1401.12 - Language change and language variation (MA)

1401.12

Language change and language variation (MA)

10

Students are required to have completed a BA in Faroese

The purpose of the course is to enable students to understand and work with the academic fields of language change and language variation. The course provides students with knowledge about the theory, practice and methods of language change and language variation, as well as key terms used in language change and language variation discussions.

This course is made up of two sections: a section on historical and contemporary aspects of language change, which is taught by Hjalmar P. Petersen, and a section on language variation taught by Jógvan í Lon Jacobsen. In total these sections account for 10 ECTS. Language change will be examined using a structuralist approach. Whereas quantitative and qualitative methods will be applied in the sociolinguistic section, which will include information about using statistics to study language variation. During the review of theory reasons for language change and language variation will be examined and the course will attempt to answer questions such as: what, where and why.

Lectures and student presentations. The first part of the course will focus on language change and the second part on language variation

Students are expected to acquire a foundation in the theories and methods related to the fields of language change and language variation, as well as the capacity to assess the mechanisms that generate change and variation, both internal and external, as well as other reasons for language change. Students are expected to be able to read academic texts on the subject and assess them. With this knowledge successful students can demonstrate: • ability to carry out practical work and theoretical analysis on language change and language variation and thereby understand the difference between prescriptive and descriptive linguistics • ability to communicate academic knowledge in these fields orally as well as in writing • insight into how to work with language change and language variation • possessing the competences and knowledge necessary to understand that language change and language variation are naturally occurring phenomena

Written examination. One single examination for the whole course

Provisional reading list: L. Campbell Historical Linguistics R.A. Hudson: Sociolinguistics

Jógvan í Lon Jacobsen