Prerequisites:
modularisierte Studiengänge: Aufbaumodul(e) Sprachwissenschaft nach Maßgabe der jeweils zutreffenden Studien- und Prüfungsordnung
Alte Studiengänge: erfolgreich abgeschlossenes Grundstudium
Studiengänge (für)
MA, D, LA alt (wahlobl.) (ab 5. Semester)
MA 120/45/75 LP Vertiefungsmodul I (wahlobl.)
LAS (1. Unterrichtsfach) (wahlobl.)
LAG (wahlobl.)
SWS
2
Sonstiges
Registration:
Via Stud.IP and the Löwenportal
Credit:
5 LP. Regular attendance, active participation, presentation of a Referat in class and a written version of this paper to be handed in by September 1st 2011. For assignments, prospective participants should contact me as early as possible.
Reserve Bookshelf:
A reserve bookshelf will be put up in the departmental library and an extensive bibliography of secondary sources and suggested topics for term papers will be available via Stud.IP.
Course Outline:
In his book The English Language (1988: 27-29), David Crystal reports on the top ten complaints about current English usage. He addresses such problems as:
- Should split infinitives be avoided?
- Can a preposition be put at the end of a sentence?
- Should different(ly) be followed by from and not by to or than?
In such cases of doubt both native speakers and non-native speakers usually resort to reference works such as grammars, dictionaries or usage guides. The answers that modern reference works give often have a long history behind them. Therefore, we shall investigate the major steps and key works in the standardisation and codification of the English language from the 18th century until the present day with the objective of tracing the history of linguistic ideas on normativity, correctness, markedness, description, pre- and proscription, etc. We will (or rather shall?) place particular emphasis on the birth, rise and longevity of the usage guide as a type of reference book and look for answers why usage matters and why certain uses trigger strong emotions, whereas others pass virtually unnoticed.
Basic Reading:
By the first meeting, participants should have read the chapter “English Grammar and Usage” by Edward Finegan (1998) in The Cambridge History of the English Language, Vol. 4, pp. 536-588.
Further Reading:
Beal, Joan C. (2004). English in Modern Times. 1700-1945. London: Arnold.
Görlach, Manfred (1999). English in Nineteenth-Century England. An Introduction. Cambridge: CUP.
Görlach, Manfred (2001). Eighteenth-Century English. Heidelberg: Winter.
Lass, Roger, ed. (1999). The Cambridge History of the English Language. Vol. 3: 1476-1776. Cambridge: CUP.
Romaine, Suzanne, ed. (1998). The Cambridge History of the English Language . Vol. 4: 1776-1997. Cambridge: CUP.
