LING 80.09 Speech Surrogates
The natural modality of human language is spoken or signed, but many cultures around the globe have developed secondary systems of communication—speech surrogates—that take this natural language and transpose it to traditionally “non-linguistic” modalities. While the best known systems involve whistling or drumming (“talking drums”), a wide variety of other instruments are also attested. Despite their fundamentally linguistic nature, serious research in the field of linguistics has begun only recently. The study of speech surrogates intersects with all aspects of linguistics, from phonetics and phonology to discourse analysis and language documentation. In this seminar, students will study the linguistic structure of speech surrogates through reading primary literature, guest visits from traditional practitioners, and the development and experimental testing of their own speech surrogate.
Instructor
McPherson (Not offered in period 23X - 24S.)
Prerequisite
two or more 20s-level LING courses, or permission of instructor.