This course is an introduction to the principled study of human natural language. Our chief interest and goal is to examine mathematically rigorous theories of (fragments of) the human cognitive capacity for language. To this end, we will introduce the fundamental concepts and theories in phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics. We will discuss in some detail the philosophical foundations for the study of human language from this cognitive and mathematically intelligible perspective: Are all of the formal symbols that occur in our theories somehow _in the head_?

In less detail due to time constraints, we will also introduce classics and in some cases illustrate recent work on the neurobiological bases of human language (neurolinguistics), the specifics of how the human capacity for language is deployed by humans in language production and comprehension (psycholinguistics), how children learn their native language effortlessly and with no substantive instruction (language acquisition), and what the points of contact and divergence are between the human faculty for language and the impressive behavioral achievements of modern large language models.

Prerequisites: None
ECTS : 4