Admission requirements
BA in linguistics or a language. Knowledge of basic linguistic terminology is required. Basic knowledge of the programming language R is desired (but I will offer a basic training for those who are not familiar with it).
Description
Linguistic structures are generally not randomly distributed around the globe: some seem to be universally preferred, others are common in certain parts of the world, or in particular language families. The goal of modern typology is to detect distributional patterns, and to explain them in terms of factors that influence the historical development of languages.
The course focuses on the more practical issues of setting up and carrying out a typological research project. Tot his end, students carry out a small group research project during the course. Questions that we will address include: What is a good research question? How do I determine a good sample? How can I compare between languages? How do I look up the information I want? How can I use exiting databases?
We will also discuss ways of exploring and analyzing data (using programming language R) and interpreting results. We focus on one of three areas of grammar: phoneme inventories, inflectional morphology, and alignment patterns.
Course objectives
At the end of this course you will be able to
formulate a typological research question
design a variable system that allows you to capture cross-linguistic variation with respect to a linguistic phenomenon
understand different ways to compare sometimes very different languages
search through a grammatical description of a language unknown to you
learn about methods that can be used to explore data and test hypotheses
understand explanations for given distributions of linguistic features
Timetable
The timetables are available through My Timetable.
Mode of instruction
- Seminar
Assessment method
Assessment and weighting
Contributions to database (requirement, pass-non-pass)
Problem-sharing session (requirement, pass-non-pass)
Two language reports (20%)
Written exam with essay questions (60%)
Take home assignment (20%)
Resit
There wil be a possibility to resit the written exam and the take home assignment, but only if the total end grade is insufficient.
Inspection and feedback
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.
Inspection and feedback
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.
Reading list
Van Gijn, Rik, Alena Witzlack-Makarevich & Steven Moran (in prep) Typology in Practice.
Further literature will be announced later. Literature will be made available on Brightspace
Registration
Enrolment through uSis is mandatory.
General information about uSis is available on the website
Registration Studeren à la carte and Contractonderwijs
Registration Contractonderwijs
Contact
Education Administration Office Reuvensplaats
E-mail address Education Administration Office Reuvensplaats: osz-oa-reuvensplaats@hum.leidenuniv.nl