Admission requirements
BA German or BA Linguistics plus a good command of German.
Description
When we think of language, we think of words. Words are also of scientific interest. Are “schreibst” and “schreibt” two words or two forms of the same word? Is “Haupt-“ in “Haupteingang” a noun or a prefix? How do you make new words such as “whatsappisch” and why doesn’t this work with “*Facebookung”? Why are there hardly any true synonyms? How do we know that “Kalkreiniger” is against chalk, but “Glasreiniger” is not against glass? What is the phenomenon that we see in the dissimilar forms of “sein”, i.e. “bin” and “seid”?
In this course we discuss the central issues in morphology: the structure of words, their semantic and grammatical function, the productivity of word formation, but also the architecture of the mental lexicon.
Students will be collecting their own data and making their own observations.
Course objectives
After completion of the course, the student possesses:
a sound knowledge of the morphology of German and elementary knowledge of the morphology of other related and unrelated languages;
basic insights in morphological theories;
the ability to identify, analyse and describe morphological entities and processes on the basis of selective datasets;
the ability to independently read and understand linguistic research literature;
the ability to report – in an adequately scientific manner – in oral and written form on linguistic observations, analyses and and research literature. This is proven in an oral presentation and in two written essays.
Timetable
The timetables are available through My Timetable.
Mode of instruction
Seminar
Indepedent reading
Assessment method
Assessment
Active participation in class (5%)
Oral presentation (25%)
Brief written version of the presentation (1000 words) (20%)
Essay (7000 words) (50%)
Weighing
See Assessment
The final essay must be sufficient (5,5 or higher).
Resit
A resit is only possible for the essay.
Inspection and Feedback
The participants will receive written feedback on the oral presentation, the abstract and the essay. The essay can also be discussed in person.
Reading list
- A reading list will be provided via Brightspace.
Registration
Enrolment through uSis is mandatory.
General information about uSis is available on the website
Registration Studeren à la carte and Contractonderwijs
Information for those interested in taking this course in context of À la carte education (without taking examinations), eg. about costs, registration and conditions.
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.