In this seminar, we look at the languages of Europe from a typological perspective. Most European languages belong to a linguistic area called ‘Standard Average European’. They share particular features of which some are unique among the languages of the world. We review these features (among others, definite/indefinite articles, ‘have’-perfect, lack of verbal negation) and discuss how common these are outside of Europe. We also look at common features that Standard Average European languages lack, such as a distinction between alienable and inalienable adnominal possession and an inclusive/exclusive opposition in first person pronouns. This seminar serves as an introduction to linguistic typology and language variation and makes attendees look at the well-known languages of Europe from the perspective of world-wide linguistic diversity.
- DozentIn: Annemarie Verkerk