Paper IV:
Linguistic Studies I
The History of The
French Language up to the Mid-Twentieth Century
1. Course Content
This paper offers you
the opportunity to study the development of the French language from Vulgar
Latin to Modern French.
2. Teaching
Given the scope of the
paper, coverage cannot be achieved in the eight tutorials normally allotted to
its preparation. Regular attendance at lectures from the introductory course
onwards is, therefore, strongly advised.
3. Examination
The paper is divided
into two sections to enable you to combine study in breadth with the more
detailed exploration of a particular period or periods.
Section A includes a
range of questions on the history of the language from earliest times to the
present day, or relating to historical linguistics as applied to French.
Questions may cover phonological, orthographical, morphological, syntactic,
lexical, semantic, stylistic and sociolinguistic topics, as well as ideas about
the French language in an historical perspective.
Section B
is divided into a number of parts starting with the transition from Latin to
French and the early history of the language and moving on to periods which correspond, roughly speaking, to the literary
periods offered in Paper VI (1100-1530), VII (1530-1715), VIII (1715-1940).
This makes it possible for you, if you so choose, to
make fruitful links between your study of language and literature.
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