Admission requirements
None.
Description
Almost all languages of Europe and a large number of languages in South-West and Central Asia are related to each other. Together they form the Indo-European language family and derive from a single ancestor language that we call Proto-Indo-European. With its approximately 3 billion speakers it is the largest language family in the world. Which languages belong to this language family? How do we know that these languages are related to each other? Which are the oldest known texts in Indo-European languages and what are these texts about? How can you reconstruct the proto-language and what did this proto-language look like? To what extent does our knowledge of the historical development of the Indo-European languages provide an insight into the lives of the prehistoric speakers of the proto-language? Can we reconstruct aspects of their culture and habitat? In this course we will try to answer these and other questions about Indo-European language and culture.
Course objectives
General knowledge of the results of comparative Indo-European linguistics.
General knowledge of the extralinguistic history of the most important older Indo-European languages.
Basic knowledge of a number of linguistic changes that shaped some of the daughter languages of Proto-Indo-European.
Familiarity with the basics of comparative linguistics and linguistic reconstruction.
General knowledge of the culture and prehistory of the speakers of ancient Indo-European languages and Proto-Indo-European.
Timetable
The timetables are available through My Timetable.
Mode of instruction
Lectures and seminars, online lectures and on-campus seminars.
Assessment method
Assessment
Written examination with open questions (mid-term, 25%) and final written examination with open questions (75%). There is a resit covering the entire material (100%) if the weighted average of the two exams 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.
Reading list
Will be communicated through class Brightspace
Registration
Enrolment through My Studymap is mandatory
Contact
For substantive questions, contact the lecturer listed in the right information bar
For questions related to the content of the course, please contact the lecturer, you can find their contact information by clicking on their name in the sidebar.
For questions regarding enrollment please contact the Education Administration Office Reuvensplaats E-mail address Education Administration Office Reuvensplaats: osz-oa-reuvensplaats@hum.leidenuniv.nl
For questions regarding your studyprogress contact the Coordinator of Studies