The aim of the present seminar will be to examine the vocabulary of English with a view of understanding how it developed, how it is structured and how it relates to other levels of linguistics. The seminar will have a diachronic aspect tracing the origins of words in English and considering the influence of other languages on its composition. The synchronic aspect will deal with how present-day English vocabulary is organised, contrasting it with that of German and looking at various methods used by linguists to describe the structure of a language’s vocabulary.
Recommended literature
Baugh, Albert C. and Thomas Cable 2002. A history of the English language. 5th edition. London: Routledge.
Gramley, Stephan 2001. The vocabulary of world English. London: Arnold.
Harley, Heidi 2003. English words. A linguistic introduction. Oxford: Blackwell.
Hughes, Geoffrey 2000. A history of English words. Oxford: Blackwell.
Katamba, Francis 1994. English words. London: Routledge.
Lipka, Leonard 1990. An outline of English lexicology. Tübingen: Max Niemeyer.
Pyles, Thomas and John Algeo 1993. The origins and development of the English language. 4th edition. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
Singleton, David 2000. Language and the lexicon: an introduction. London: Edward Arnold.
Stockwell, Robert and Donka Minkova 2001. English words, history and structure. Cambridge: University Press. |
