Words and their meanings across languages

Instructor: Annika Tjuka

Email: [email protected]

Lecture: 14:15-15:45, Tuesday

Moodle: You'll be automatically enrolled in the Moodle course.

📜 Course Description

Do English pink and German rosa denote the same hue? Why do Russian speakers have only one word for the body parts hand and arm? These are the questions we will explore in this course. You will learn about the meanings of words in different languages and investigate the differences in semantic categories. Through close examination of research articles, you will gain an understanding of the methods of linguistic fieldwork and how to compare different languages. The course will equip you with knowledge about language diversity and will enable you to find a topic for your term paper on your own.

🗝 Enrolment

Prerequisite(s): successful completion of module Introduction to Linguistics (i.e. both subparts).

📚 Readings

Materials and texts are available on Moodle.

Texts

🗓️ Course Schedule

Schedule

📝 Assignments ("Vorleistungen")

1. Forum post

In Moodle, you will find a forum called "Untranslatable concepts." Everyone should post at least one concept that is labeled with a word in another language, but not in German. For example, no one-to-one translation exists for the word no-brainer "something that requires little or no mental effort" in German.

During the semester (Deadline: Jul 12, 2021)

2. Expert for a research article

Starting in week 4 (May 4, 2021), we will have a discussion about a research article at the beginning of each session. Two students will be the experts for a given article. As an expert, you need to read the entire article and must be able to answer the following questions:

Each expert prepares the answers to both questions so that you can answer them within 3-5 minutes.

Please choose a research article and add your name to the list.

Deadline: Apr 26, 2021