FW: [NLN] PhD course LANGUAGE CHANGE: THE INVISIBLE HAND AND THE EFFECTS OF CONTACT [REMINDER]

Fri May 8 14:23:49 UTC 2009

Dear All,

forwarded, an announcement of an interesting PhD course.

Best
JL
-- 
Univ.-Prof. Dr. Johanna Laakso
Universität Wien, Institut für Europäische und Vergleichende Sprach- und
Literaturwissenschaft (EVSL) | Abteilung Finno-Ugristik
Universitätscampus Spitalgasse 2-4 Hof 7, A-1090 Wien
Tel. +43 1 4277 43019 | Fax +43 1 4277 9430
johanna.laakso at univie.ac.at | http://homepage.univie.ac.at/Johanna.Laakso/

------ Weitergeleitete Nachricht
Von: Helge Omdal <helge.omdal at uia.no>
Datum: Fri, 08 May 2009 10:39:00 +0200
An: <nordlingnet at uib.no>
Betreff: [NLN] PhD course LANGUAGE CHANGE: THE INVISIBLE HAND AND THE
EFFECTS OF CONTACT [REMINDER]

[REMINDER]
======================================================u
PhD course
LANGUAGE CHANGE: THE INVISIBLE HAND AND THE EFFECTS OF CONTACT

Universitetet i Agder / University of Agder, Kristiansand, Norway
May 25-29, 2009
======================================================

The PhD course "Language change: the invisible hand and the effects of
contact" (3 ECTS) is for PhD students in sociolinguistics and related
linguistic disciplines. It is a part of the PhD course program
within the National Research School in linguistics and philology
(http://nafs.uib.no), but is open to all PhD students.

LECTURERS

RUDI KELLER, Emeritus Professor of German Linguistics,
Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, Germany,
and
PETER TRUDGILL, professor II, Universitetet i Agder, Emeritus Professor
of English Linguistics, Fribourg University, Switzerland.

Rudi Keller has taught at the universities of Regensburg, Heidelberg,
and Düsseldorf. He has held guest professorships at the universities of
Yaoundé (Cameroon) and Nantes (France). Professor Keller has given
numerous lectures and seminars at European, American, and especially
Korean universities. His main research interests lie in the fields of
Pragmatics, Semantics and Sign Theory, and Language Change, as well as
in an area somewhat outside the academic canon: Business Communication.
These fields are represented by his most widely known publications: On
Language Change. The invisible hand in language (Routledge), A Theory of
Linguistic Signs (Oxford University Press), and Der Geschäftsbericht
(Gabler). He has been retired since February, 2008, and now spends his
time between giving lectures and acting as a linguistic consultant for
business firms.

Peter Trudgill has taught at the Universities of Reading and Essex in
England; and in Switzerland at the Universities of Lausanne and
Fribourg. Currently, as well as being Professor II at UiA, Peter
Trudgill is Emeritus Professor of English Linguistics at the University
of Fribourg; Honorary Professor of Sociolinguistics at the University of
East Anglia, England; and Adjunct Professor of Linguistics at the
Research Centre for Linguistic Typology at La Trobe University,
Melbouren, Australia. As well as English, he has also worked on Greek,
Albanian, Norwegian, and Spanish. His main interests are in
sociolinguistics and dialectology, and his major publications include
Sociolinguistics: an introduction to language and society (Penguin);
Dialects in contact (Blackwell); and New-dialect formation: the
inevitability of colonial Englishes (Edinburgh University Press).

SHORT OUTLINE OF COURSE CONTENTS
In his part of the course, Rudi Keller will discuss the close
relationship between a theory of the ontological status of a language
(What type of „thing“ is language?) and a theory of language change (Why
and in what form does a language change?). He will then make a case for
the thesis that every theory of language change that claims to be not
only descriptive, but also explanatory, must take the form of a
so-called „invisible hand theory.“ (This thesis also makes clear the
limits that are imposed upon the ability to provide an explanation.)
This theory is tested and illuminated through a series of examples,
principally derived from the areas of morphological and semantic change.

Peter Trudgill will examine the theme of linguistic change,
simplification and complexification. The focus will be on the
relationship between language contact and linguistic change; and there
will be a discussion of different types of contact situation and their
roles in inducing either simplicity or complexity from the point of view
of sociolinguistic typology. There will be a consideration of the
sociolinguistic matrices of spontaneous linguistic complexification; and
a number of case studies will be adduced in order to consider the
importance of isolation as opposed to contact.

TIME-TABLE
Lectures/seminars from Monday, 25 May to Friday, 29 May.

REGISTRATION
If you wish to register for the course or have any other questions,
please contact Helge Omdal (helge.omdal at uia.no) as soon as possible.

FURTHER INFORMATION
For further information concerning the course, including the course
reading list and time-table:
See the web site of the Fakultet for humaniora og pedagogikk,
Universitetet i Agder:
http://www.uia.no/no/portaler/om_universitetet/humaniora_og_pedagogikk/dokto
rgradsutdanning/language_change

CONTACT
Inquiries concerning the course should be directed to:
Professor Helge Omdal, Institutt for nordisk og mediefag, Fakultet for
humaniora og pedagogikk, Universitetet i Agder.

Yours sincerely,
Helge Omdal

-- 
Helge Omdal
professor

Institutt for nordisk og mediefag
Universitetet i Agder
Sørvisboks 422
NO-4604 Kristiansand S
tlf. (+47) 38 14 20 76
helge.omdal at uia.no

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