Admission requirements
While the course is open for students without linguistic background, knowledge of basic linguistic terminology is assumed, and some background in historical linguistics and linguistic typology is advantageous.
Description
Course subject: Overview of recent developments in Austronesian and Papuan linguistics.
Together, the Austronesian (~1200 languages) and Papuan (~800 languages) represent about a third of the world’s languages. While the Austronesian family is an established genealogical unit, the term Papuan is generally used as a cover term for numerous language groups spoken on New Guinea and surroundings that are not Austronesian.
We consider the Austronesian and Papuan languages from two distinct angles:
(a) Genealogical: What is the evidence for family classifications? What are the assumptions and procedures used for genetic classification in general, and how do they apply to the languages of this region?
(b) Typological: What are typical structural features of Austronesian languages? How do they compare to typical features of Papuan languages, if such exist?
By relating the genealogical and typological observations we can observe that structural characteristics of languages have diffused across language family boundaries. The study of such areal distributions of structural characteristics helps to reconstruct possible scenario’s of ancient and more recent contact between groups of speakers. The area we focus on is Eastern Indonesia, a linguistically rich zone where Austronesian and Papuan languages have been in contact for millennia.
Course objectives
- To become familiar with the evidence used for the genealogical classification of Austronesian and Papuan languages.
- To be able to evaluate how various types of evidence can be used to study language history.
- To understand how historical reconstruction is done either by carrying out a basic reconstruction task using primary data from the area, or by studying (an) article(s) reporting on such work.
- To understand the typological variety found in the Austronesian family and Papuan language groups.
- To present a historical and typological comparison of one or more features found in languages of the area.
Timetable
The timetable is available on the “MA Linguistics website”: http://hum.leiden.edu/linguistics/timetables-linguistics/timetableslinguistics.html.
Mode of instruction
Seminar
Course Load
Total course load: 10 ec, 280 hours.
time spent on attending lectures: 28 hours
time for studying the compulsory literature: 90 hours
time to prepare the two presentations: 40 hours
time to write a paper (including reading/research): 122 hours
Assessment method
Oral presentations of 2 research assignments during the course: each 25%
A written paper, which may be based on one of the oral presentations: 50%
Blackboard
Blackboard will be used for:
distribution of readings
communication
Reading list
To be announced at the beginning of the course. Readings will be made available through Blackboard.
Registration
Enrolment through uSis is mandatory.
When registering, students that are registered for the specialisation that this course belongs to, or the Research Master, take priority. The deadline for registration is August 15. All other students should contact the “coordinator of studies”:http://hum.leiden.edu/linguistics/advice-linguistics/.
General information about uSis is available in English and Dutch
Registration Studeren à la carte and Contractonderwijs
Registration Studeren à la carte via: www.hum.leidenuniv.nl/onderwijs/alacarte
Registration Contractonderwijs via: http://www.hum.leidenuniv.nl/onderwijs/contractonderwijs/