Grundständige Studiengänge (Bachelor, ...)

The aim of this course is to give an introduction to the emerging field of historical pragmatics.

Pragmatics generally deals with how language is used in specific contexts, and how speakers comprehend and produce utterances in different speech situations. Important aspects of pragmatics include the Cooperative Principle, speech act theory, and theories of politeness. A central concern of the course is how these theories might be applied to diachronic language data.

Historical pragmatics itself is a field at the intersection of pragmatics and historical linguistics. It tries to answer questions such as:
How did Chaucer's or Shakespeare's contemporaries greet each other?, or:
Who said thou/thee to whom and who used the more distanced ye/you?
After a short recapitulation of the history of English and an overview of the field of pragmatics, these and other interesting issues will be addressed in the second half of the course.

When several Germanic tribes relocated from the European Continent to the British Isles around 450 CE, they (naturally) brought with them their Germanic dialects. The first written documents of this language, known today as Old English (OE), date back to c. 700 CE.

Using a varied selection of Old English texts, we will trace back the development of the English language to its historical roots, paying particular attention to the spelling, pronunciation, morphology, syntax and lexis of the language in its "purely Germanic" form before the Norman Conquest. The aim is to be able to read and understand OE prose texts with the help of a glossary. We will also have a brief look at Old Norse, a related language that was spoken by invaders from Scandinavia and that began to mix with Old English. Side issues that will be addressed include: The style of OE poetry, reading OE manuscripts, the runic alphabet, the role of Latin in the OE period, and OE in modern popular culture.

The main course book is Baker (2012).

This course is designed to introduce the English language of c. 1500 – 1700 CE, the period in which writers like William Shakespeare, John Donne and John Milton wrote their works, and the influential "King James" Bible translation was made. It is also the period of the beginnings of the standardization of the English language.

Particular attention will be paid to the spelling, pronunciation, vocabulary, morphology and syntax of what contemporaries called the General Dialect, but also to variation across time, region and according to register and social conditions. Illustrative texts will be taken mainly from dramas, poetry, personal letters, and courtroom records.

The main course book is Nevalainen (2006).

This course deals with language contact situations involving English and with language change induced by contact, as well as the social and linguistic factors involved. 

Aspects to be covered include:
- Different types of language contact situations in the history of English
- Lexical borrowing and the (phonological and morphological) integration of loanwords
- Group second language acquisition
- Code switching phenomena
- Bilingual mixed languages, English-based pidgin and creole formation.

Beschreiben Sie kurz und prägnant, worum es in diesem Kurs geht.

Beschreiben Sie kurz und prägnant, worum es in diesem Kurs geht.

Beschreiben Sie kurz und prägnant, worum es in diesem Kurs geht.

Beschreiben Sie kurz und prägnant, worum es in diesem Kurs geht.

Beschreiben Sie kurz und prägnant, worum es in diesem Kurs geht.

Beschreiben Sie kurz und prägnant, worum es in diesem Kurs geht.

This course offers an introduction to Middle English (ME), which is the historical variety of English spoken and written between c. 1150 and c. 1500 CE, with a clear focus on the language of Geoffrey Chaucer (late 14th century).

We will read and translate selected texts written by Geoffrey Chaucer and illustrate the linguistic characteristics of Chaucer's ME on the levels of spelling and pronunciation, grammar (inflection and syntax), lexis, discourse and style. Sound changes like the Great Vowel Shift, general grammatical, lexical and also semantic changes will be treated within their sociocultural context.

The main coursebook is Horobin (2013).

Beschreiben Sie kurz und prägnant, worum es in diesem Kurs geht.

Beschreiben Sie kurz und prägnant, worum es in diesem Kurs geht.

Beschreiben Sie kurz und prägnant, worum es in diesem Kurs geht.

Beschreiben Sie kurz und prägnant, worum es in diesem Kurs geht.

Beschreiben Sie kurz und prägnant, worum es in diesem Kurs geht.

Beschreiben Sie kurz und prägnant, worum es in diesem Kurs geht.

Beschreiben Sie kurz und prägnant, worum es in diesem Kurs geht.

Beschreiben Sie kurz und prägnant, worum es in diesem Kurs geht.

Beschreiben Sie kurz und prägnant, worum es in diesem Kurs geht.