko Gleason for these examples.) This lecture will be an orientation to many of the fun and exciting subfields of study within linguistics, including syntax, morphology, phonetics, phonology, semantics and pragmatics, sociolinguistics, historical linguistics, and psycholinguistics. Examples will be sure to entertain; we'll also do fun little problem sets, with prizes for the winners!