LING 390: The Languages of Asia

Information · Coursework · Policies · Schedule

Information

Course description

How widespread is tone among the languages of Asia? How did words such as “ketchup” and “tea” enter English? How have the writing systems of Asia been adapted to write different languages? What are the historical events linking languages such as Uyghur, Tibetan, Persian, Sanskrit, Arabic, Malay, and Chinese? Could large language models save money by “thinking” in Classical Chinese, and does building speech techonologies for Arabic cost more money than English? Where does “Asia” end linguistically, and what do we mean by an “Asian language”?

This course surveys the remarkable diversity of languages in Asia from the Middle East and the Caucasus through Central, South, Southeast, and East Asia to Siberia, examining what they share in common and how they differ. Some of the topics covered include sound systems and tones, writing systems, word formation, sentence structure, language families, language contact and change, language policy, language endangerment, and technologies for Asian languages.

Monday and Wednesday lectures introduce topics in linguistics and examine it across several languages. Friday meetings are devoted to language case studies. Students compile comparative notes on the languages discussed throughout the semester and prepare a detailed profile of one language by the end of the course.

The course provides a foundation for the further study of Asian languages and linguistics and future careers engaging with Asia and speakers of Asian languages. No prior knowledge of linguistics or an Asian language is required.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course, you will be able to:

• Locate the major language families, linguistic areas, and language isolates of Asia on a map and explain how linguists establish that languages are related.
• Describe characteristic sound patterns of Asian languages, including aspiration and phonation contrasts, retroflexion, vowel harmony, syllable structure, and lexical tone, and read basic phonetic transcription.
• Explain how major writing systems used in Asia represent language, how they spread, and how script choices relate to political and social conditions.
• Analyze word structure and sentence patterns in unfamiliar language data, including morphological classes, classifiers, case and alignment, word order, topic prominence, and serial verbs.
• Analyze how honorifics, address terms, sentence-final particles, evidentiality, and cultural keywords express social relationships, speakers’ perspectives, and cultural values.
• Analyze how standardization, nationalism, migration, and language policy shape the status of languages and dialects, including minoritized and endangered languages.
• Assess how Asian languages and scripts are represented, and underrepresented, in current language technologies.
• Research and present a basic linguistic description of a language, support the analysis with scholarly sources, and communicate the findings clearly to a general audience.

Prerequisites

None.

Meeting times and format

This course is taught in person three times a week on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Instructor

Texts and readings

The course uses readings from several sources rather than a single textbook. All required readings are available at no cost through open-access sources, Fondren Library e-books, or Canvas PDFs. Some of the core texts are listed below. Other articles and book chapters will be posted on Canvas and listed in the schedule.

• Goddard (2005). The Languages of East and Southeast Asia: An Introduction. Oxford University Press.
• Comrie, ed. (2018). The World’s Major Languages, 3rd ed. Routledge.
• Lyovin, Kessler & Leben (2017). An Introduction to the Languages of the World, 2nd ed. Oxford University Press.

Online reference tools

You might use these online tools throughout the course and in your case study:

• Glottolog: language families, classification, and bibliographies for many languages
• WALS, the World Atlas of Language Structures: maps of grammatical and phonological features
• PHOIBLE: sound inventories
• Grambank: grammatical features
• Omniglot: writing systems, with sample texts and recordings
• Endangered Languages Project: status and documentation of endangered languages
• Interactive IPA chart and Seeing Speech: phonetic symbols with sound and video
• Crash Course Linguistics: short videos for background on many subfields of linguistics

Acknowledgments

Preparation for this course draws, with gratitude, on materials from Zev Handel’s ASIAN 401 Introduction to Asian Linguistics at the University of Washington.

Coursework

Homework

There will be five problem sets. The lowest homework grade is dropped. All homework is due at 11:59 PM on the listed date.

Language feature profile notebook

Friday meetings are devoted to language case studies. The instructor presents six case studies during the first seven weeks (see the schedule); from March 5 onward, Fridays are reserved for student presentations in a similar format. Case studies share a common feature profile, a checklist of the topics a linguistic description of a language typically covers:

1. Speakers, geographic distribution, and classification
2. Phonetics and phonology
3. Writing systems
4. Morphology and the lexicon
5. Syntax
6. Semantics and pragmatics
7. Historical development and language contact
8. Sociolinguistics, language policy, or language technology

The language case study presentation usually touches on most of these topics, but need not cover all of them. Case studies may also emphasize the topics relevant for the week, and students are free to focus on the topics according to their interests and experience.

For each weekly case study, students who are not presenting will prepare a one-page note on the language discussed that week, organized by the feature-profile topics covered, and submit it to the feature-profile notebook on Canvas by the following Monday.

Language case study

The language case study is a group project. Working in groups of three to four, students prepare an oral presentation and a written case study of a language of Asia other than those listed in the schedule. The case study uses the feature profile as its guideline, with detailed analysis of two or three topics and an explanation of their significance for the language. Sources must include at least one reference grammar or grammatical sketch and at least two peer-reviewed articles or book chapters. Group members may also draw on their own knowledge of the language or consult other speakers, with those speakers’ permission.

