Class 1- Revision of basic linguistic terms
What is a language? What is the difference between a language and a dialect? What is a dead/ living language?
What are the language systems/subsystems? What do they deal with?
What are the features common to all languages? What does it mean that languages are systematic, conventional and arbitrary, redundant and self-healing?
Do all languages change? If so, why? If not, which do? Give examples of external and internal pressures for language change.
Which language subsystem is most reluctant to change? Why?
How are languages classified according to types? What are the features of analytic/ synthetic/ polysynthetic languages? What are the features of isolating (monosyllabic)/ inflective (inflectional)/ agglutinative/ incorporative languages
For class 2 please read chapters 1, 2 (Taitt, D.) + chapter 5 (Cristal, D.)
Class 2 - The development of writing
What are the sources o information about language change?
What are the writing systems leading to alphabetic writing?
Why was writing invented? By whom?
What is the difference between a pictogram and an ideogram? What is logographic writing?
Why do Russians and Poles use different alphabets? What alphabets did English use?
What would be the features of an ideal alphabet? Which alphabet Polish or English is “more ideal”?
Can you give examples of languages which underwent a spelling reform?
What is spelling pronunciation?
Match the columns
WRITING SYSTEMS
WRITING SYSTEM |
DEFINITION/ EXPLANATION |
EXAMPLE |
SYLLABARY |
A CARVING OR DRAWING ON THE ROCK |
SEMITIC WRITING, MODERN JAPANESE |
REBUS WRITING |
A GRAPHIC SYMBOL THAT REPRESENTS AN IDEA OR MEANING WITHOUT EXPRESSING A SPECIFIC WORD |
? |
ALPHABET |
A WRITING SYSTEM CONSISTING OF SYMBOLS THAT REPRESENT INDIVIDUAL SOUNDS |
CHINESE |
PICTOGRAPHS/ PICTOGRAM |
A WRITTEN SYMBOL REPRESENTING A SPECIFIC OBJECT; A PICTURE OF THAT OBJECT. |
EGYPTIAN HIEROGLYPHS, SUMERIAN CUNEIFORM |
LOGOGRAM |
A WRITTEN SYMBOL THAT STANDS FOR THE ENTIRE WORD |
WRITINGS OF AMERICAN INDIANS |
PETROGLYPHS |
THE LIST OF CHARACTERS OF A WRITING SYSTEM THAT REPRESENT THE SYLLABLES, AS OPPOSED TO THE INDIVIDUAL VOWELS AND CONSONANTS OF A LANGUAGE |
RUNIC WRITING |
IDEOGRAPHS |
THE PROCESS IN WHICH THE SYMBOL FOR THE ENTITY IS TAKEN OVER AS THE SYMBOL FOR THE SOUND OF THE SPOKEN WORD USED TO REFER TO THIS ENTITY |
? |
Class 2 - Language families
Which theories account for similarities between languages?
What world families do you know? Characterize some in a few sentences.
What can be said about the Indo-Europeans on the basis of the shared vocabulary?
Which I-E languages preserve the oldest written documents?
On what basis are I-E languages divided into two main groups (branches)?
What are the I-E sub-families?
Where do Polish and English belong?
Are there any non-IE languages in Europe? If so, what are they?
What are the examples of dead language families or subfamilies? Are there any in danger of extinction?
For class 3 and 4 please read chapters 3, 4, 5 (Taitt, D) + chapter 9 (Cristal, D)