NKU HNR 303 Sp MMV
The Dream of a Perfect Language
   
What is the history of the idea of a "perfect" language? We trace the arc from dawn (the myth of Babel) to twilight (deaths of indigenous languages).
   
instructor Kevin Kirby, 340 ST (572-5377, kirby@nku.edu). 
Office hours: 9:30-10:30am MTWRF or by appointment. But I am generally around.

   
website www.nku.edu/~kirby/

   
scheduling 12:15 - 1:30pm Tuesdays and Thursdays in HR 107.

   
topics Perfect as Primeval: Eden, Babel, the Kabbalah and linguistic mysticism
Perfect as Pictorial: Fantasy vs. reality re Egyptian hieroglyphs and Chinese characters
Perfect as Universal: 17th century artificial languages to 21st century computer science
Loving the Imperfect: Linguistic relativism, linguistic diversity and language death

   
texts The Search for the Perfect Language by Umberto Eco. Blackwell, 1995.
Labyrinths; Selected Stories and Other Writings by Jorge Luis Borges. Norton, 1998.
Babel 17, by Samuel R. Delany. Vintage, 2002 [1966].
Language Death, by David Crystal. Cambridge, 2000.

  
some handouts, links and materials

[more to come]
  • Translations of the Babel story from 1530 and 1990 (PDF handout)
  • The Hebrew alphabet (PDF handout)
  • The concept of language in ancient Hebrew
       G. Lepschy (Ed.) History of Linguistics, Vol. 1 (Longman, 1994) pp.98-99.
  • Film: Pi 
  • Excerpts from the Cratylus of Plato (web page)
  • Chinese characters (PDF handout)
  • Chinese characters: strokes and stroke order*
       one-page handout by K.K.
  • Film: The Pillow Book
  • "Fleshing the Text" - essay on The Pillow Book by Paula Willoquet-Maricondi
  • The Moso script (Tibeto-Burman hieratic language)*
       from A. Gaur, A History of Writing (Cross River Press, 1992).
  • Example of Egyptian hieroglyphic text, transliteration, translation*
  • Labanotation (movement in dance)
  • The Scheme programming language*
       K. Kirby, Scheme: A Short Introduction for Non-Computer Scientists (handout - 9pp)
  • XML (Extensible Markup Language) and the Web Ontology Language*
        handout by K.K.
  • Readings on artificial ontologies in artificial intelligence
       6 page excerpts from Russell and Norvig, AI: A Modern Approach, 2d Ed (Prentice-Hall 2002)
  • Unicode
  • "Blind thought" and logic*
        one-page handout on propositional logic notation by K.K. 
  • Readings on the Mayan language Popti (Jacaltec)*
       C. Craig, "Jacaltec: Fieldwork in Guatemala." In T. Shopen (Ed.) Language and Their Speakers (U. Penn Press, 1987).
  • Readings on the Australian language pair Lardil/Damin*.
           K.  Hale, "On endangered languages and the importance of linguistic diversity."
       In Grenoble and Whaley (Eds.)  Endangered Languages: Current and Future Prospects (Cambridge, 1998). 

* Hard copies only  
coursework Weekly short response papers (informal) and occasional practice homework ~ 25%
A take-home midterm exam  ~ 15%
A term paper / project (about 15 pages) and presentation (about 20 minutes) ~ 40%
An in-class final exam ~ 20%

Your term  paper will be on the extreme language topic of your choice. I can provide suggestions. Something connected to your major is good.

Class participation is essential. Infrequent or continually uniformed participation can lower a grade. "Participation" includes serving as a discussion co-leader for specific chapters of the Eco book: teams of two will prepare a handout in advance that footnotes some of its more obscure terminology.

Some meetings might be up to one third "lecture" when some background material needs to be introduced, but most meetings all of our time will be spent in discussion.

"Discussion" means (mostly) working together to...
     *  understand the readings (some are difficult);
     *  find connections to other ideas (some near, some far).

  
effort As in any 3 credit course, you should be prepared to spend 5-6 hours outside class per week [NKU Catalog,37]. The difference in an Honors seminar is not in time, but in the expectation that you enjoy the challenge of tackling unfamiliar and often recalcitrant material.

Plagiarism can result in a grade of 'F' for the course. At least.

Drop date for 'W': March 28.

 

links
Pi The Pillow Book

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