LIT 352:

THE HISTORY OF ENGLISH, AND

INTRODUCTION TO LINGUISTICS

 

Fall 2006, Dr. Downes, KH 203

 

Please read this syllabus carefully:   it’s our contract.  Be sure to sign the form at the end, and hand this in on Wed., Aug. 23.

 

OFFICE HRS:  M 10-11, 4-5; Tu. 1-4.  However, I can usually see (should I have split this verb?  what determines the rule?) you immediately (I usually can see immediately you?  I you can see immediately usually?  Help!)—students are my first priority. Immediately after our class is usually a good time for me. If, however, we need to make an appointment, just talk with (should this be to?) me after class, or call me (251-6577—be sure to leave a message; or 253-6026—home, between 6 and 9 PM), or e-mail (downes@unca.edu).

 

For Our First Discussion:

WHERE does English come from?  (shouldn’t “from” come before “Where”?  --and:  says who!  --or is that whom?) Why is it called English?  Where, in fact, does language come from?  Where does the word language come from?  The purpose of this class is two-fold (? why that word?  and, will this class be complex, or confusing?):  (1)  to acquaint you with the nature and history of language, using English as the primary example; and, (2) to offer you an interesting, inexpensive, ever-available hobby!

            You will be memorizing many facts; but, more importantly, you will be realizing and understanding patterns, trends, and tendencies that occur as part of the system of language (aren’t italics neat?  what do they mean?  where do they come from?  Can you have “an italic”?  why, or why not?)

            To do well in this class, you’ll have to keep up (why that “up”?  isn’t “keep up” kind of weird?  isn’t “kind of” kind of weird, in fact? and isn't "in fact" kind of weird, too, actually?  and isn't "actually," when you think about it, weird?  and what about "about it," and "what about"?!)...with the reading.  If you portion out (why the “out”?) a daily dose of the pages assigned, it will not be burdensome (what’s that “-some” part for?).  Falling behind can be disastrous, though (where does “disastrous” come from?). 

            I will call on you, because I want to hear what you have to say:  I enjoy, and learn from, your insights and questions.  *Excellent participation will help your final grade!

 

REQUIRED TEXTS:  available in UNCA’s Bookstore:

Language:  Readings in Language and Culture, Clark, et. al., eds.  6th ed.

In Forme of Speche Is Chaunge, Fisher & Bornstein, eds.

A good, hard-cover dictionary (gives more info. than a paperback)

$5.00 per student for Xeroxing costs:  give this to me when you can, please.

 

METHOD OF LEARNING:   You will hear things, and sometimes be assigned to read things, more than once, each time with more detailed retention and understanding.  You’ll learn, that is, the way someone learns a language, or her way around a campus—you’ll learn in the way that human beings (animals, plants...) learn most things.

 

POLICIES:

•           ALL assignments must be completed in order for you to pass the class.  That is, if you

skip an             assignment, your final grade will not just be lowered; it will be an F.

• Participation is essential.  Your grade can be affected by your participation:  if excellent, grade will be raised by ½ (as, B to B+); if poor—lowered by ½ (as, B to B-); if middle-range (mediocre, literally), grade will be unaffected.  Be prepared to discuss each day's assignments--and remember that part of good participation is encouraging others to contribute, and that good questions are as helpful to learning as brilliant insights!
• Absences: Being part of the discussion of assignments is as important as is reading those assignments.  More than TWO absences can lower your final grade by one letter for each subsequent absence.  *So save these two excused absences for emergencies.  If you are absent, you are nonetheless responsible for knowing what went on in class, though I’ll be happy to clarify particular points for you.  Essential:  *Get phone numbers and e-mail addresses for a couple of classmates, so they can fill you in before the next class, if you have to be absent.
• No make-up exams unless arranged in advance; no make-ups on quizzes.  Due-Dates that aren’t on the syllabus will be announced in class, and you should write these on your syllabus.  Due-dates are firm:  so be wise, and complete assignments ahead of time.  A late assignment will be down-graded one letter for each day (not class meeting) it is late:  papers received after 4 PM on the due-date will lose one letter-grade for that.  Late papers will be graded, but returned otherwise unmarked.
• A grade of Incomplete will not be given unless the student is in good standing and has suffered some catastrophe at the end of the course that makes it impossible to complete a particular course requirement.
• Plagiarism:  You must acknowledge any use of someone else's words or ideas by using quotation marks and/or the appropriate documentation.  If you plagiarize, you will fail this course automatically. (See the UNCA Policy on Plagiarism, in Student Handbook.)

