122049 PS Proseminar Linguistics 2 (2019S)

In this class the language of Shakespeare will be studied as a specific instance of Early Modern English (1500-1700), a period that plays a fundamental role in the emergence of Modern Standard English and its varieties. We will encounter a language that is often familiar but sometimes also mildly exotic from a present-day point of view, with considerable internal variation and ongoing linguistic change within the period. Besides studying a goodly amount of literary language we will also look at a number of non-literary Early Modern English texts and assess the major characteristics of Shakespeare's language on all levels of linguistic description, from phonology to text linguistics and stylistics.

Thus participants will be familiar with the major issues in the linguistic discussion of the language of Shakespeare and their relation to literary and cultural backgrounds in the Early Modern English period. This includes a knowledge of how the development in EModE relates to present-day English and to comparable developments in other European languages. Participants will be able provide linguistic analyses of texts by Shakespeare and discuss them in a wider context and they will make competent and independent use of linguistic research tools and literature.

Participants will be expected to complete shorter oral and written assignments (both individually and in groups) and to give and receive peer feedback. They will also attend individual one-to-one feedback session to prepare and discuss their seminar papers.