16846
Seminar
WiSe 22/23: Invisible Grammar
Ferdinand von Mengden
Comments
We usually associate ‘grammar’ or ‘linguistic structure’ with well-known patterns that can be found and studied in grammatical descriptions, language coursebooks, or other types of language codification. The underlying claim of the seminar is that there are grammatical patterns which are not included in such codification practices – and therefore are likely to evade the observers’ attention.
The main empirical objective of this seminar is to identify and analyse those patterns which seem to go unnoticed, but at a closer look perhaps still deserve to be considered essential parts of grammar. Cases in point are, for instance, the distinction between indefinite pronoun and cardinal numeral in German (n Haus vs. ein Haus), the inflection of clause connectors in West Germanic vernaculars (wennst du morgen kommst), or the singular/plural distinction in English Second Person Pronouns (ye, y’all, you guys). Other examples are the many meaningful intonation patterns without which linguistic communication isn’t possible. Once we acknowledge that more patterns exist than those that are part of the codified (written) language, the question arises of who or what determines how some pattern becomes visible and some other structure remains hidden in spite of its frequency. The class will therefore include both the level of language discourse by looking at different meta-linguistic practices (e.g., language description, codification) and the empirical level based on case studies.
Examples from English and German will provide the main source of data. Whenever possible, we will also look at examples of other languages. close
16 Class schedule
Regular appointments
Wed, 2022-10-19 18:00 - 20:00
Wed, 2022-10-26 18:00 - 20:00
Wed, 2022-11-02 18:00 - 20:00
Wed, 2022-11-09 18:00 - 20:00
Wed, 2022-11-16 18:00 - 20:00
Wed, 2022-11-23 18:00 - 20:00
Wed, 2022-11-30 18:00 - 20:00
Wed, 2022-12-07 18:00 - 20:00
Wed, 2022-12-14 18:00 - 20:00
Wed, 2023-01-04 18:00 - 20:00
Wed, 2023-01-11 18:00 - 20:00
Wed, 2023-01-18 18:00 - 20:00
Wed, 2023-01-25 18:00 - 20:00
Wed, 2023-02-01 18:00 - 20:00
Wed, 2023-02-08 18:00 - 20:00
Wed, 2023-02-15 18:00 - 20:00