Historical, Geographic and Social Variation in French
Instructor:
P. Bessler
Description:
Throughout most of its nearly 1200-year history, the language that we now call French was not a single linguistic entity, but rather a collection of related dialects. Although socio-political factors resulted in a partial unification of these dialects during the 18th and 19th centuries, the unification was, to a large extent, outweighed by French colonization of areas such as North America and Africa, which resulted in even greater linguistic diversification. The purpose of this course is to provide an overview of the extensive variation that exists throughout the French-speaking world. Topics to be covered include phonetics (pronunciation), lexicology (word selection) and morpho-syntax (grammar). This course is taught in English. No knowledge of French or linguistics is required.
Required texts (Paper or electronic copies):
There is no required textbook for this course. Required readings will be made available by the instructor.
Assignments and evaluation:
Test (35%), Research project (35%), Oral presentation (20%), Overall assessment (10%)
Prerequisite:
None