Vår 2024

ENG-2080 Comparative Studies of English and its Relatives - 10 stp

The course is administrated by

Institutt for språk og kultur

Type of course

This course may be taken as a singular course. A good command of oral and written English is required.

Course contents

This course compares English to its linguistic relatives. Historically, English is most closely related to Dutch and German, but to a large extent, it has become closer to the Scandinavian languages. In some ways, English is completely different from all these languages. The differences and similarities are discussed and put into a theoretical perspective.

Application deadline

Applicants from Nordic countries: 1 June for the autumn semester and 1 December for the spring semester. Exchange students and Fulbright students: 1 October for the spring semester and 15 April for the autumn semester.

Admission requirements

Higher Education Entrance Qualification (generell studiekompetanse) or prior learning and work experience (realkompetanse).

A good command of oral and written English is required.

Application code: 9199 (Nordic applicants).

Objective of the course

Knowledge

Basic understanding of concepts of historical relatedness between languages and of comparative and historical linguistics.
Good knowledge of the relationships between English and the other Germanic languages, both those which are genetic and those which are due to borrowing.
Knowledge of several specific points of comparison between English, German, Dutch and Norwegian.

Skills

Students should be able to:

Give an overview of the Germanic family and the place of English within it.
Give an overall comparison of English with at least two other closely related languages.
Give an in depth discussion from a theoretical perspective of one particular linguistic phenomenon in English and its relationship to parallel phenomena in the other closely related languages.

Language of instruction

English.

Teaching methods

Lectures, exercises, seminars, project work. Teaching period approximately 13 weeks. A total of 26 hours of teaching.