Universität Wien

120225 SE MA Seminar - Focus: Historical Linguistics / Linguistics Seminar (2024S)

Exploring the history of English words: form, meaning, and use

10.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 12 - Anglistik
Continuous assessment of course work
Moodle
Mo 06.05. 16:15-17:45 Seminarraum 6 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-22.A

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

max. 20 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

Monday 11.03. 16:15 - 17:45 Seminarraum 6 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-22.A
Monday 18.03. 16:15 - 17:45 Seminarraum 6 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-22.A
Monday 08.04. 16:15 - 17:45 Seminarraum 6 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-22.A
Monday 15.04. 16:15 - 17:45 Seminarraum 6 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-22.A
Monday 22.04. 16:15 - 17:45 Seminarraum 6 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-22.A
Monday 29.04. 16:15 - 17:45 Seminarraum 6 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-22.A
Monday 13.05. 16:15 - 17:45 Seminarraum 6 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-22.A
Monday 27.05. 16:15 - 17:45 Seminarraum 6 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-22.A
Monday 03.06. 16:15 - 17:45 Seminarraum 6 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-22.A
Monday 10.06. 16:15 - 17:45 Seminarraum 6 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-22.A
Monday 17.06. 16:15 - 17:45 Seminarraum 6 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-22.A
Monday 24.06. 16:15 - 17:45 Seminarraum 6 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-22.A

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

In this seminar, we explore the histories of English words on the basis of data derived from the Oxford English dictionary (OED) and from diachronic corpora, such as the Corpus of Historical American English, the Penn-Helsinki Parsed Corpora of Middle and Early Modern English, or the York-Toronto Corpus of Old English Prose. While we shall take formal developments through sound change into account, our focus will be on semantic developments. Our task will be to hold the large variety of meanings that words could have expressed in their histories and that the OED describes comprehensively, against the evidence of usage data in corpora in order to determine what meanings words expressed most frequently, or by convention, at different stages of their historical development. This will raise interesting questions concerning the difference between (pragmatic) discourse meaning and conventionalized lexical (or ‘semantic’) meaning, the relationship between different word meanings and their classification, as well as the mechanisms by which word meanings get widened, narrowed, changed, or lost.
During the first part of the seminar, we learn to read and interpret entries in the OED and to assess their usefulness as systematic descriptions of conventionalized semantic meanings. We also practice corpus work, and learn how to use both online corpora with their interfaces, and off-line corpora accessible by means of open access search software, such as AntConc. Finally, we try to develop ways of dealing with data of earlier stages of English, which may strike many of us as rather alien.
Participants select (sets of) words according to their own preferences and interests, and develop systematic accounts of their development, which they report both in oral presentations, as well as in their final seminar papers. Although the formulation of specific and hopefully testable hypotheses about semantic change is invited, purely descriptive and exploratory research projects are also welcome. Following the principles of open science, data samples retrieved from corpora, as well as any classifications, will be shared via our Moodle platform.

Assessment and permitted materials

Participants will contribute actively to discussions, they will design and carry our research projects on word history with a focus on semantic change. They will

- produce project proposals
- present (preliminary) findings in class
- share collected data (and any first classifications or interpretations) online
- submit a written seminar paper

Participants will not only be allowed, but encouraged, or actually required, to use the online OED, various available corpora, as well as extant research literature.

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

Students will be assessed on the basis of:

• a research proposal: 10%
• a presentation: 20%
• extracted (and classified) data shared online: 20%
• a seminar paper (6,500-7,000 words): 50%

Regular attendance and active participation are required (student are allowed to miss two classes over the whole semester).

Grading scale:
0–59.9% = 5; 60–69.9% = 4; 70–79.9% = 3; 80–89.9% = 2; 90–100% = 1

Examination topics

Participants will demonstrate that they have familiarized themselves with the OED, that they know how to access and use relevant diachronic corpora, and that they have acquired principles of semantic analysis and the description of semantic change on the basis of extant literature.

Reading list

** Fitzmaurice, Susan M. 2016. Semantic and pragmatic change. In Merja Kytö & Päivi Pahta (eds.), The Cambridge handbook of English historical linguistics (Cambridge handbooks in language and linguistics), 256–270. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (DOI: 10.1017/CBO9781139600231.016)
Fortson, Benjamin W. 2008. An Approach to Semantic Change. In Brain D. Joseph, Richard D. Janda & Brian D. Joseph (eds.), The handbook of historical linguistics (Blackwell handbooks in linguistics), 648–666. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub. (DOI: 10.1002/9781405166201.ch21)
Nerlich, Brigitte. 2006. Metonymy. In Encyclopedia of Language & Linguistics, 109–113. Elsevier. (DOI: 10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/01008-7)
** Oxford English Dictionary. Using the OED. (https://www.oed.com/information/using-the-oed/. accessed: January 2024)
** Traugott, Elizabeth C. 2013-. Semantic Change. In Mark Aronoff (ed.), Oxford research encyclopedia of linguistics (Oxford research encyclopedias). New York, NY: Oxford University Press. (DOI:10.1093/acrefore/9780199384655.013.323).
Traugott, Elizabeth C. 2006. Semantic Change: Bleaching, Strengthening, Narrowing, Extension. In Encyclopedia of Language & Linguistics, 124–131. Elsevier. (DOI: 10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/01105-6)

**: Highly recommended

More TBA

Association in the course directory

Studium: MA 812 [2];
Code/Modul: MA 4, MA 5;
Lehrinhalt: 12-0496

Last modified: We 28.02.2024 12:46