Course Description

This paper aims to introduce students to the linguistic study of modern German. Tuition is divided into two complementary sets of lectures. In Linguistic Analysis, students concentrate on acquiring technical skills in describing and analysing linguistic data. The series The German Language in the 20th Century looks at a range of different styles and registers of German and situates them in their social, cultural and historical context.

The Linguistic Analysis strand divides into two further sections. In the structures section topics include the reading and interpretation of phonetic transcriptions of a range of varieties of German, the analysis of words in terms of inflectional and derivational morphology, different ways of describing German syntax, particularly valency grammar, and the development of the modern German vocabulary. In the varieties section there is a particular emphasis on differences between the written and spoken languages, as well as an extended study of social and regional varieties.

In The German Language in the 20th Century different members of the Department collaborate in offering a series of lectures on topics of stylistic and more general interest, placing the contemporary language in the context of the socio-political developments of the last century. Recent topics have included 'Purism', 'Spelling Reform', 'Nazi German', 'German in the GDR', 'Youth Language', 'Anglicisms'.

The paper is divided into two sections: students answer one question from each section plus a third chosen from either.

In the first section, there are four questions, all presenting textual material or sets of data for description and commentary.

In the second section, students are asked to answer on one of a selection of general essay topics ranging across the regional and social varieties sections of the Linguistic Analysis strand as well as the topics covered in the The German Language in the 20th Century.

Before the course begins students are particularly advised to read the following two books which are core texts for the first and second terms respectively:

• Fox, Anthony. 2005. The Structure of German. Oxford: Clarendon.
• Barbour, Stephen and Patrick Stevenson. 1990. Variation in German. A critical approach to German sociolinguistics. Cambridge: CUP.

The books listed below are suggestions for general reading. Students will receive short reading lists on specific topics from their supervisor.

• Boase-Beier, Jean and Ken Lodge.2003. The German Language.A Linguistic Introduction. Oxford: Blackwell.
• Braun, Peter. 1998 (4th ed.). Tendenzen in der deutschen Gegenwartssprache. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer.
• Clyne, Michael. 1995. The German Language in a Changing Europe. Cambridge: CUP.
• Durrell, Martin. 2002. (4th ed.). Hammer's German Grammar and Usage. London: Arnold.
• Eichoff-Cyrus, Karin and Hoberg, Rudolf. 2000. Die deutsche Sprache zur Jahrtausendwende. Sprachkultur oder Sprachverfall?, Dudenverlag: Mannheim.
• Glück, Helmut and Wolfgang Werner Sauer. 1990. Gegenwartsdeutsch. Stuttgart: Sammlung Metzler.
• Hall, Christopher. 2002 (2nd ed.). Modern German Pronunciation. Manchester: MUP.
• Johnson, Sally. 1998.Exploring the German Language. London: Arnold.
• König, Werner. 1994. dtv-Atlas zur deutschen Sprache. Munich: dtv.
• Russ, Charles. 1994. The German Language Today. A Linguistic Introduction. London: Routledge.
• Russ, Charles (ed.). 1990. The Dialects of Modern German London:Routledge.
• Stevenson, Patrick. 1997. The German Speaking World. London: Routledge.
• Stevenson, Patrick (ed.). 1995. The German Language and the Real World. Oxford: Clarendon.

Course adviser