•     If you have a learning disability, this needs to be recognized by the office of Student Services before an instructor can arrange any accommodations for you..

 

PAPERS, TESTS, AND PROJECTS

 

A Service-Learning Project: Volunteering, Poster, Presentation, and Paper:

 

            Research for your term paper will take you into greater depth on a linguistic topic of your choice. As field research for your term paper, you will perform 12 hours of service for a non-profit agency of your choice, and describe, in a formal 8-10-pp. paper, what you learn about a particular aspect of language through doing this service.  You will incorporate into your paper the relevant (to your service-project) ideas of 3 other thinkers, authors of full-length scholarly articles / book chapters (not abstracts of articles—what’s most often found, on-line) in (or obtained through) our library.  These scholars’ ideas should be used to enlighten and enliven your own:  you will be bringing their ideas into conversation with your own.  Language, our textbook, has extensive bibliographies that should help you to find a good article/book chapter.  Near the end of the semester, you are required to do a short (approx. 5-min.) presentation of your findings, using a poster or other visual aid.

Doing this project will help you to make the black-and-white world of language in our textbooks come to life:  you’ll see it in multiple dimensions, rather than in simplified generalities and rules.  You can choose to write about HOW people talk, or WHY people talk the way they do--because of where they come from; because English isn’t their native language; because they’re proud, or ashamed, of their dialect; because they’re angry, or stressed, or feeling restricted, or showing off, or young, or old, or physically impaired, or on drugs, or simply at work (hospital-talk, for example, or kindergarten-talk, etc.)--and so many other possibilities!

I’ll help you find a site that fits your schedule and your interests.  If you already know where you want to do your service/fieldwork, talk with me about this.  I look forward to learning with you as your project progresses!

N.B.     Steps (“Pre-Parts”) toward the final paper will be due as we go along through the semester; these are listed below, with due-dates.  The grades on these count toward the final paper's grade.

 

                        Etymology Project:  Choose a full and complete page from a favorite book—a “grown-up” book, please.  Find, in your hard cover dictionary, the source of each word (its etymon).  Having listed the etymons of all these words, add to this list (which can be handwritten) a one-page, typed, double-spaced commentary on your realizations about where English comes from.  This exercise takes some time--but it’s easy to do when you’re too tired to do other things, or have just a few minutes handy.  Which page?--due Wed., 8/30, in class; first 10 words--due Wed., 9/6; first ½ of page completed--due M., 10/2; final project--due 11/20.

Required format:

1.         Briefly state how each word got into English, and

2.         state anything interesting about its story.

3.         Clarify, at the top of p.1, the abbreviations you use:  as, OE = Old English; ME = Middle English; OF = Old French; L = Latin; Scand = Scandinavian....

4.         Commentary (see above).

Examples:

should              past tense of shall, OE sceal

choose             OE ceosan

lack                  ME lac, perh. from Mid.Dutch, “deficiency, fault”

a                      OE an, "one"

full                   OE full

and                  OE and, ond

complete          ME complet(e), from OF, from L completus, "to fill up"

three                OE thri(e), threo

inch                 OE ince, ynce, from L unica, twelfth part, from unus, "one"

section             F, from L sectio, a cutting

of                     ME of

a                      _______ [Just draw a line where a word is repeated.]

page                 OF, from L pagina, "page"

palace              OF, from L palatium, from Palatium, the Palatine Hill (where emperor's palaces were built, in Rome)

squabble          prob. Scand, akin to Sw sqvabbel, "to quarrel"

seersucker        Hindi sirsakar, fr Persian shir-o-shakar, "milk and sugar"

lord                  OE hlaford, hlafweard, "keeper of the bread"

abbreviation     abbreviate:  ME abbreviaten, fr. Late L abbreviare, "to shorten": ab- "off,"                            or ad-, "toward," + brevis, "short"

I                       OE ic

cannot              OE can,, from cunnan, “to know,” plus OE nawhit, “no” + “wiht,” “man,      thing”

remember        ME membren, from OF remembrer

if                      OE gif

my                   OE min

thermal            FR, from GK therme, “heat”

shirt                 OE scyrte

rinses               OF rincer, from Vulg. L recentiare, “to refresh”

well                  OE wel

Two Memorizations:  First, the Old English “Faeder Ure,” (due by M., 10/25, 5 PM—hear it here: http://www.georgetown.edu/faculty/ballc/oe/paternoster-oe.html ), and, second, the first 18 lines of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales in Middle English (due by M., 11/6, 5 PM—hear it here: http://academics.vmi.edu/english/audio/GP_Bessinger.html  ).

