LIN370H5 • Language Documentation in Context

Linguistics courses contain a lot of language data, but the data is sometimes disconnected from the people, communities, and cultures that use the language. In contrast, in this course, students actively engage with language in context. The course focuses on language documentation, introducing students to the source of linguistic datasets and to the ethics of language documentation. We will examine historical changes in how languages are documented, along with the contributions that community involvement has made to the field of linguistics. We will analyze the importance of contextual factors like culture, history, and geography in shaping languages, by exploring specific case studies of language-context connection. Finally, we will look in depth at language marginalization and the causes of language loss and endangerment. In doing so, we will learn about what it means for a language to be endangered, factors that contribute to language shift, and revitalization efforts that aim to reverse it.

LIN101H5 and LIN102H5 and 0.5 credit from [LIN228H5 or LIN229H5 or LIN231H5 or LIN232H5 or LIN237H5 or LIN240H5 or LIN256H5 or JLP285H5 (formerly LIN288H5)]
Humanities
24L/12T
In Class
Linguistics