Undergraduate Course: LEL2E: Structure and History of European Languages (LASC08021)
Course Outline
| School | School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 8 (Year 2 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course discusses the historical development and some typical structural characteristics of the languages of four major European language families: Celtic, Germanic, Romance, and Slavic. |
| Course description |
The course introduces students to the structure and history of the major European languages, focussing in particular on the languages of the Romance, Germanic, Celtic and Slavic families. The course will cover both the principal historical events that have affected the development of these languages (external history) and provide a sketch of the development of modern vernaculars from their historical forbears (internal history). The course will also deal in detail with a number of specific topics that are significant in the linguistic study of the present-day European languages, including both structural topics (for example, case systems and the syntax of verbs) and historical and sociolinguistic topics (for example, the development of standard languages and the role of European languages in historical processes of creolisation).
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Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Visiting students should have completed at least 1 introductory level Language Science course equivalent to Linguistics and English Language 1A (LASC08022) to at grade B or above for entry to this course. We will only consider University/College level courses. Relevant courses will be courses in Linguistics as an academic discipline. Courses that describe aspects of a given language as part of a Modern Foreign Languages degree will typically not provide students with an adequate background. |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
| At the end of the course, students will be able to: - understand the historical context of Romance, Germanic, Celtic and Slavic languages - describe the major structural properties that characterise these language groups; - read specialised linguistic works in individual European languages; - identify and outline specific research topics that are suitable as projects for Honours long essays and dissertations; - undertake university-level courses on Romance, Germanic, Celtic or Slavic languages in the languages' home countries on a roughly equal footing with local students as regards background knowledge about the language and its history.
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Reading List
Ball, Martin J. (ed.) (1993) The Celtic Languages. London: Routledge.
Comrie, Bernard (1990) The Major Languages of Western Europe. London: Routledge.
Comrie, Bernard and Greville Corbett (eds.) (1993) The Slavonic Languages. London: Routlegde.
Harris, Martin and Vincent, Nigel (eds.) (1988) The Romance Languages. London: Routledge.
König, Ekkehard and Auwera, Johan van der (eds.) (1994) The Germanic Languages. London: Routledge.
Nielsen, Hans Frede (1989) The Germanic Languages: Origins and Early Dialectal Interrelations. University of Alabama Press.
Posner, Rebecca (1996) The Romance Languages. Cambridge University Press.
Ramat, Paolo, and Ramat, Anna Giacalone (1998) The Indo-European Languages. London: Routledge.
Sussex, Roland and Paul Cubberley (eds.) (2006) The Slavic Languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Peter Ackema
Tel: (0131 6)50 3495
Email: packema@staffmail.ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms Susan Hermiston
Tel: (0131 6)50 3440
Email: Susan.Hermiston@ed.ac.uk |
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