LING 340(S) Historical Linguistics
This course is an introduction to the study of how languages change over time. We will explore the regularity of sound change and how this can be exploited via the comparative method to build viable hypotheses that reconstruct the pronunciations of ancient languages. From these reconstructions, we will classify languages into related families and uncover the limits of our ability to peer into the linguistic past. Though the primary focus of this course is on sound change, syntactic and semantic change will also be covered.
Format: lecture/discussion. Requirements: participation in discussions, weekly homework, a midterm exam, and a final exam.
Prerequisites: Linguistics 100 or Linguistics 210. No enrollment limit (expected: 15).
Hour: SANDERS