The Sounds of Language (Phonology)

ENGL 4373, Spring 2025

Tuesday/Thursday 2:00–3:20
				Face to face CRN: 57466
				Online CRN: 64955
				Dr. Aaron Braver

No prior linguistics courses required.

Why is "blik" a possible word of English, but not "bnik"? Why can we have [tl] in the middle of a word (e.g., "butler"), but not at the start or the end? (And how come some languages, like the modern Aztec language Nahuatl, are perfectly content with [tl]-final words?)

This course provides an overview of the field of phonology—how languages organize, represent, and manipulate their sounds. We will begin by discussing the sounds of the world's languages and their articulatory, acoustic, and distributional properties. We will examine why some sounds are allowed in certain parts of a word but not others, and how sounds change based on their surroundings.

Linguists and non-linguists alike are welcome to join this course.

What have previous students said about the course?

  • "I'd never taken any kind of linguistics course before and he explained everything clearly and made it such a fun subject through his lectures and exercises."
  • "Professor Braver teaches in a way that makes a complicated subject seem within grasp of comprehension. I am no linguist, but I managed to stumble my way through this course with his insightful instruction."
  • "His delivery of the course content is easy to grasp, even when the material is complex. Overall, a highly beneficial course."
  • "My favorite part was the conversational lecture style because engaging with the class like that really helped me learn the material."

Want to know more?