BA123 The Germanic languages from a historico-cultural perspective

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2016
Extent and Intensity
2/0. 3 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
Teacher(s)
prof. RNDr. Václav Blažek, CSc. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
prof. PhDr. Bohumil Fořt, Ph.D.
Department of Linguistics and Baltic Languages – Faculty of Arts
Supplier department: Department of Linguistics and Baltic Languages – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
each even Wednesday 10:50–12:25 B2.43
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The course offers the survey of Germanic languages in their diachronic and synchronic perspective. Students should be acquainted with the development of the Germanic languages and characteristics of their grammatical structure. A final result should be an ability to differentiate among various Germanic languages, to take bearings in their grammar and to acquaint with early history of Germanic communities.
Syllabus
  • 1. Witness of antique authors about the ancienit Germans (Caesar, Pliny, Tacitus, Ptolemy). 2. Germans in the time of Movement of nations. Witness of Jordanes, Procopius etc. 3. Position of the Germanic branch within Indo-European and its characteristic features. 4. Sketch of the Germanic comparative phonology and morphology. 5. Various models of the genetic classification of the Germanic languages. 6. The oldest use of the script by Germans: helmet from Negau and early runic script. 7. Survey of the early literary Germanic languages (1st mill. AD): Gothic & Crimean Gothic. Northwest Germanic or Old Runic. Language of the later runes & Old Nordic, plus Old Gutnic. Old English. Old Frisian. Old Saxon. Old High German. 8. Survey of the modern Germanic languages: High German & Yiddish. Low German. Dutch-Flemish-Afrikaans. West/East/North Frisian. English & Scottish. Danish. Swedish. Norwegish. Faeroese. Icelandic.
Literature
    required literature
  • Berkov, V.P. 2003. Současné germánské jazyky. Praha: Karolinum.
  • Blažek, V. 2011. Staré germánské jazyky. Brno: MU.
Teaching methods
Teacher introduces his students in the early history of the Germanic people, old stages of Germanic languages and their common protolanguage in reconstruction. Students present their own descriptions of modern Germanic languages or their pair comparisons.
Assessment methods
The final exam or colloquium depends on quality of the written description of the grammatical structure of a chosen languge or comparison of two languages.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
The course is taught once in two years.
Information on course enrolment limitations: V podzimním semestru 2013 se tento předmět otevírá jen pro omezený počet studentů, kteří nemohou jej absolvovat v základním období (tzn. v jarním semestru 2014).
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2007, Spring 2009, Spring 2010, Spring 2012, Autumn 2013, Autumn 2014, Autumn 2015, Autumn 2017, Autumn 2018, Autumn 2019, Autumn 2020, Autumn 2021.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2016, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/autumn2016/BA123