A very good recitation on or before the due-date = an A; a passable recitation on or before the due-date = C.  Recitations after the due-date = D/F.  Do not be afraid!  It’s just you and me, and I won’t bite.

 

Quizzes:  frequent, unannounced.  A few short questions on the materials assigned for that day’s discussion.  Points on these will become part of the exam grades.

                             

Exams:  a midterm and a final, each cumulative. Format: essays, plus identifications stating why [X] is important in the study of language.

 

            Computation of Final Grade (F, if all of these are not completed):

15%:                Etymology Study

10%, 10%:       Memorization of Faeder Ure, & Canterbury Tales 1-18

25%:                Service-Learning Project (N.B.: 1/5 of the grade = “pre-parts”)

20%, 20%:       Midterm and Final Exams

Participation:     Final Grade: up, or down (see above).

 

READING ASSIGNMENTS:

 

Always be ready to discuss readings on the day they are listed below, and always bring the assigned reading to class.

 

Read the introductions to each section of Language, as its chapters are assigned.  Some assignments are repeated:  read these the second time just as carefully as the first time.

 

8/21:                Introduction:  What do you know about language?  about English?  What do you think about these?

                        Essay; review syllabus; grammar exercise

8/23:                Handout:  “Linguistic Knowledge”

 

8/28:                Language ch. 5, 6, 9, 15, 52, 53, 54, and Introductions to Parts II, IV, XI.

8/30:                continue discussion.  Bring copy of page for etymol. project (*or just show me the page in the book you choose).

 

9/4:                  NO CLASS:  talk and listen, and think about language!

9/6:                  Handouts:  Tattersall, Pinker

 

9/11:                “The Lord’s Prayer”:  OE, Aramaic, and Other

                        Lang. ch. 32, 33, and Introduction to Part VII.

                        Bring to class:  In Forme...

9/13:                Hand in:  where you will perform your service; name & contact info.--site-supervisor; brief description of the work you’ll be doing.

                        Lang. Introduction to Part I, and ch.1, 2, 3, 4

 

9/18:                Lang. 19, 20, 21, and Intro. to Part V

9/20:                Lang. 22, 23

 

9/25:                Lang. 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, and Intro. to Part VI.

9/27:                Lang. 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, and Intro. to Part VIII.

                        DUE:  1 pg. (typed, usual format—ask, if unsure) description of term paper topic:  grade on this = 10% of paper’s final grade.

 

10/2:                continue discussion.  DUE:  first ½ etymol. project, 5 PM.

10/4:                MIDTERM EXAM

                       

10/9:                NO CLASS:  Fall Break:  talk, and listen, and think!

10/11:              Lang. 52, 53, 54, and Intro. to Part XI.

                        DUE:  annotated bibliog.. (MLA Style), sources for term paper

 

10/16:              Lang. 32, 33, and Intro. to Part VII.

10/18:              Film:  History of English Language

 

*From 10/23 – 11/15, bring In Forme to class each day.

10/23:              On-line through Ramsey Library, electronic reserves:  chapters from A.C. Baugh’s A History of the English Language:

                        Baugh chapter 2:  “Indo-European”

10/25:              Baugh chapter 3, “Old English”

                        DUE:  “Faeder Ure” recitation, no later than 5 PM

 

10/30:              Baugh chapter 4, “Foreign Influences on OE”

11/1:                Baugh chapter 5, “Norman Conquest...”

                        and chapter 6, “Re-establishment of English...”

 

11/6:                Baugh chapter 8, “Renaissance”

11/8:                DUE:  Cant. Tales Prologue 1-18 recitation, by 5 PM

                        Baugh chapter 9, “Appeal to Authority...”

 

11/13:              Lang.  III. intro.; ch. 10, 11 (to p. 139), 13

11/15:              Continue discussion

 

11/20:              Film, Children and Language

                        DUE:  by 5 PM:  Etymology Project.

11/22:              NO CLASS: talk, listen, think!

 

11/27:              Lang. IX: introduction; ch. 41, 43, 43, 44, 45, 46

11/29:              Student presentations

                        DUE by 5 PM, THURS., 11/30:  TERM PAPER

 

12/4:                Student presentations

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                        I have carefully  read this syllabus.  If I have any questions—now, or later—I will ask them.

 

                       

 

                        Signed: ___________________________________________________________

 

                        Date:    _________________________

 

                        My Hometown is:  ________________________________________

 

                        Something(s) interesting about me: