The Science of Sentences

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

In this class you will learn how to discover the hidden rules and patterns inside sentences of English and other languages. Linguists do this by analyzing sentences that speakers find acceptable (“The cat is hungry”) and also sentences that they do not find acceptable (“Hungry cat the is”). Using a standard theoretical framework in linguistics called Generative Grammar, we will analyze the structure of words and sentences, formulate hypotheses about how sentences are formed in a language, make predictions about the types of sentences a speaker of that language would or would not find acceptable, and test these hypotheses against new linguistic data. Through the course, you will gain knowledge about the structure of words, phrases, and sentences, and about the similarities and differences between languages. You will also gain significant experience with tools and methodology employed by professional linguists working in a variety of fields, including academic research, natural language processing, and conversational AI (e.g., Siri, Chat GPT). Coursework will include weekly homework assignments, a midterm, and a final.