Description
This course will be concerned with various aspects of the linguistic behaviour of the phonemes /r/ and /l/ in English, and its relation to the situation in Modern Dutch.
Topics will include: – are liquids disappearing? – why do liquids (and other sonorant consonants) so readily undergo weakening in postvocalic position? (rhotic vs. non-rhotic dialects, and ‘lateral’ vs. ‘non-lateral’ dialects; the syllabic status of postvocalic /r/ and /l/). – the phonology of non-rhoticity and ‘non-laterality’ (deletion or insertion?). – the phonetics of the realisations of /r/, and of vocalised and ‘dark’ /l/. – the sociolinguistic status of non-rhoticity and ‘non-laterality’.
Teaching method
Two-hour seminar per week
Admission requirements
Students should have passed Linguistics 6A (Phonology) in the B.A. English Language and Culture (or equivalent course). If in doubt, consult the course tutors before registering.
Course objectives
- Students will acquire an insight into the behaviour of liquids in English and Dutch, and to the challenges this behaviour raises for models of phonological structure and phonetic description.
Required reading
To be announced.
Test method
Presentation/participation (25%); final written essay (75%).
Timetable
Click here for the timetable
Information
English Department, P.N. van Eyckhof 4, room 102c. Phone: 071 527 2144, or by mail: english@hum.leidenuniv.nl
Registration
Students can register through U-twist before 15 July. After 15 July students can only register through the Departmental Office.
Blackboard
Not available.