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Baltic Languages in Contact

The course consists of a review of the Baltic languages in a historical perspective with special focus on language contact. The course analyzes language contact from both a general perspective and a specific linguistic perspective with focus on the languages that have been in contact with the Baltic languages in the historic past.

The course is given in English.

  • Course structure

    Teaching format

    Instruction is in the form of lectures and seminars.

    Course requirements: participation in discussions and seminars on campus or via an electronic communication platform, the university teaching platform or other internet channel. Assignment submission deadlines are an obligatory part of the course.
    Completion of the obligatory course requirements are mandatory in order to participate in subsequent examinations.

    The language of instruction is English.

    More detailed information can be found in the course description. The course description is available one month before the start of the course at the latest.

    Learning outcomes

    In order to pass the course the student shall have the ability to:

    • demonstrate profound, theoretical and specific knowledge about historical language contact, linguistic contact situations and different types of contact phenomena
    • demonstrate profound, theoretical and specific knowledge about how the Baltic languages have changed as a result of language contact, as well as how the Baltic languages have infuenced other languages
    • formulate a theoretical discussion on language contacts between the Baltic languages and other languages in historic time.

    Assessment

    The following methods of examination are used: submitted assignments and participation in discussions and seminars. Continual examination takes place through written assignment submissions in connection with each seminar. The principles for weighting the examination assignments are explained in the grading criteria.

    The examination takes place in English.

    In order to pass the course a grade of at least E on all examination assignments is required, as well as completed obligatory assignments. The completion of course requirements is obligatory in order to be able to participate in the following examination. Examination assignments that are not submitted on time are given at most the grade C.

    A student who has received a grade of E or higher may not take the examination again in order to get a higher grade.

    More detailed information can be found in the course description. The course description is available one month before the start of the course at the latest.

    Examiner

    Examiners for all courses in Baltic studies HT2022 (236 Kb)

  • Schedule

    The schedule will be available no later than one month before the start of the course. We do not recommend print-outs as changes can occur. At the start of the course, your department will advise where you can find your schedule during the course.

  • Course literature

    Note that the course literature can be changed up to two months before the start of the course.

    Available as electronic resources:

    • Language Contact. An introduction, by Sarah G. Thomason. Edinburgh University Press (2001)
    • Languages in Contact: Findings and Problems, by Uriel Weinreich. Walter de Gruyter (2010) (Chapters 1, 5)

    Available electronically or on Athena:

    • Language Contact and Grammatical Change, by Bernd Heine and Tania Kuteva. Cambridge University Press (2005)
    • Circum-Baltic Languages, Volume 1: Past and Present, edited by Östen Dahl and Maria Koptjevskaja-Tamm. (2001)
      • The Latvian language and its dialects, by Laimute Balode and Axel Holvoet, pp 3- 40
      • The Lithuanian language and its dialects, by Laimute Balode and Axel Holvoet, pp 41-79
    • Circum-Baltic Languages, Volume 2: Grammar and Typology, edited by Östen Dahl and Maria Koptjevskaja-Tamm. (2001)
    • The Analysis of Linguistic Borrowing, by Einar Haugen, pp 210-231, Vol. 26, No. 2 (1950)
    • Language Contact, by Yaron Matras. Cambridge Books Online (Chapter 1)
    • The Changing Languages of Europe, by Bernd Heine and Tania Kuteva. Oxford University Press (2006) (Chapters 1, 2)
    • West European loanwords in Modern Latvian, by Juris Baldunčiks in: Languages in Contact and Contrast: Essays in Contact Linguistics, by Volker Gast., pp 15-24, Walter de Gruyter (2011)
    • Additional articles and handouts distributed in class

  • Course reports

  • Contact

    Assistant Professor Lilita Zalkalns, lilita.zalkalns@balt.su.se

Selected reading

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