3 ECTS credits
75 h study time
Offer 1 with catalog number 1020939ANR for all students in the 2nd semester at a (A) Bachelor - preliminary level.
This course offers students a first linguistic introduction to the Dutch language.
In a first part, this course will deal with the phonetics and phonology of Dutch. We will examine basic concepts from the study of phonetics (a.o. speech chain, speech production and reception, the link between speech and writing), the articulation of Dutch vowels and consonants, basic concepts from segmental phonology (a.o. phonemes, allophones, distinctive features), various phenomena from the study of connected speech (a.o. coarticulation, phonological rules, assimilation, reduction, deletion and insertion), and some selected aspects of regional variation in modern spoken Dutch.
In the second part of this course, we will explore (lexical) morphology. We will go over basic concepts concerning the way in which words are formed, dealing with both derivational and compositional morphology. Starting from the word as a unit of form and meaning, we will also touch upon the interfaces between morphology and (lexical) semantics.
Theoretical concepts will be applied to examples and practiced during separate exercise sessions.
Lectures are based on the relevant chapters in:
Smessaert, H. & Decoster, W. (2017). Basisbegrippen fonetiek en fonologie. Leuven/Den Haag: Acco. [2012 edition can also be used]
Booij, G. & Santen, A. van (2017). Morfologie. De woordstructuur van het Nederlands. Derde, herziene uitgave. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press. [1998 can also be used]
Students can purchase a copy of these books at the VUBtiek book center, if so desired. Slides with a summary of the relevant chapters from these works will be provided over the course of the semester and are available in the syllabus. Both books are also available in the VUB library (800 G SMES 2017; 803.9 H 1 BOOI 98).
This, along with any extra reading material, hand outs and exercises from classes (HOC+WPO) (in digital format) is considered mandatory study material. Additionally, students are required to take notes during the course.
1. Students are able to recognize and distinguish the different linguistic levels of analysis (grapheme, speech sound, phoneme, morpheme, word, phrase, clause, sentence) and the corresponding linguistic disciplines. Moreover, they can situate the concepts and methods dealt with during this course in this larger framework. [Dublin-descriptor NVAO: kennis en inzicht]
2. For the section on phonetics and phonology, students are able to identify and define the basic concepts dealt with in the course, and they can explain how various sounds and phonemes arise as part of the speech chain. For the section on morphology, students are able to elaborate on the difference between processes of composition and derivation, and they can explain and illustrate the word formation processes and structure of derivational and compositional units dealt with in the course. [Dublin-descriptor NVAO: kennis en inzicht]
3. Students are furthermore able to distinguish and scientifically describe speech sounds and phoneme of Dutch, and they can apply the phonological rules dealt with in the course on real-life examples. Moreover, students are capable of conducting morphological analyses of complex words, and they can think up additional examples to illustrate the morphological processes dealt with in the course. [Dublin-descriptor NVAO: toepassen kennis en inzicht]
4. Students acquire the necessary skills to independently describe and analyze known and new examples from a phonetic, phonological and a morphological point of view. [Dublin-descriptor NVAO: leervaardigheden]
5. Students can report about their knowledge of and expertise in basic phonetic, phonological, and morphological concepts in an appropriate scientific register of Standard Dutch, with a relatively accurate use of the acquired terminology. [Dublin-descriptor NVAO: communicatie]
The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Oral Exam determines 40% of the final mark.
Written Exam determines 30% of the final mark.
PRAC Practical Assignment determines 30% of the final mark.
Within the Oral Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:
Within the Written Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:
Within the PRAC Practical Assignment category, the following assignments need to be completed:
If a student does not participate in or does not hand in the required assignment for one of the evaluations modules for the course, he or she will receive a partial grade of 0/20 for thad evaluation module.
Partial grades can be transferred to a later exam session within the same academic year, at the written request of the student.
This course offer isn't part of a fixed set of graduation requirements. Hence, it is a free elective.