Course: Development and History of Spanish Language

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Course title Development and History of Spanish Language
Course code URO/0VHS
Organizational form of instruction Lecture + Seminar
Level of course Master
Year of study 1
Semester Summer
Number of ECTS credits 4
Language of instruction Spanish
Status of course Compulsory
Form of instruction Face-to-face
Work placements This is not an internship
Recommended optional programme components None
Course availability The course is available to visiting students
Lecturer(s)
  • Prokop Josef, doc. PhDr. Ph.D.
Course content
1. Language development: causes of change in language. External and internal changes; conscious and unconscious changes. 2. Periodization of the development of Spanish. 3. Historical phonetics. Vowel system. Diphthongization. The influence of the yod. 4. Consonant system. Palatalization, sonorization, degeminative, and fricativization. 5. Nouns: Reduction in the morphology of the case system, noun stems, and genders. 6. Adjectives: Genders, degrees of comparison, position. 7. Pronouns: Personal pronouns, the emergence of the three-way deictic system, the emergence of the article. 8. Verbs. Synthetic forms, the emergence of analytical forms, the disappearance of the mediopassive. 9.-11. Historical syntax: typological change. Analyticity, word order, reduction of non-clausal subordination. Preferences in different periods. Linguistic interpretation of texts, lexicon. 12.-13. Dialectal variation; Spain: major dialects, regional varieties, their characteristic features; America: Characteristics of American Spanish.

Learning activities and teaching methods
Monologic (reading, lecture, briefing), Work with text (with textbook, with book)
Learning outcomes
The course aims on introduction to development of Spanish language in relation to other Romance languages and dialects, periodization of the development. Introduction to basic phonetic, morphological and syntactic changes, non-Latin elements in the language. Historical and current dialects. Spanish in America. Stress on contrastive and comparative characterization of the phenomena in Romance languages.
The student describes the historical development of the Spanish language and its variations.
Prerequisites
No special prerequisites.

Assessment methods and criteria
Oral examination, Written examination

Mandatory attendance at seminars (a maximum of 3 absences allowed), regular completion of homework assignments. Successful completion of the final test and passing the exam.
Recommended literature
  • Alarcos Llorach, Emilio. Gramática de la lengua espaňola. 4. reimp. Madrid : Espasa Calpe: Espasa Calpe, 2002. ISBN 84-239-7922-9.
  • Ariza, Manuel. Comentarios de textos dialectales. 2. ed. Madrid : Arco Libros: Arco Libros, 1997. ISBN 84-7635-163-1.
  • Ariza, Manuel. Manual de fonología histórica del espa?ol. Madrid: Editorial Sintesis, 1989. ISBN 84-7738-053-8.
  • García Mouton, Pilar. Lenguas y dialectos de Espa?a. Madrid : Arco Libros: Arco Libros, 2002. ISBN 84-7635-164-X.
  • Lapesa, Rafael; Cano Aguilar, Rafael; Echenique, María Teresa. Estudios de morfosintaxis histórica del espaňol. Tomo II. Madrid: Gredos, 2000. ISBN 84-249-2256-5.
  • Lapesa, Rafael; Cano Aguilar, Rafael; Echenique, María Teresa. Estudios de morfosintaxis histórica del espaňol. Tomo I. Madrid: Gredos, 2000. ISBN 84-249-2255-7.
  • Lapesa, Rafael; Menéndez Pidal, Ramón. Historia de la lengua espa?ola. Primera edición en esta coleccion. Madrid: Editorial Gredos, 2014. ISBN 978-84-249-2890-2.
  • Maíllo Salgado, Felipe. Los arabismos del castellano en la Baja Edad Media : (consideraciones históricas y filológicas). Salamanca : Universidad de Salamanca: Universidad de Salamanca, 1983. ISBN 84-7481-273-9.
  • Pensado, Carmen. Cronología relativa del castellano / Carmen Pensado Ruiz. Salamanca: Univ. de Salamanca, 1984.
  • Zamora Vicente, Alonso. Dialectología espaňola. Madrid : Editorial Gredos: Editorial Gredos, 1996. ISBN 84-249-1115-6.
  • Zavadil, Bohumil. Historia de la lengua espa?ola : introducción a la etimología. 1a edición. Praga: Karolinum, 2015. ISBN 978-80-246-2207-1.


Study plans that include the course
Faculty Study plan (Version) Category of Branch/Specialization Recommended year of study Recommended semester