Grundständige Studiengänge (Bachelor, ...)

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.

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 and general grammatical and lexical changes will be treated within their sociocultural context.

The main coursebook is: Horobin, Simon (2013). Chaucer's language (2nd ed.). Palgrave Macmillan.

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.

This lecture gives an overview of the development of the English language from its roots as a group of West Germanic dialects spoken in the British Isles from the fifth century CE, to its present state as a 'world language'.
This includes a closer look at phonological, morphological, lexical and sociolinguistic features, as well as some exploration of the cultural and historical backgrounds to the linguistic development of English.

Languages are always changing on every level, and the development from Old to Modern English provides many examples. In this course we will focus on the types of language change that most typically occur (e.g. sound change, lexical change, morphological change, syntactic change, semantic and pragmatic change), and the mechanisms behind them, mostly using Brinton and Arnovick (2017). We will also deal with attitudes to change, some of the methods employed in historical linguistics as well as the internal and external causes of language change.

Students are expected to work on their own projects.

This course is designed to introduce the most important research methods employed in quantitative linguistics. Topics will include, but are not limited to:
- Linguistic variables and variants
- Basic corpus-linguistic tools
- Dealing with quantitative linguistic data
- Basic statistics for linguistics
- Visualizing quantitative results
- Approaching literary style empirically
- Questionnaire design and coding.

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 coursebook is Baker (2012).