Fachbereich 7

Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaft


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Language Change


DozentIn: Dr. phil. Meike Pentrel, M.A.

Veranstaltungstyp: Seminar

Ort: 15/113: Di. 12:00 - 14:00 (14x), 41/102: Mittwoch, 11.10.2023 10:00 - 12:00

Zeiten: Di. 12:00 - 14:00 (wöchentlich), Ort: 15/113, Termine am Mittwoch, 11.10.2023 10:00 - 12:00, Ort: 41/102

Beschreibung: If we compare earlier forms of English to English in its present stare, it is farily obvious that a lot has changed in the past 1,000 years. Just think of a single lexical item like Old English "cniht" turning into PdE "knight", there are already changes on the semantic and on the phonological level to be discussed.
It seems that language change is inevitable. Yet, for some speakers changes are something to be stopped otherwise their language will be corrupted.

In this seminar we look at three central questions: 1) What changes? 2) How do changes proceed? and 3) Why do languages change?
We will look at possible causes, principles and mechanisms underlying language change on every linguistic level. Furthermore, we will discuss several theories explaining different forms of language change.

Suggested Readings:

Aitchison, Jean. 2001. Language Change. 3rd ed. Cambridge: CUP.
Burridge, Kate and Alexander Bergs. 2016. Understanding Language Change. Routledge
Bybee, Joan. 2015. Language Change. Cambrisge: Cambridge University Press.
McMahon, April. 1994. Understanding Language Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.


Please note: This seminar is designed for 4LP students only.
Students who need to complete 2 CP for the V2 Module (1./2. Komponente)/ANG-V-SW (1.Komponente) may register for the „History of English [2CP lecture]“ (Dr. Pentrel) or for the „Grammar of English" lecture (Prof. Bergs). Only under specific circumstances, such as a particular interest in the topic, a provable scheduling conflict or if you already took any of these lectures before, you may approach me about completing this class for 2 CP.


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