Admission requirements
No specific admission requirements.
Description
In linguistics, basic concepts are used that make it possible to speak about usual phenomena in language and also recognize these phenomena. In this course, students are made familiar with the most important concepts; they gain insight into the distribution and diversity of the languages of the world and are introduced to striking features of certain languages or language families. This course also addresses the classification of languages based on genealogical and/or typological features, and the number of extant languages and their degree of endangerment or vitality. By learning about a variety of subjects and regions, students are also prepared for the track choice in the second year. On the basis of a number of especially non-European languages, important linguistic phenomena are discussed, such as, for example, transitivity, ergativity and morphological complexity.
Course objectives
By the end of this course students will have acquired:
knowledge of the basic concepts used in linguistics
insight into language diversity and the way in which languages are classified, both genealogically and typologically
insight into the situation (endangered or vital) in which the languages of the world find themselves
knowledge of a number of special features of languages of the regions that can be further explored
during the studiesunderstanding to make an informed choice between the options offered within the framework of the studies
Timetable
Mode of instruction
Interactive lecture (2 hours) with weekly assignments, which will be discussed during the lectures.
Course Load
The course load is 140 hours:
26 hours for lecture attendance
2 hours for the final examination
50 hours for study of compulsory literature and class preparation assignments
62 hours for the take-home midterm exam and further preparation final exam
Assessment method
Assessment
Assessment takes place by a take-home midterm examination and a written final examination with short open questions.
Weighing
Midterm exam (30%)
Final exam (70%)
The final grade for the course is established by determining the weighted average of the results of the exams.
Resit
In case of an insufficient final grade, students can take a resit of the final exam.
Exam review
How and when an exam review will take place will be disclosed together with the publication of the exam results at the latest. If a student requests a review within 30 days after publication of the exam results, an exam review will have to be organized.
Blackboard
Blackboard will be used for:
general announcements
access to PowerPoints lectures
assignments
if applicable, supplementary readings – within the boundaries of copyright
Reading list
- Pereltsvaig, Asya (2017).Languages of the World: An Introduction, second edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
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
For questions about the content of the course, please contact the teacher: Mily Crevels
Education Administration Office van Wijkplaats
E-mail address Education Administration Office van Wijkplaats: osz-oa-wijkplaats@hum.leidenuniv.nl
Remarks
This course is open to students from the BA Linguistics only.