Undergraduate Course: Language Contact and the History of English (LASC10105)
Course Outline
| School | School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | In this course you will become familiar with the study of language contact, and with the role contact has played in the development of English in the British and Irish Isles from the earliest times until the end of the 19th century. |
| Course description |
This course familiarizes students with the study of language contact and the role contact has played in the development of English in the British and Irish Isles from the earliest time to the 19th century. It provides some brief historical background and an introduction to historical sociolinguistics, with an emphasis on the study of language contact. Armed with this knowledge, students will be in a position to tackle issues around the role of language contact in shaping the development of English in the British and Irish Isles; topics covered include the earliest contacts of the Germanic languages, 'the Celtic hypothesis' (the early influence of Celtic on Old and Middle English), the impact of contact with French and with North Germanic, both in the Middle English period and later on, and modern 'Celtic Englishes'.
Please note that this course does not cover topics such as overseas varieties of English, English-based pidgins and creoles, or varieties of English spoken in multicultural contexts today.
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Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Visiting students should have completed at least 3 Linguistics/Language Sciences courses at grade B or above. Students are expected to have some background in historical linguistics and/or the history of English. We will only consider University/College level courses.
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| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Demonstrate a good understanding of the mechanisms and theories of language contact, and the methods used to study language contact in the past.
- Be able to discuss the major controversies around historical language contact in the British and Irish Isles
- Be able to identify potential contact features in varieties of English
- Be able to critically evaluate proposals in the scholarly literature relating to the contact origin of linguistic features found in varieties of English and the mechanism of transfer involved in such contacts.
- Acquire sufficient subject knowledge and study skills to be able to engage with advanced research issues in historical sociolinguistics, including the study of historical language contact
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Pavel Iosad
Tel: (0131 6)50 3948
Email: |
Course secretary | Ms Lynne Robertson
Tel: (0131 6)50 9870
Email: |
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