universit ä tbochum seminarinternes vorlesungsverzeichnis ba-st

look at the electronic Atlas of Varieties of English reveals that extension of the
progressive to stative verbs is attested in 49 out of 74 varieties of English around the
world.
In this seminar we will focus on what is currently happening in the domain of
grammar in selected first and second language English varieties. The focus will be,
for example, on the following areas: the noun phrase, tense and aspect, verb
morphology, and negation.
All students are expected to participate actively in class by engaging in the
discussions and by contributing to group work and to do the weekly <strong>ba</strong>ckground
reading. Requirements for credit points: in-class presentations for all plus a term
paper for those wishing to obtain 4 CPs.
Preparatory reading:
Kortmann, Bernd (2006). “Syntactic Variation in English: A Glo<strong>ba</strong>l Perspective.” In:
Bas Aarts and April MacMahon (eds.), The Handbook of English Linguistics.
Oxford: Blackwell, 603-624.
050 614 Müller
The Development of the English Lexicon, 4 CP
2 st. do 14-16 GB 6/137 Nord
English has extensively borrowed new words from a vast number of different
languages, thus reflecting the astonishing development the English language has
undergone in the last 500 years or so – a development which is closely connected to
the political influence of the United Kingdom and the United States.
The main sources for borrowing new words were, however, French and Latin, and
English has borrowed from these two languages to such an extent that, from a lexical
point of view, Modern English may seem more like a Romance language than a
Germanic one. The <strong>ba</strong>sic vocabulary, i.e. highly frequent words but also, for
example, sear words, is still of Germanic (Anglo-Saxon) origin.
In this course we will look at all these developments and will also examine which
political events and cultural innovations led to changes in the English lexicon.
Course requirements: presentation and Hausarbeit.