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This series of lectures focuses on English words. It discusses their
phonological shapes, their morphological structures and their meanings. Its
outlook is not merely descriptive, however. Instead, it attempts to discuss
different theoretical approaches to the subject matter, and to show how
linguistic accounts are strongly determined by the basic assumptions that
linguists make, the ways in which they conceive of the phenomena they attempt
to explain, and the methods they develop to come to tackle them. In short,
this lecture series is as much about linguistics as about language itself.
While being open to all students of English, it specifically addresses
students who take the diploma course, and who are thus becoming members of
the scientific community of English linguists. It is hoped that these
lectures will provide them with insight into the diversity of that community,
help them to fin their position in it and to contribute to its discourse.
This
website is intended to complement and support the actual lecture events. It will
keep growing during the term and provide a lecture schedule, summaries of
individual sessions, information about required and further reading,
illustrative materials, a few tasks and exercises, as well as links to
relevant web sites.
We hope
you will find this site helpful. If you have questions about the lectures,
please feel free to send an email to Nikolaus Ritt.
THIS SITE WILL
NEVER BE FINISHED
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