In this lecture, on the basis of recent theories and discoveries in linguistics including generative syntax, lexical semantics, morphology, phonology, functional grammar, cognitive grammar, theories of grammaticalization, historical linguistics, linguistic typology, and so on, you will be able to learn about the systematic structure of natural languages, how and why languages have changed, and why there are so many varieties of languages in the world, and so on, though the lectures and exercises.

The essential aim of this course is for you to learn what linguistics is like, what kind of linguistic knowledge we have, how a child acquires it, what the universal properties of natural languages are, what kind of general rules and tendencies there are about diachronic changes, and how and why cross-linguistic variations occur, among others, with special reference to the internal structure of complex words. Throughout the lectures by the teacher based on a textbook and your own practice, you will learn the basic knowledge and skills about theoretical linguistics. Also, you will learn how to collect linguistic data by means of various corpora and how to make a quantitative analysis of linguistic data.

In this class, you will be given lectures on the general rules that govern the syntax and semantics of natural languages (the so-called “grammar”) such as English and Japanese, and practical activities that will help you improve your own skills of logical reading and formal writing of English articles. More specifically, you will be expected to learn how to communicate in an accurate and sophisticated English that is formally acceptable in academic activities, by understanding the English grammar and making practices of reading and writing based on the knowledge.

Faculty in GSIS Human-Social Information Sciences Department will discuss issues around advanced information society from their respective field of research.