WiSe 23/24: Ü-Language Change I
Ferdinand von Mengden
Kommentar
Language varies and changes. All the time. At any place. But how does this work exactly? Are there constraints or patterns according to which language changes? A closer look will reveal that linguistic developments are not always random. There are discernible patterns underlying language variation and identifiable pathways of linguistic change. Moreover, a change on one linguistic level (syntax, morphology, phonology, lexicon) may in turn trigger a shift of the system in one of the other domains.
Explanations of existing structures and how they come into being are not necessarily internal to the linguistic system. Often social or cognitive aspects contribute to explaining variation and change. An individual speaker’s motivations and conceptualizations, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, habitual or traditional practices of any social group both conflict with each other and mutually reinforce each other in complex and intricate ways – and are therefore a fascinating object of study.
The class aims at enhancing an understanding of the feedback loop between individual behavior and social conventions. It is the complex and subtle ways in which social conventions interact with individual needs in communication which provide the ground for understanding how language changes and varies – and hence why and how language actually works.
Those who wish to participate but cannot come to the first class are kindly asked to notify me via email before the beginning of the lecture period.
Schließen16 Termine
Regelmäßige Termine der Lehrveranstaltung