GRN2145

Medieval German language and historical linguistics

Proposed to be offered next in 1999

E M Wilkinson

8 points
* 3 hours per week
* Clayton
* Corequisites: a second-year language course at level GRN2415 or higher

Objectives At the end of the course students should know the phonological development of Modern Standard German from Proto-Indo-European to the present day; be able to read Old High German and Middle High German texts with the aid of grammars and dictionaries; know the fundamental structural principles of sound change; understand the development of Modern Standard German noun and verb classes from Old High German through Middle High German to the present; have gained a better understanding of why certain things in the Modern Standard language are as they are, eg noun and verb classes, adjective endings.

Synopsis This subject explores the development of the German language (800 - 1350) from Proto-Indo-European through Proto-Germanic and the earliest written records in High German to the present day. The subject is structuralist in approach and emphasises the development of systems rather than individual items The subject examines fundamentals of historical linguistics, the linguistic history of the German language, through reading of Old and Middle High German texts.

Assessment Written (4000 words): 70%
* Examinations (1 hour): 30%

Prescribed texts

Hartmann von Aue Der arme Heinrich ed. Fr Maurer, de Gruyter
Weinhold K and others Kleine mittelhochdeutsche Grammatik 16th edn, Braumüller