First Couple Weeks

My brain is mush

Hello folks! Here’s another update now that I’ve started classes and I’m starting to gain a foothold here in Michigan.

Classes

Right now, I’m taking two 800-level courses. One in Phonology, the other in Syntax. I’m also taking a 400-level course as insurance I won’t fall behind since it’s been about 10 years since I last took a linguistics course. So far, I don’t feel like I’m swamped or out of my depth. In fact, I wonder if I really needed to take the 400-level course. I might have sold myself short on how much general linguistics knowledge I was coming in with. Regardless, taking this course won’t affect my timeline. If anything, it gives me time do work when the topic is too basic for me. The downside is that the class starts at 8:30am and THAT is a problem.

There are six main disciplines of general linguistic theory: phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics. Some people describe themselves as being on the “P-Side,” aka phonetics/phonology. I’m on the “S-Side,” which means I care more about semantics and pragmatics. Think of the P-side as working with sound and articulation, while the S-side is more focused on meaning and discourse. Morphology and Syntax are somewhere in the middle (Morphology closer to P, Syntax closer to S). All of that is to say that I’m not taking classes in my field this semester.

Which is fine! But it does make the phonology homework much less fun for me. Syntax is closer to my interests. Here’s a picture of the blackboard during my Syntax lecture:

I assure you, what’s on that board is pretty basic syntax, but we’re talking about it at a higher level than an undergrad class would. The sample sentence is “The man will bite the dog.” In this sentence, we’re looking at how components like determiners (the), verbs (bite), tense markers (will), and nouns (dog, man) work together in English by demanding particular components for phrase completion. Syntax works with these “tree” diagrams a lot, so on the side of my work, I have to learn a document preparation program called LaTeX (pronounced Lay-Tek). It’s like a hybrid of word processing, HTML/CSS coding, and print layout. Right now, I’m thankful for my high school programming classes.

Other than classes I’m taking, I’m TAing an undergrad class in linguistics. Technically, it’s in a gen-ed category called “Integrated Arts and Humanities,” but the class itself is pop(ular) linguistics. The textbook is written for the general public and the articles assigned to the students come from science magazines and NYT columns mostly. It’s an async class with in-person discussions (3/6 of which I teach). So far the kids seem fine (though I have one frat-bro who only wanted to talk to me about sports????). I have mostly sophomores with a handful of other years. I was expecting more freshmen, honestly. My instructing professor was warning me about the grading load when papers were due. 75 students with 1000 words each? CHILD’S PLAY compared to my English workload at UNL. I think I’ll be fine.

Life Stuff

I’m still putting together my apartment. I have recently discovered, while putting things away in my kitchen, that I don’t have a single standard drawer. So, I’m going to have to be creative with storing utensils, flatware, and things like aluminum foil. A lot of my glassware was shattered in the move as well, so I’ve replaced that. I also had to get a large countertop dishrack since I lack a dishwasher.

Despite that, the kitchen is slowly becoming more usable! We recently had a Linguistics Cookout at one of the other grad students’ home. I brought chana masala (indian spiced chickpeas; recipe below!), which was enough of a hit that I didn’t go home with any leftovers.

No, YOU don’t know how to portion control!!!

It was really nice to get to know other folks in my program in a more casual (and non-school) setting. UNL folks might remember that this was the first dish I brought to our Department Welcome Party back in 2018. It’s already vegan and gluten-free, and the ingredients aren’t expensive (aside from the spices). I’m hoping this establishes my spot as one of the more culinarily-advanced students. ;P

Outside of MSU, I haven’t made any friends yet. I’d certainly like to. Because I didn’t have a car when I first arrived to UNL, I didn’t get out of Lincoln much. And then the pandemic happened and I definitely didn’t go anywhere. So, my goal is to make some friends that aren’t attached to MSU and to take little daytrips around Michigan. I want to go to Dow Gardens for sure. Dearborn, MI is on my list for the summer. They have the largest Lebanese-American population in the US, and there’s a Halal night market on sundays. Of course, Traverse City is on the list for cherry season (which just passed a bit ago), and the upper peninsula.

