18.1712, Support: Classical Greek & Syntactic Change: PhD Student, Leiden U Centre

Tue Jun 5 18:59:14 UTC 2007

LINGUIST List: Vol-18-1712. Tue Jun 05 2007. ISSN: 1068 - 4875.

Subject: 18.1712, Support: Classical Greek & Syntactic Change: PhD Student, Leiden U Centre

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1)
Date: 05-Jun-2007
From: Jeroen van de Weijer < j.m.van.de.weijer at let.leidenuniv.nl >
Subject: Classical Greek & Syntactic Change: PhD Student, Leiden University Centre for Linguistics, Netherlands

-------------------------Message 1 ---------------------------------- 
Date: Tue, 05 Jun 2007 14:56:50
From: Jeroen van de Weijer < j.m.van.de.weijer at let.leidenuniv.nl >
Subject: Classical Greek & Syntactic Change: PhD Student, Leiden University Centre for Linguistics, Netherlands 

Institution/Organization: Leiden University Centre for Linguistics 
Department:  
Web Address: http://www.lucl.leidenuniv.nl 

Level: PhD 

Duties: Research

Specialty Areas: Historical Linguistics; Syntax 

Required Language(s): Greek, Ancient (grc)

Description:

1 PhD position for the NWO Vidi-project 'The nature of syntactic change and what
it tells us about language'

(Principal investigator: Dr. Chris H. Reintges)

The focus of this research project is on syntactic variation and change. The
main working hypothesis is that syntactic variation provides the main locus for
syntactic change. Actual variation can be induced by external factors, such as
diglossia and language contact, but it can also arise spontaneously.

The empirical research is concerned with Ancient Egyptian and Koine' Greek,
which have been in close contact for almost a thousand years (from the
Macedonian conquest of Egypt in 332 BCE to the Arab invasion in 641 CE). Coptic,
its most recent stage (from around the third to the thirteenth century CE)
emerged from a bilingual Egyptian-Greek language variety spoken by the
hellenized bourgeoisie of Roman Egypt. While Coptic syntax was restructured
according to the prestige language's model, Koine' Greek morpho-syntax seems to
be largely unaffected by Egyptian substratum influence.

The PhD-project investigates the correlation between word order variation and
information structure in the Koine' Greek of the Roman period. Of particular
relevance is the Greek variety of the New Testament and the Patristic
literature, which was translated or imitated and therefore of great importance
for the development of Coptic literature. The PhD project is synchronized with
research on Coptic clause structure and variation. Its primary goal is to
determine the scope of syntactic borrowing and code-mixing with great precision,
in particular, which sentence constructions were borrowed into Coptic, how they
were structurally adjusted and whether they fulfilled the same discourse
functions or not.

The principal questions addressed in the PhD-project are the following ones:

1. What are the positions of the major sentence elements in the clause?
2. How do constituent structure and word order variation relate to information
structure?
3. How much of the syntactic variation that we find can be traced back to the
continuous use of Attic Greek as the literary norm? 

Candidates are expected to have:

- An MA or M.Phil degree in Classics (specialization in Classical Greek) with
excellent results. Applicants from other fields (e.g., linguistics) are welcome,
but must have demonstrable competence in Classical Greek.
- A specialization in Greek linguistics and philology (preferably with
linguistics as a minor).
- A strong motivation to work on historical linguistics and syntactic theory.

To apply, send a one-page letter of motivation, CV, grade lists, full contact
details for three scholars who could be asked to write a recommendation letter
for you, and any further documentation (BA, MA and/or M.Phil theses, relevant
articles or term papers). The appointment date is preferably September 1, 2007. 

This PhD position is embedded in the research and training programme of LUCL,
which is part of the National Dutch Graduate School of Linguistics (LOT). PhD
students are appointed for a maximum of four years in order to complete a PhD
dissertation. Before-tax salaries range from EUR 1956 (monthly) in the first
year to EUR 2502 in the fourth.

For general information about LUCL, consult LUCL's home page listed above, or
contact Dr. Jeroen M. van de Weijer, For information specific to the project,
please contact Dr. Chris H. Reintges, e-mail CReintges at linguist.jussieu.fr. 

Application Deadline: 15-Jul-2007 

Mailing Address for Applications:
	Attn: Mrs M.J.P. Okker-de Jager 
	Personnel Department 
	P.O. Box 9515 
	Leiden 2300 RA 
	Netherlands 	

Web Address for Applications: http://www.lucl.leidenuniv.nl/index.php3?m=1&c=511 

Contact Information: 
	Dr. Jeroen van de Weijer 
	j.m.van.de.weijer at let.leidenuniv.nl 
	Phone:+31-(0)71-5272205  

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