Some knowledge of an ancien Indo-European language, e.g., Latin or Greek, is strongly recommended.
Which phonemes do we reconstruct for Proto-Indo-European and why? Why does Latin actus have a long a, but aptus a short one? When was the RUKI-rule phonemicized? How were the laryngeal pronounced and what type of evidence helps us to answer that question? These are all questions about the historical phonology of Proto-Indo-European that will come up during this course. Combined with the course Indo-European linguistics II: Morphology, which is taught in the second semester, the course will enable the student to reconstruct Proto-Indo-European words on the basis of words from various Indo-European languages.
Obtaining knowledge about phonological change between Proto-Indo-European and its daughter languages.
Obtaining knowledge about the following sound laws: Brugmann, Bartholomae, Lachmann, Winter, Grimm, Verner, Kluge, Grassmann, ruki-regel, Sievers, Osthoff.
Understanding the arguments for possible phonetic interpretations of reconstructed Proto-Indo-European phonemes.
Developing reconstruction skills.
Applying sound laws to reconstructed forms.
The timetable is available on the “MA Linguistics website”: http://hum.leiden.edu/linguistics/timetables-linguistics/timetableslinguistics.html.
Mode of instruction
Reading scholarly literature
26 hours of instruction, 2 hours examination, 112 hours preparation and reading literature.
Written examination with open questions. There is a resit with the same format.
Blackboard will be used for distribution of course materials.
R. Beekes, Comparative Indo-European linguistics: an introduction. Second edition, revised and corrected by M. de Vaan. Benjamins, 2011.
Enrolment through uSis is mandatory.
When registering, students that are registered for the specialisation that this course belongs to, or the Research Master, take priority. The deadline for registration is August 15. All other students should contact the “coordinator of studies”:http://hum.leiden.edu/linguistics/advice-linguistics/.
Registration Studeren à la carte and Contractonderwijs