Englisches Seminar - Ruhr-Universität Bochum

This course takes place as a block seminar. There will be an obligatory
preparatory meeting on April 08, 2013, 8.30 - 10.00, which students must attend, as
we will discuss the course outline and assign presentations on that day. Students
also must have read the individual texts on the readings list before the block seminar.
There will be a brief test on the first day of the block seminar to ensure that
participants have done so. Please note that you will not be allowed to participate in
the seminar, if you fail to attend the preparatory meeting or to document that you
have read the texts.
Assessment/requirements: Übung: regular active participation (this will include
regular reading and, possibly, data analyses at home) and a contribution to an inclass
group presentation (with handout, data collection, and literature reviews);
Seminar: the above, and an empirical term paper (15-18 pages). For students taking
the course to cover the exam module: annotated bibliography of 10 titles related to
the course topic; three paper summaries.
Übung
050 710 Müller, T.
Grammaticalisation, 3 CP
2 st. mi 12-14 GABF 04/613 Süd
One of the classic views of functional linguistics is expressed in Talmy Givón’s
famous formula ‘Today’s morphology is yesterday’s syntax.’ Yet the view that
grammatical categories evolve out of lexical ones goes back at least to Wilhelm von
Humboldt in the early 19 th century. This view implies that grammar is not a static,
seemingly random set of rules but that it is constantly changing and developing new
forms. So, reformulating Givón, the grammar of the future is shaped by the pragmatic
discourse strategies of today.
This class will address questions such as (and will attempt to answer them):
‐ How does the grammar of a language come about?
‐ Does language change always involve grammaticalisation?
‐ When does “pragmatic inference” become “semantic meaning”?
‐ Can we predict language change?
‐ Can we predict which words will end up as grammatical markers?
‐ Do all languages go through the same evolutionary stages?
‐ Where are the boundaries of grammaticalisation, especially with regard to
related processes such as lexicalisation, re-analysis and analogy?
Assessment/requirements: active participation, reading assignments and homework,
final test.