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In this seminar, we look at the languages of Europe from a typological
perspective. Most European languages belong to a linguistic area
called ‘Standard Average European’. They share particular features of
which some are unique among the languages of the world. We review
these features (among others, definite/indefinite articles,
‘have’-perfect, lack of verbal negation) and discuss how common these
are outside of Europe. We also look at common features that Standard
Average European languages lack, such as a distinction between
alienable and inalienable adnominal possession and an
inclusive/exclusive opposition in first person pronouns. This seminar
serves as an introduction to linguistic typology and language
variation and makes attendees look at the well-known languages of
Europe from the perspective of world-wide linguistic diversity. |
