Universität Wien

140317 VO Interrogative Structures and Implicational Universals across African Languages (2018W)

4.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 14 - Orientalistik, Afrikanistik, Indologie und Tibetologie
Moodle

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Details

Language: English

Examination dates

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

  • Tuesday 09.10. 11:00 - 13:00 Inst. f. Afrikawissenschaften, Seminarraum 4 UniCampus Hof 5 2M-O1-10
  • Tuesday 16.10. 11:00 - 13:00 Inst. f. Afrikawissenschaften, Seminarraum 4 UniCampus Hof 5 2M-O1-10
  • Tuesday 23.10. 11:00 - 13:00 Inst. f. Afrikawissenschaften, Seminarraum 4 UniCampus Hof 5 2M-O1-10
  • Tuesday 30.10. 11:00 - 13:00 Inst. f. Afrikawissenschaften, Seminarraum 4 UniCampus Hof 5 2M-O1-10
  • Tuesday 06.11. 11:00 - 13:00 Inst. f. Afrikawissenschaften, Seminarraum 4 UniCampus Hof 5 2M-O1-10
  • Tuesday 13.11. 11:00 - 13:00 Inst. f. Afrikawissenschaften, Seminarraum 4 UniCampus Hof 5 2M-O1-10
  • Tuesday 20.11. 11:00 - 13:00 Inst. f. Afrikawissenschaften, Seminarraum 4 UniCampus Hof 5 2M-O1-10
  • Tuesday 27.11. 11:00 - 13:00 Inst. f. Afrikawissenschaften, Seminarraum 4 UniCampus Hof 5 2M-O1-10
  • Tuesday 04.12. 11:00 - 13:00 Inst. f. Afrikawissenschaften, Seminarraum 4 UniCampus Hof 5 2M-O1-10
  • Tuesday 11.12. 11:00 - 13:00 Inst. f. Afrikawissenschaften, Seminarraum 4 UniCampus Hof 5 2M-O1-10
  • Tuesday 08.01. 11:00 - 13:00 Inst. f. Afrikawissenschaften, Seminarraum 4 UniCampus Hof 5 2M-O1-10
  • Tuesday 15.01. 11:00 - 13:00 Inst. f. Afrikawissenschaften, Seminarraum 4 UniCampus Hof 5 2M-O1-10
  • Tuesday 22.01. 11:00 - 13:00 Inst. f. Afrikawissenschaften, Seminarraum 4 UniCampus Hof 5 2M-O1-10
  • Tuesday 29.01. 11:00 - 13:00 Inst. f. Afrikawissenschaften, Seminarraum 4 UniCampus Hof 5 2M-O1-10

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

Asking questions is one of the most fundamental functions in human language and cognition. This course will give the student an introduction to the typology of interrogatives.Typology and language universals are mutually dependent as succinctly summarized by Comrie (1981,1989): first, without knowing individual types of structural variation it is impossible to find out which logically possible structural variants cannot co-occur; second, if research on language typology is to achieve classificational criteria for all languages, it must be based on parameters which are universal; and third, it is only possible to find universal abstractions if the parameters are adequate.

In this spirit, we will address the following questions by looking through African languages: how do people who speak different languages ask questions differently? What do the questions have in common in terms of formal syntactic properties?

Methods: Lectures, research project, student presentations, group discussions

Assessment and permitted materials

Course assessment will be either (i) in form of a written exam on the last day of course or (ii) a term paper to be submitted on the last of the course or shortly thereafter.

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

o All assigned readings
o All assigned exercises/projects
o In-class test or term paper

Examination topics

Assignments and tests may draw on materials covered in the textbook and assigned readings.

Reading list

Agwuele, A. (ed.), Bodomo, A. (ed.). 2018. The Routledge Handbook of African Linguistics. London: Routledge.
Cinque, G. and R. S. Kayne. 2008. The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Syntax. Oxford University Press.
Comrie, B. 1989. Language universals and linguistic typology. 2nd edition. Chicago: University of Chicago.

Association in the course directory

SAS.VO.1, SAS.VO.2

Last modified: Mo 07.09.2020 15:35