German linguistics (2014/2015)

Learning outcomes

Knowledge about basic notion in linguistic typology, language-change study and grammatical analysis; knowledge of the main linguistic features of German; command of methods in contrastive grammar; analytical and interpretational skills: generalizing and interpreting data; presentation skills

"Typological variation in German"
The objective of the course is the presentation of the linguistic structure of German in contrast to other languages. We will discuss which features of German correspond to features of other (most of all indoeuropean) languages and which features are specific for German. 'Specificity' means both single features which strongly distinguish German from other languages (e.g., the general tendency to form "Klammerstrukturen" or almost unlimited compounding) and the specific combination of features which also occur in other languages but which do not co-occur in the same way (e.g., in German reduction of unstressed secondary syllables on the one hand, and umlaut as a form of vowel harmony on the other). All linguistic levels (phonetics/phonology, morphology, syntax) will be considered. 'German' does not refer only to the standard or literary language but to all variants of German including variation in space (dialects and regional languages) and variation in time (older stages of German and language-change directions). This contrastive perspective on German is especially relevant for the students of the LM 37 programme because in their future walks of life as German teachers or scholars of "Auslandsgermanistik" they will always be concerned with language comparison.

Note: The course will be taught in German.

Reference list
- Text book: Roelcke, Thorsten (2011): Typologische Variation im Deutschen. Grundlagen - Modelle - Tendenzen. Berlin: Erich Schmidt Verlag.
- A detailed reference list will be provided during the course.

- students who regularly attend classes: oral presentation ("Referat") during classes, small written examination at the end of the course and discussion of the topic of the "Referat" after the end of the course
- students who do not regularly attend classes: oral examination, according to the indications which will be published at the professor's website

Required linguistic competence: C2 (CEFR).