Admission requirements
First year BA Linguistics or equivalent
Description
This course is an introduction to both the practical and theoretical aspects of language description. The emphasis is on the linguistic analysis of phonological and morphosyntactic phenomena in the languages of the world. Relevant topics to the description of a language and the writing of a grammar will be introduced on the basis of concrete language examples. Solving linguistic puzzles and analyzing data are essential to the discovery of linguistics strategies in the languages of the world. The students will choose a grammar of a language unknown to them that has not been analyzed in great detail in order to describe morphosyntactic aspects of the language.
Course objectives
At the end of the course students should be able:
to apply techniques and conventions of descriptive linguistics
to show broad knowledge of basic grammatical topics that are relevant to the description of little studied languages
to formulate a basic linguistic argument
to provide a clear analysis of several aspects of the grammar of a non-western language
Timetable
Mode of instruction
A combination of a lecture and a seminar
Course Load
Total course load 5EC x 28 hours=140 hours
Lectures: 26 hours
Study of compulsory literature: 52 hours
Assignments & final essay: 62 hours
Assessment method
Presence and active participation (20%)
Assignments (50%)
Final essay (30%)
Weighing
the final mark for the course is established by determining the weighted average
Resit
The students can only resit the assignments
Blackboard
Blackboard will be used for:
information on the course and on assignments
notifications
submission of assignments and the final paper through turnitin.
Reading list
We will use a selection of descriptive linguistic texts from different sources (journal papers and book chapters). The reading list will be made available at the beginning of the course.
Registration
Enrolment through uSis is mandatory.
General information about uSis is available on this website
Registration Studeren à la carte and Contractonderwijs
Registration Studeren à la carte
Registration Contractonderwijs
Contact
Education Administration Office van Wijkplaats
E-mail address Education Administration Office van Wijkplaats: osz-oa-wijkplaats@hum.leidenuniv.nl