Linguistic Reconstruction and Language Classification (P01455)

? Credit Points : 20 ? SCQF Level : 11 ? Acronym : PPL-P-U02865

Courses on language change tend to focus on developments from earlier stages of a language to more recent ones; theoretical approaches to such changes; and possible explanations of them. This module is involved with a different perspective on historical linguistics, and concentrates on comparing modern or earlier attested languages to assess whether they belong to the same family, and on the possibilities for reconstructing aspects of their unattested, ancestral proto-languages. This is a particularly lively and controversial area of linguistics at present: methodologies and key theoretical assumptions are under revision, and the implications of historical linguistic work for other disciplines are being debated widely in the scientific press. Although we shall concentrate principally on Indo-European linguistic reconstruction, we shall also consider problems of the comparative method in connection with Australian aboriginal languages; the Greenberg-Ruhlen groupings in the Americas determined by the method of mass comparison; and the application of novel quantitative methods of comparison to the languages of the Andes. There will also be scope for investigating the relationship of historical linguistic methods and evidence with those from other historical disciplines, including archaeology and population biology.

Entry Requirements

? Pre-requisites : English Language 2 (EN0003) or equivalent. Students with no prior knowledge of historical linguistics are advised to do some preliminary reading from a textbook on this area before beginning the module (e.g. McMahon (1994), Campbell (2004)).

? Prohibited combinations : Comparative Historical Lnguistics (U00530)

Subject Areas

Home subject area

Language Sciences, (School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, Schedule I)

Delivery Information

? Normal year taken : Postgraduate

? Delivery Period : Not being delivered

? Contact Teaching Time : 2 hour(s) 30 minutes per week for 10 weeks

All of the following classes

Type	Day	Start	End	Area
Lecture	Monday	10:00	10:50	Central
Lecture	Wednesday	10:00	10:50	Central
Lecture	Thursday	10:00	10:50	Central

Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this module, students should have:
- A firm foundation in the methodology and argumentation associated with the study of comparative linguistics and language classification
- The ability to analyse historical linguistic data from the perspective of language family affiliation
- A clear knowledge of methods, data and current controversies in current research
- An understanding of the prospects for and limitations on interdisciplinary research involving comparative linguistics.