Indo-Aryan Descriptive Linguistics

Aim of instruction

The aim of the course is to provide students with comprehensive knowledge of the methods, results, and current trends in descriptive linguistic research on Indo-Aryan languages.

a) Knowledge

Students will acquire comprehensive knowledge of the languages belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European language family, and their grammatical systems. They will acquire in-depth knowledge of the methodology of descriptive and theoretical linguistics. They will become familiar with the major grammarians of the Indian linguistic tradition (primarily Pāṇini’s Aṣṭādhyāyī).

b) Skills

Students will be able to recognize and explain phonological, morphological, and syntactic problems in Indo-Aryan languages. They will gain practice in descriptive linguistic analysis and critical evaluation of linguistic data. They will be able to describe Indo-Aryan linguistic phenomena and interpret them from a theoretical linguistic perspective.

c) Attitudes

Students will develop a critical and methodologically conscious approach to descriptive and theoretical linguistic research. They will be open to newer theoretical approaches while preserving the values of traditional descriptive linguistic methods.

d) Autonomy and responsibility

Students will be able to independently identify and solve Indo-Aryan descriptive linguistic problems in their own field of research. They will be able to conduct independent research, evaluate academic debates, and represent their own well-founded scientific opinions in the field of Indo-Aryan descriptive linguistics.

Topics

Languages and language variants belonging to certain periods of the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European language family (depending on the student’s research topic, primarily Vedic Old Indo-Aryan and Classical Sanskrit, various Middle and New Indo-Aryan languages) and analysis of the various phonological, morphological, and syntactic problems of these languages using the theoretical and methodological tools of current descriptive and theoretical linguistic trends; familiarization with the Indian grammatical tradition, reading and analysis of Pāṇini’s Aṣṭādhyāyī.

System of evaluation

Written/oral exam

Literature

Cardona, George–Jain, Dhanesh (eds.) (2003). The Indo-Aryan Languages. London–New York: Routledge.

Cardona, George (1997). Pāṇini. His Work and Its Traditions. I. Background and Introduction. 2nd ed. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.

Hock, Hans Henrich–Bashir, Elena (eds.) (2016). The Languages and Linguistics of South Asia. A Comprehensive Guide. Berlin–Boston: De Gruyter Mouton.

Oberlies, Thomas (2003). A Grammar of Epic Sanskrit. Berlin: De Gruyter.

Speijer, J. S. (1886). Sanskrit Syntax. Leiden: Brill.