Admission requirements
Completed BA in Linguistics or a language. Familiarity with common linguistic concepts and terminology (e.g. “morpheme”, “allomorph”, “inflection”, “affix”) will be assumed.
Description
Words are a central unit in speech and writing. Studying words in a systematic way brings up all kinds of interesting problems, which will be the topic of this course. Such problems are, for example:
Can words like “happy” or “struggle” be split into parts?
Are “brood” and “broodje” separate words or variants of the same word?
Why can we say “instagrammable” but not “?instagrammous”?
What is a “salad-salad” and how do forms like this work?
Is “scissors” singular, plural or both?
We will start out with clear and undisputed cases and then work our way towards more challenging examples. Data will be mainly from West Germanic, but other languages will be considered when helpful.
The course requires active participation and preparatory reading.
Course objectives
After completing this course, students will have
a thorough grounding in morphological phenomena;
a basic understanding of morphological theories;
the ability to recognise analytical problems in word structure and give arguments for solutions;
the ability to critically reflect on their own implicit assumptions and words and word structure;
the ability to independently read and understand linguistic research literature;
the ability to present their knowledge in an adequate manner in oral and written form.
Timetable
The timetables are available through My Timetable.
Mode of instruction
Seminar
Independent reading
Assessment method
Assessment
Active class participation
Oral presentation
Short paper (“abstract”)
Final paper
Written feedback will be given for all assessments. The final paper can also be discussed in person.
Weighing
Active class participation (5 %)
Oral presentation (25%)
Short paper (“abstract”) (20%)
Final paper (50%)
Weighing
See Assessment.
The final paper has to be sufficient (5,5 or higher).
Resit
A resit is possible for the final paper. The final paper can also be discussed in person.
Inspection and feedback
Written feedback will be given for all assessments. The final paper can also be discussed in person.
Reading list
A reading list will be provided via Brightspace at the beginning of term.
Registration
General information about registering for courses and exams can be found [here] (https://www.student.universiteitleiden.nl/en/your-study-programme/courses-and-exams/enrolment/humanities/dutch-linguistics-ma?cf=humanities&cd=dutch-linguistics-ma#tab-1)
Registration Contract teaching and Exchange
Information for those interested in taking this course in context of Contract teaching (with taking examinations), eg. about costs, registration and conditions.
For the registration of exchange students contact Humanities International Office.
Contact
For substantive questions, contact the lecturer listed in the right information bar.
For questions about enrolment, admission, etc, contact the Education Administration Office: Reuvensplaats
Remarks
Not applicable