UCL - Languages of the Caucasus II (Armenian, Georgian)

[GLOR2651]

[45h + 30h] 12 credits

This two-yearly course is taught in 2007-2008, 2009-2010,...

Teacher(s): Bernard Coulie

Language: French

Level: Second

Aims
Main themes
Content and teaching methods
Other information (prerequisite, evaluation (assessment methods), course materials recommended readings, ...)

Aims

The Armenian and Georgian languages belong to different linguistic systems, but to identical cultural and religious worlds. The course has as its aim to train students in the linguistic features of these two languages and their cultural universe by means of the reading of original texts. The grammatical concepts (morphology, syntax, vocabulary, etymology) and the history of the language are studied in depth; comparisons with other languages are demonstrated. By the end of the course the student must be able to read and translate ancient Armenian and Georgian texts at an advanced level of difficulty, and to carry out personal research in texts in these languages.

Main themes

The Armenian and Georgian languages belong to different linguistic systems, but to identical cultural and religious worlds. The course is aimed at the Armenian and Georgian languages as they were used from the fifth century A.D. in the geographical region including the Caucasus, but also the whole Near East (Byzantine World, Christian East). The study will bear on the grammatical features of the two languages, on their respective histories, and on the cultures expressed by them. Particular attention is given to texts translated from Greek into Armenian and Georgian, to the study of manuscripts and palaeography, and to the techniques of establishing a critical edition of texts. This course is given alternately with GLOR 2652.

Content and teaching methods

The Armenian and Georgian languages belong to different linguistic systems, but to identical cultural and religious worlds. The course is aimed at the Armenian and Georgian languages as they were used from the fifth century A.D. in the geographical region including the Caucasus, but also the whole Near East (Byzantine World, Christian East). The course consists of the introduction with commented reading of Armenian and Georgian texts. The commentary deals with the historical and cultural context, and with linguistic aspects. The student will be introduced to a number of auxiliary disciplines: palaeography, codicology, ecdotic, etc. Conceived as an initiation to research, the course requires preparatory work by the student.

Other information (prerequisite, evaluation (assessment methods), course materials recommended readings, ...)

Prerequisite : the course GLOR 1651/1652 Languages of the Caucasus I, or an equivalent level of knowledge (6 ECTS).
Assessment: continuous. Oral examination at the end of the year.
Support: texts and materials provided by the teacher.