King Saud University
College of Arts
Course Syllabus
Semester I, 1429/1430
Department of English
B.A. Program
1. Course Title: Linguistics I
2. Course Number 320, Sec. 9283
Days: SMW Time: 12-1
S, W: Rm: 5/ 25B
M: Rm: 7/ 25B
3. Name of Instructor: Dr. Eman A. Kamal
Address: College of Arts, English Department, Bldg. 25B, office Number: 52
Office Hours: S, M, W: 10-11
Tues. 10-1
Email Address: kamaleman40@yahoo.com
3. Course Description:
The course introduces students to the basic concepts in the major areas of linguistics: phonetics & phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics.
5. Course objectives
A. The course aims to train students to think of ‘language’ objectively and enhance their conception of the study of ‘language’ from the widely practiced prescriptive grammar study, to the descriptive study of the grammar of a language in its broader sense: sound system, morphological structure, sentence and phrase structure, and meaning.
B. It aims to introduce students to the development of the theoretical approaches in linguistics.
C. It aims to provide students with the basic tools of descriptive linguistic analysis, e.g. phonetic symbols, morphological notations, tree diagrams, phonological, and transformational rules.
6. Textbook and References:
Main Textbook: Winkler, E. G. (2007). Understanding language. London: Continuum.
Other References: a. Fromkin, V, R. Rodman & N. Hyams. (2007). An Introduction to Language , Eighth
Edition. Boston: Thompson Wordsworth. b. Yule, G. (2006). The Study of Language, Third Edition. Cambrdge: Cambridge
University press. c. In addition to useful websites: www.kwary.net/linguistics . www.msu.edu/course/asc/232 www.uiowa.edu/~acadtech/phonetics/english/frameset.html

7. Course Activities:
Mainly lectures and discussions.
8. Methods of Assessment:
A. 2 Interms 25%
B. 3-4 quizzes 15%
C. Final Exam 60%
____________
100%
9. Course Syllabus:
Week Topic
1,2 I.
Introduction:
A.
What is Linguistics?
B.
Some general principles in linguistics
3, 4, 5 II. Phonetics and Phonology: The study of the sound system
A.
Sounds of English and phonemic symbols
1.
Consonants: description and classification
2.
Vowels: description and classification
3.
Transcription of words
B.
Structural phonology: phonemes, allophones, and minimal pairs
C.
Generative phonology:
1.
Major class features
2.
Phonological rules
6, 7 III. Morphology: The study of the structure of words
A. Definition of morpheme; types of morphemes
B. Morphemes and allomorphs
C. Morphology and phonetics
D. Processes of word formation
8, 9,
10
11, 12,
13
14
IV. Syntax: The study of the structure of phrases and sentences
A. Traditional Grammar
B. Structural school
C. Transformational-Generative school and phrase structure rules.
V. Semantics: The study of meaning
A. Meaning of words:
1. Sense/reference
2. Semantic properties; semantic features
B. Meaning of phrases and sentences
VI. Concluding Remarks

15 Review
10. Dates for interm examinations:
First Interm Exam : Monday 26/11 /1429 (24 th of November, 2008)
Second Interm Exam : Monday 22/1/1430 (19 th of January, 2009)
Special instructions:
1.
Dates for interms are fixed, so please take note of them and take them seriously. Makeup interms are given ONLY in very limited cases.
2.
There are no ‘makeups’ for quizzes. If you miss a quiz, it will NOT be repeated for you under any circumstances.
A special request:
Come to class on time . Coming late to class is very annoying and distracting to the rest of us:
If you come after I finish taking attendance, you will be marked
“late”; two “lates” are counted as one absence.