German linguistics : Contrastive and typological analysis [ LGERM2715 ]

Introduction to German linguistics (syntax and morphology). 

Study of German, French and other non indoeuropean languages (syntax and morphology) : grammatical functions, agreement, question formation, case, word order correlations.

Sociolinguistic aspects (language contact, pidgin and creole language), and the evolution of language (human vs. animal communication).

At the end of the cours, the students should: have developed a knowledge of the methodology of contrastive and typological linguistics, especially in comparing German, French, with different non indoeuropean languages, understand the importance of linguistic research for other scientific disciplines, have acquired the competence in linguistic argumentation, be able to present competently one of the topics of this course.

Presentation of one of the topics of the course and a written exam.

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In this course we will study three central aspects of language:

1. Similarities and typological differences in grammar. We analyse the degree in which grammars of human languages differ or show similarities. These similarities and differences will be discussed with respect to phenomena such as case marking, question formation, agreement, word order, grammatical functions, and the distribution of pronouns, in languages such as German, French, and "exotic" languages.

2. We discuss the relationship between languages in terms of " language families " and explain how the different language families have evolved. The following topics will be discussed: The spread over of languages in the world (i.e. the development of language families), the different types of language families (in Europe, in Eurasia, in South- and South-East-Asia, in Africa, in the Middle Orient, in the Pacific, in Australia and in America). In connection with the question of how the different language families have evolved we turn to another " biological " aspect of language and we try to answer the following question:

3. When and how has the human language faculty evolved in the course of the evolution ?

The course requires the student's active participation in discussions, in reading scientific texts. Furthermore, every student has to give a short presentation on "contrastive and typological linguistics" at the end of the course.

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Support. 1. Syllabus, 2. scientific articles/chapters in books, 3. a written guideline for " how to present a linguistic work ", 4. the students get aid with the workout of their presentations (content, structuring, ').