The linguistic landscape of Europe is a fascinating one. On the one hand there is enormous diversity: with languages as diverse as Russian, Spanish, and Swedish the linguistic differences seem to be immense. On the other hand, the long history of expansion and subsequent withdrawal of populations like the Romans, the Celts, the Ottomans, and the Slavs have led to a mixture of recurrent linguistic properties across Europe or parts of Europe. Furthermore, due to its long colonial history many European languages are now world languages too, which adds a global dimension to the study of European languages and the way they interact with other languages. 

Linguistics of European languages at the UvA

At the University of Amsterdam of Amsterdam you get the opportunity to study the languages of Europe in both a broad and a narrow sense. You specialise in the linguistics of one of the European languages or language families, but you also add your own individual touch to the study programme. The language (groups) that you can choose from for your specialisation are:

• Dutch
• English
• French
• German
• Italian
• Scandinavian
• Slavonic
• Spanish

You then add to this a second component, which can be either thematic or concern a second language. Thematic expansions are for instance Second Language Acquisition, Sociolinguistics, Phonetics, or Theoretical Linguistics. You can choose for a second language if your proficiency in that language is sufficient. So you could combine your specialization in Russian with a selection of topics in English Linguistics. Finally, if you would like to prepare for a future in education, you may combine your specialization in the linguistics of a European language with a selection of courses on the literature of that language.

English

In the past, most of the attention within ‘English language and linguistics’ went to the philological (or diachronic) aspects of language (which are fascinating in a language dating from the early Middle Ages and which has changed so much). However today, the focus has shifted somewhat toward synchronic data on linguistic variation and the socio-cultural circumstances under which language is used. Special attention is given to theoretical models explaining how we learn and use language and what causes it to change.

Each year, the English department offers two specific English language courses, which can be supplemented by other linguistics courses.

Details for next year’s courses will be available in May.

French

The specialisation in French Linguistics focuses partly on the first, second, and bilingual acquisition of French. One of the topics that is discussed is the acquisition of the use of determiners. In addition, within the specialisation French Linguistics, the use of new technological developments, such as electronic dictionaries, electronic databases, and the internet, is exploited to offer insights into various aspects of French linguistics like innovations in the lexicon and youth language. Furthermore, the syntax and pragmatics of French are compared within a comparative approach to those of other Romance languages, such as Italian and Spanish.

German

The applied linguistics component focuses on the process of language acquisition and on new technological developments (ICT), including digital learning environments and their role in university language education. Consideration is also given to the link between the language acquisition process and language theory.

Topics in language theory will include historical linguistics – looking mainly at processes of linguistic evolution (e.g. grammaticalisation, the disappearance of grammatical cases, tonal changes) – as well as the grammar of modern German language, with an emphasis on deictic elements (words that refer to the linguistic and extralinguistic context).

Italian

The specialisation in Italian Linguistics offers insight into the processes of language acquisition by second language learners of Italian, more particularly the acquisition and development of pragmatic and linguistic competence (L’apprendimento dell’italiano lingua seconda) and into syntactical and pragmatical aspects of various Romance languages (Romance linguistics). 

Scandinavian

The specialisation Scandinavian Linguistics (applied linguistics of Scandinavian languages) focuses on the process of language acquisition and on new technological developments (ICT), including digital learning environments and their role in university language education. Consideration is also given to the link between the language acquisition process and language theory, with a particular emphasis on phonology and, therein, on prosody (intonation, stød, length, stress).

Topics in language theory will include historical linguistics – looking mainly at processes of linguistic evolution (e.g. grammaticalisation, the disappearance of grammatical cases, tonal changes) – as well as the grammar of modern Scandinavian languages, with an emphasis on deictic elements (words that refer to the linguistic and extralinguistic context).

Slavonic

The specialisation in Slavonic Linguistics focuses on comparative Slavonic verbal aspect and related issues in synchronic and diachronic perspective, as well as problems related to language contact and bilingualism. This is covered by two separate courses.

The first of these presents an overview of the relevant theories as well as an analysis of the various Slavonic aspectual systems, especially Russian, Polish, Serbian, Croatian and Czech, whilst also sidestepping to broader aspectual focusses and non-Slavonic languages. There are many practical extensions and difficulties involved in rendering aspectual meaning into non-Slavonic languages and issues concerning translations are also looked at. The second course comprises theories on phenomena of language contact involving Slavonic languages and centres around bilingualism. We will deal with such issues as systemic change, (partial) language loss (case, aspect, etc.), language interference etc.

Spanish

The courses in Spanish Linguistics focus on several topics in language theory: History of the Spanish language, History of linguistics, the sociolinguistics of Spain and Spanish-America, and Spanish in the United States. In particular, the student will be familiar with recent linguistic theory, analysing several case studies in Latin America, with particular focus on language variation, language maintenance and shift, contact phenomena, code-switching and the speakers’ attitudes towards these phenomena. Finally, a course focuses on syntactic structures in Romance languages from a comparative perspective.