Languages of the Caucasus (Armenian, Georgian) B

Teacher(s)

Coulie Bernard;

Language

French

Prerequisites

• For the level 1 none; a knowledge of the notions of Latin and/or Greek is useful, but not indispensable.
  
• For the level 2, the course LGLOR1654 (level 1).
  

Main themes

An initiation into the structures and principal characteristics of the ancient Armenian and Georgian languages.
Alternately with LGLOR1654, this course is given to two distinct groups of students according to their level. The first term is devoted to Armenian, the second to Georgian.

• For the level 1 (beginners), it initiates first to the writing and reading of the two alphabets concerned, and then to the basic notions of the declensions and conjugations.
• For the level 2, it deepens the notions of morphology and deals with the notions of syntax.

Students attending this course during their preparatory year to the Master in Ancient Languages and Literatures (Oriental Languages) will receive specific guidelines enabling them to get in one year the necessary skills as required by the end of the two levels.

Learning outcomes

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :
1	to read and translate, with the help of the basic tools, ancient Armenian and Georgian texts of elementary or average difficulty. In order to achieve this goal, he will have acquired the basic notions of the nominal morphology (declensions) and of the verbal morphology (conjugations) of the Armenian and Georgian languages.

Content

Introduction to the ancient Armenian language (Q1) and to the ancient Georgian language (Q2). For each language:
- introduction to the alphabet (reading and writing)
- main grammatical elements (morphology and syntax)
- commented reading of simple texts
Presentation of the main tools: grammars, dictionaries, digital resources.

Teaching methods

The teacher presents the elements of grammar (morphology and syntax), which are then immediately applied in sentences and texts that the students are invited to read and analyse with the help of the teacher.

Evaluation methods

Continuous assessment through the reading and analysis exercises in class, complemented by an oral exam focusing on the texts read in class.
Split of the points: continuous assessment 50%; oral exam 50%.

Other information

English-friendly course: course taught in French but offering facilities in English.

Bibliography

Arménien / Armenian: R.W. Thomson, An Introduction to Classical Armenian, 2d ed., Delmar, NY, Caravan Books, 1989. Version pdf fournie aux étudiants / Pdf version available for the students.
Géorgien / Georgian: syllabus fourni par l'enseignant / syllabus provided by the teacher.

Faculty or entity

EHAC