PS-History of English: Lexical Changes in the History of English
Berit Johannsen
Kommentar
Words come and go, spread from and to different speech communities, and people may use them in different ways over time and at different places. In this class, we will focus on such developments in the history of English and its varieties.
You will learn about the creation, diffusion and establishment of words, how words can be related in lexical fields and about different ways of extending lexical resources: combining existing morphemes and words (word-formation), copying words from other languages (borrowing), or using an existing word with a different meaning (semantic change). In addition, you will learn how researchers have studied specific aspects of these topics empirically and you will be introduced to different data sources (corpora, text collections, dictionaries, thesauruses) and methods of analysis, which will allow you to conduct your own small case studies of lexical changes in the history of English.
Regular and active participation in this class includes working on a small case study and presenting the project design in a brief elevator pitch at the end of the semester. The module exam consists of a term paper (2000 words) about your case study.
This seminar is complemented by the module lecture.
Schließen12 Termine
Regelmäßige Termine der Lehrveranstaltung