Overview

The following are representative topics: 1.Introduction & Terms / How & why Do Languages Change? 2.Language Change in an Evolutionary Framework 3.Language Change – Transition 4.Language Change – Causation 5.Corpus based approaches to linguistics 6.History of Grammaticalization 7.Mechanisms of Lexicalization (Lxn) 8.Parameters / diagnostics of Grammaticalization (Gmx) 9.Mechanisms of Grammaticalization (Gmx) 10. Mechanisms of Pragmaticalization (Pgn)

Assessment Strategy

-threshold -D: student has achieved the minimum acceptable standard of understanding and/or knowledge in all the LOs -good -B: student has achieved a better-than-average standard of understanding and/or knowledge in all LOs -excellent -A: student has achieved a thorough standard of understanding and/or knowledge in all LOs; or student has demonstrated an exceptional level of achievement in one or more LOs

Learning Outcomes

• A familiarity with the basic concepts necessary for understanding language change as a process and the main theories that attempt to understand and explain it.

• A familiarity with the developments of the last 25 years on grammaticalization, lexicalization and pragmaticalization.

• An understanding of the importance of working with corpora and of the issues and problems attendant on this type of research

• An understanding of the most important theoretical and methodological questions currently being discussed in the areas of internal and external factors that contribute to language change