Undergraduate Course: History of Scots (LASC10098)
Course Outline
| School | School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | The course examines the emergence, structure and status of Scots from its earliest beginnings to c.1900. |
| Course description |
The course will study the emergence, structure and status of Scots from its earliest beginnings to c.1900. For each major stage in the language's development, the course will: (i) survey the socio-historical context; (ii) identify the major structural changes; (iii) consider theories of linguistic change. Students will additionally learn to read and analyse selected Older and early Modern Scots texts and to interpret Scottish place-names and other commonly-used Scottish terms.
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Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Visiting students should have at least 3 Linguistics/Language Sciences courses at grade B or above (or be predicted to obtain this). We will only consider University/ College level courses. |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2017/18, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 35 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 27,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
169 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
A mid-course assignment, chosen from a list provided by the lecturer, to assess knowledge of Older Scots lexis, spelling and grammar: 2,000 words, 50%; An end-of-course essay, chosen from a list provided by the lecturer, to assess engagement with the literature on the status of Older Scots: 2,000 words, 50%. |
| Feedback |
A practice assignment (1,000 words), set early in the course, with a model answer provided for self-assessment. This will be followed by a feedback session, which will feed forward to the assessed coursework;
Ongoing feedback to students during lectures and seminars;
Advice on assessed coursework throughout the course;
Detailed marker comments on assessed coursework;
A Q&A session in week 8 on essay topics; |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Comment on linguistic features of texts from Early, early Middle, late Middle and early Modern Scots
- Describe diachronic developments at all levels of language in the history of Scots
- Identify key figures and events in the history of the Scots language and explain their impact
- Summarise and critically evaluate arguments concerning the status of Older Scots
- Interpret Scottish place-names and other commonly-used Scottish terms
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Reading List
Corbett, J., J.D. McClure & J. Stuart-Smith (eds.) 2003. The Edinburgh companion to Scots. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Devitt, A. 1989. Standardising written English: Diffusion in the case of Scotland. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Dossena, M. 2005. Scotticisms in grammar and vocabulary. Edinburgh: John Donald.
Görlach, M. 2002. A Textual History of Scots. Heidelberg: C. Winter.
Jones, C. (ed.) 1997. The Edinburgh history of the Scots language. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Kay, B. 1988. Scots: The mither tongue. London: Grafton.
Macafee, C. & A.J. Aitken. 2002. A history of Scots to 1700. In W. Craigie et al. (eds.), A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue, vol. XII. Oxford: Oxford University Press. [Online at: www.dsl.ac.uk/about-scots/history-of-scots/]
McClure, J.D. 1988. Why Scots Matters. Edinburgh: Saltire Society.
Murison, D. 1979. The historical background. In A.J. Aitken & T. McArthur (eds.), Languages of Scotland, 2-13. Edinburgh: Chambers.
Robinson, C. & R. Ó Maolalaigh. 2007. The several tongues of a single kingdom: the languages of Scotland, 1314-1707. In T.O. Clancy & M. Pittock (eds.), The Edinburgh history of Scottish literature, vol. 1, 153-63. Edinburgh: EUP.
Smith, J. 2013. Oder Scots: A linguistic reader. Woodbridge: Boydell & Brewer. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Rhona Alcorn
Tel: (0131 6)50 6660
Email: Joshua.Stapp@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Emma Nelson
Tel: (0131 6)50 9870
Email: |
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