Admission requirements
Propadeuse Taalwetenschap and/or Archaeologie
Description
Classical Nahuatl was spoken in Central Mexico at the time of the Spanish conquest in 1521, and continued to function as a lingua franca for around two centuries thereafter. Today there are around 1,5 million speakers of different varieties of Nahuatl. The language had its own unique writing system, working on principles that have not been understood until very recently. The language has a complex morphology with rich mechanisms for valency-affecting mechanisms such as causative, applicative, passive, and incorporation. It shares several features with other Mesoamerican languages, such as numeral classifiers.
The course will provide an overview of Classical Nahuatl grammar, writing, and basic vocabulary, as well as some background on the histocal-cultural situation and the situation of modern dialects. We will mainly use the grammatical introduction by Michel Launey, the dictionary by Frances Karttunen, and texts from the 16th century written by native speakers.
Course objectives
- The student will gain grammatical insights sufficient to analyze and gloss any text with the help of a dictionary.
- The student will gain a clear overview of the typological profile of the language.
- The student will learn to understand the principles of the writing system.
- The student will learn how Classical Nahuatl relates genealogically to other Uto-Aztecan languages and areally to other languages in Mesoamerica.
Timetable
Mode of instruction
Lecture
Course Load
Total course load 5 EC x 28 hours= 140 hours
Lectures: 2 × 14 = 28
Study of compulsory literature: 3.5 × 14 = 49
Assignment(s): 3.5 * 14 = 49
Preparation exam: 12
Exam(s): 2
Assessment method
Written mid-term examination with short open questions
Written final examination with short open questions
Oral presentation during class
Weighing
the final mark for the course is established by determining the average of the three assessment methods.
Resit
Resit of the mid-term and the final examns are are possible individually. New questions, but of a similar kind, will be prepared.
Blackboard
Blackboard will not be used, materials will be distributed by email.
Reading list
Launey, Michel. 2011. An Introduction to Classical Nahuatl. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Karttunen, Frances. 1992. An Analytical Dictionary of Nahuatl. 2nd edition. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.
These two books should be acquired. Other materials, including texts in Nahuatl and an electronic dictionary, will be distributed in class.
Registration
Enrolment through uSis is mandatory.
General information about uSis is available in English and Dutch
Contact
For questions about the content of the course, please contact the teacher:
Dr. S.K. Wichmann
Søren Wichmann: http://soerenwichmann.com/
Administrations Office: van Wijkplaats: osz-oa-wijkplaats@hum.leidenuniv.nl
Coordinator of Studies: Else van Dijk