"Language is a process of free creation; its laws and principles are fixed, but the manner in which the principles of generation are used is free and infinitely varied." -Noam Chomsky Learn to view language from a linguist's perspective! Topics include phonology (speech sounds), morphology (prefixes, suffixes, infixes, oh my!), semantics, language evolution, and more.

Learning to spell words in English is hard. It can be understood through tough thorough thought, though. Topics include: an overview of writing systems around the world, the roots of English writing, misguided past attempts at English spelling reform. Also included: crunchy linguistics content, like phonology and morphology. And maybe, just maybe, some reasons why English spelling is good, actually.

"Twas brillig, and the slithy toves/Did gyre and gimble in the wabe..." Why is it that when Lewis Carroll writes a bunch of nonsense like $$ \textit{Jabberwocky} $$ he gets called a visionary, but when I hand in my original poem "Dyufrg Pcoihgbk Kiuygbnjhgf" the only reception I get is "it's just a bunch of keysmashes" and "you need to start taking this class seriously, Caroline"? What makes his fake words better than mine? The answer is linguistics! In this class, you'll learn what makes a good fake word work. Along the way, we'll discuss linguisticky stuff like phonology, morphology, and semantics. At the end of class you will have made several of your very own fake words, with which you can annoy your friends and family.