A list of suggested languages is posted on Canvas. Languages spoken in Houston’s Asian communities are especially encouraged.

Case studies are evaluated on the accuracy and depth of the linguistic description, the use of sources, clarity for a non-specialist audience, and connections to themes from the course. All members of a group receive the same grade unless the contribution statements or peer evaluations indicate a substantial imbalance. Presenting groups receive peer feedback, and all students are expected to ask questions on presentation days. Groups that present early are assessed on the topics they selected for detailed analysis and are expected to incorporate material from later units in the written profile.

Grading

Letter grades will be assigned using the following scale. Any curve or adjustment will only benefit students.

Policies

Preparation and participation

Students are expected to prepare for class and participate in collaborative data analysis, listening activities, and discussion. Participation is assessed through in-class activities, feature-profile notebook entries, and engagement on student presentation days. The frequency of spoken contributions alone does not determine the participation grade. If you miss a meeting, review the posted slides and handout and complete the notebook entry before the next class.

Collaboration

Discussing readings and working through homework problems together is encouraged. Unless an assignment says otherwise, the written solutions and analyses you submit must be your own, and you should be able to explain every step. List anyone you worked with and cite any source you consulted. For paired case studies, both partners are responsible for the complete submission and should briefly describe each partner’s contributions.

Late work and extensions

If unexpected circumstances make it difficult to complete work on time, email the instructor as soon as possible to discuss an extension. Without an approved extension or a different policy stated in the assignment, late homework loses 10% of the earned score for each 24-hour period or part thereof, up to 48 hours. Students may exchange presentation dates with a classmate by notifying the instructor in advance.

Use of large language models

AI assistants may be used to review concepts, check transliterations, or identify potential sources. Their output may contain inaccurate linguistic descriptions, fabricated examples, and nonexistent citations, particularly for lesser-studied languages. Claims about a language in submitted work must be supported by sources you have read. You are responsible for the accuracy of your submission.

This course uses the AI Usage Scale (Parsons et al. 2024) to specify permitted forms of AI assistance. Levels 0–2 (grammar and sentence-level editing) are always acceptable; Levels 3–5 (brainstorming, feedback on drafts, paraphrasing for your own understanding) are acceptable with disclosure; Levels 6–8 (structural assistance and substantial generation) are not permitted unless explicitly permitted by the assignment. Using an AI assistant to generate solutions to homework data-analysis problems is not permitted. When you disclose AI use, name the level.

Communication

• Use the relevant Canvas discussion board for questions about readings, homework, and logistics so that everyone can benefit from the answer.
• Use email for grades, accommodations, or other private matters.
• On weekdays, the instructor will normally respond to email within 24–48 hours; responses may take longer on weekends or university holidays. Use office hours or request an appointment for questions that require an extended discussion.

Academic integrity

All work in this course is governed by the Rice Honor System. Academic misconduct includes presenting another person’s work as your own, consulting prior solutions or exams without permission, fabricating data or sources, using unauthorized assistance, or violating an assignment’s collaboration rules. When in doubt about collaboration, citation, or AI assistance, ask before submitting the work.

Accessibility and accommodations

If a documented disability or other condition may affect your academic work, first contact Rice’s Student Disability Resource Center to determine appropriate accommodations, and then meet with the instructor to discuss how they will be implemented in this course. Please do this as early as possible. You are also encouraged to tell the instructor about temporary conditions or other access barriers; if there is something reasonable I can do to make the course more accessible, please let me know.

Several activities involve listening to recordings and reading unfamiliar scripts; each has a transcribed or described equivalent. Please tell the instructor early if listening or visual tasks are difficult for you.

Title IX, support, and mandatory reporting

Rice prohibits harassment, sexual harassment, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking. Under Rice policy, university employees, including the instructor, are Mandatory Reporters and must promptly share information they receive about such conduct involving a Rice student or employee with a Title IX Coordinator. Students seeking support or information about reporting and supportive measures can contact The SAFE Office or review Rice’s reporting options. For an emergency, call 911 or the appropriate campus emergency service.

Religious observances

Please notify the instructor as early as possible if a religious observance conflicts with a class meeting, assignment, presentation, or exam so that a reasonable accommodation can be arranged.

Schedule

Class schedule

The following schedule is subject to change. Readings are to be completed before the associated meeting. Unless otherwise stated, assignments are due at 11:59 PM on the listed date. Readings marked “WML” are chapters of Comrie (ed.), The World’s Major Languages; “LESA” is Goddard, The Languages of East and Southeast Asia; “LKL” is Lyovin, Kessler & Leben, An Introduction to the Languages of the World; “Campbell” is Historical Linguistics, 4th ed. Readings marked [Canvas] are posted as PDFs on Canvas.