Termine im WS 2012/13 - Englisches Seminar - Ruhr-Universität ...

050 612 Müller, T.
Getting to Know Old English, 4 CP
2 st. di 16-18 GABF 04/613 Süd
Old English, or Anglo-Saxon as it is sometimes known, is the oldest attested stage of
English, yet it bears only a very slight resemblance to the language we know today.
Knowledge of Old English is vital, not only as a key to the fascinating literature
produced over a thousand years ago but also to understand the important principles
of language change. While most of us can read Shakespeare and at least
understand some Chaucer, Old English poetry is almost impossible to comprehend
without an introduction to grammar, lexis and (some aspects of) phonology as well as
to the cultural and historical background of this early form of English. This course will
not cover all aspects of Old English but at the end of the semester you will be in a
position to read and understand most West-Saxon texts, i.e. the most commonly
studied Anglo-Saxon dialect.
Course Requirements: regular attendance, active participation, homework and final
exam.
050 613 Ssempuuma
Contact Linguistics, 4 CP
2 st. mi 14-16 GB 5/37 Nord
Contact linguistics is the linguistic study of language(s) used systematically in
contacts between speakers whose native languages are different. In this course, we
will look at the linguistic and social particularities of contact situations and their
respective outcomes. The core of our study will focus on language contact processes
such as bilingualism, multilingualism, language change, shift, and death, code-mixing
and code switching and theories propounded to explain them. We will also discuss
the emergence and evolution of languages with emphasis on English-based Pidgins
and Creoles.
Participants are expected to be active in class by taking part in discussions.
Requirements for credit points: Oral presentation plus final written exam (Übung) or a
term paper (Seminar).
Literature:
Matras, Yaron. 2009. Language Contact. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Thomason, Sarah. 2001. Language Contact: An Introduction. Edinburgh: Edinburgh
University Press.
Winford, Donald. 2003. An Introduction to Contact Linguistics. Malden: Blackwell.