CHN6208 The Linguistic Landscape of China

CHN6208 The Linguistic Landscape of China

Number of Credits

3

Offering School

School of Humanities

Course Instructor

Matthias GERNER

Course Level

Postgraduate

Language of Instruction

English

First Day of Class

Thursday, September 26th, 2024

Last Day of Class

Thursday, January 9th, 2025

Course Component

Lecture

Mode of Teaching

Synchronous

Course recordings available for students.

Meeting Time

Week 2-17: Thursdays, 10:00 am - 12:45 pm

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Time Zone

Beijing TimeUTC+8

Restrictions

Basic knowledge of linguistic notions

Course Description

This module presents an overview of the more than 600 languages spoken in China, including their sociolinguistic settings and structural features in terms of sound, morphology and syntax. Students acquire systematic knowledge of the existing language families in China: the Sinitic (“Chinese Dialects”), Altaic, Tibeto-Burman, TaiKadai, Miao-Yao and Austronesian languages. They get to understand the Chinese and Western definitions of language and appreciate differences in language diversity of both China and Europe. Students will comprehend the events that shaped the linguistic landscape of Modern China: the adoption of the speech of Beijing as lingua franca in 1913 and the spread of this lingua franca due to internal migration after the 1980s.

Assessment Format

1. Attendance:10%
2. Homework: 30%
3. Final Exam: 60%

Syllabus

English