A Recipe for You:

Chana Masala

• 2 Tbsp neutral cooking oil

• 1 bay leaf

• 1-2 inches cinnamon stick

• 2 green cardamom pods

• 2 cloves

• 1 serrano pepper, stem cut off and slit down one side

• 2 medium white onions, blended

• 1.5 Tbsp ginger-garlic paste (or 2 cloves of garlic and 1.5 inches of ginger mashed)

• 1/2 tsp turmeric

• 1/2 tsp kashmiri red chili powder

• 1/2 Tbsp garam masala

• 1/2 Tbsp ground coriander seed

• 1 can of tomatoes, blended

• 2 cans of chickpeas (drained, but not rinsed)

• salt

Optional:

• 1 Tbsp dried fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi)

• 1/4 tsp ground dried green mango (amchur powder)

• chopped cilantro

1. In a large pot (like a dutch oven), heat the oil. Put in the cinnamon, bay leaf, cloves, cardamom, and serrano pepper. Toast until spices are fragrant and serrano skin is lightly blistered.

2. Pour in the blended onion and the ginger-garlic paste. Salt with a couple big pinches to help the onion reduce. Stir-fry over medium to medium low heat until water in onions evaporate and the onion starts to turn a golden color.

3. Add the ground spices (turmeric, chili powder, garam masala, coriander) and continue to stir-fry for about a minute.

4. Add the blended tomatoes and reduce like you did the onion.

5. Add the chickpeas and just enough water to cover the chickpeas. It should be a bit thinner than you want the finished sauce.

6. At this point, it’s good to check the seasoning and spice level (if it’s too spicy, take out the serrano and add more chickpeas and water). Add more salt if need be, but remember it will get a touch saltier as the water reduces.

7. Simmer for as long as you want. I typically start my rice at this time, which takes about 45 minutes total.

8. Optionally, before serving, sprinkle in amchur powder. Rub the dried fenugreek leaves between your palms over the pot to crush them and stir in. Finally, sprinkle over chopped cilantro to taste.

9. Serve with rice or roti/naan, and enjoy!

Fun Facts:

One of the tools/tests Linguists use is called an “acceptability judgment.” Essentially, it’s the way a speaker can look at a word/phrase/sentence and say “ok yeah sure, that looks real/sounds right.” I might write the word glorp and, while it’s nonsense, you could figure out how to say it and say it feels fine. On the other hand, something like pguyrvgv would be an absolute no-go. In English, at least, we don’t like that combination of consonants. Syntacticians use these kinds of tests to determine if something works from a grammar perspective (not the kind of grammar you learn in school, more like the real functional organism that is a language).

Sometimes they use tricky sentences like “The cotton shirts are made of grows in Alabama.” It’s actually a totally fine sentence. You might have thought cotton was an adjective describing shirts rather than detecting the missing “that” between cotton and shirts, which made you feel like it was wrong in someway. When it gets explained, it’s hard to see it incorrectly again. That’s called a “garden-path” sentence (because it leads you down the wrong path at first). It’s another tool to test acceptability.

All of that is to say that acceptability judgments have been a key component of syntactical studies for decades, but they’re done very informally. A linguist might ask a couple friends, or only their own self! Almost no experimental studies. Some linguists criticized that methodology, but it turns out the maximum discrepancy between those low-effort traditional methods and formal experimental methods is only 2%. That basically means that, for acceptability judgments, there’s no need for any fancy formal experimentation. Native language speakers are so good at perceiving acceptable sentences that formal experimentation is simply moot. While a formal study might gather extra information, it won’t offer anything in regards to acceptability.

So…

That’s about it for now. I probably won’t have another update for a while since I’ll just be chugging along with school.

Love you,
—Teo