Master Class: Introduction to Linguistics for Non-Linguists

Linguistics offers a framework of concepts and tools to help understand the way different languages are organized into patterns. What makes every language unique is how its patterns are structured to become a vehicle for the particular world view and cultural identity of the people who speak that language. It’s also the case that all human languages share certain components of structure. Consequently if a community wants to educate their children to be bilingual, it’s really helpful to know—even though two languages may sound really different—which aspects are in fact essentially similar, and which aren’t. Class participants will explore these issues by analyzing “data” from various endangered languages around the world. Participants are particularly encouraged to raise questions from their own language contexts.