History of Romance languages, and especially history of the French language

Duration

30h Th, 15h Pr

Number of credits

Lecturer

Nicolas Mazziotta

Language(s) of instruction

French language

Organisation and examination

Teaching in the first semester, review in January

Schedule

Schedule online

Units courses prerequisite and corequisite

Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program

Learning unit contents

The course traces the history of the Romance language family, i.e. the languages that evolved from Latin, with a special focus on French. The perspective is primarily external, i.e. focused on the relationship between geopolitical and social changes, rather than on the internal characteristics of the language. However, attention will regularly be drawn to the major linguistic characteristics of the languages at study.
The lecture course is structured in three parts:
1/ Introduction and presentation of the general theoretical concepts that allow us to understand the history of Romance languages and their variation.
2/ General history of Romance languages, which traces the evolution from spoken Latin to modern languages.
3/ History of French and characterization of the language at various stages of its evolution (Old French, Middle French, Pre-Classical French, Classical French, Modern French and "Emerging" French).
Practical work sessions are articulated with lectures. They are devoted to accompanying the reading of M. Perret's book: 2020. Introduction to the history of the French language. Paris: A. Colin (see below).

Learning outcomes of the learning unit

By the end of the course, the student will be able to : - identify the different perspectives to describe a language and its variation ; - situate geographically and typologically the different romance varieties ; - know the main chronological steps in the evolution of the romance varieties (particularly the French variety); - abstract from these patterns both specific and general factors that explain linguistic change in Romania ; - produce a grammatical analysis of a linguistic phenomenon ; - produce a philological comment of a textual fragment analyzed in class.

Prerequisite knowledge and skills

Good oral and written command of French.

Planned learning activities and teaching methods

Most of the course will consist in lectures, with possible debate between teacher and students. At the beginning of each session, students will be allowed to ask questions about the previous session.
The part devoted to the history of the French language will also be based on the compulsory reading of a reference manual. This reading will be supervised by an assistant and a student-monitor.

Mode of delivery (face to face, distance learning, hybrid learning)

For classroom use only, subject to change according to the health status.

Organisational adjustments related to the current health context

I the health situation continues to worsen, lessons will take place on the Collaborate platform (same time schedule)
Evaluation: Strictly delimited timespan for a 2h00 online evaluation with multiple-choice questions and short-answer questions. All questions will be available during all the duration of the examination. Syllabus and notes will be allowed.

Recommended or required readings

For the introduction and the part on the history of the Romance languages, a syllabus made by the teacher will be given to the students. The students take notes during the session; their presence is therefore required.
To complete their information or to deepen an aspect of the subject, they may, if they wish, refer to the references used in the syllabus.
For the part on the history of the French language, the following reading is compulsory and provides elements of comprehension that are also useful for the part on the history of Romance languages :

• Perret, Michèle. ¿2020. Introduction à l'histoire de la langue française. 5th edition. Paris: Armand Colin.

Assessment methods and criteria

Below you will find information on the evaluation methods planned for in-person and remote exams as well as those planned for hybrid sessions. Depending on how the health crisis evolves, the chosen method will be communicated to you no later than one month before the start of the exam session.

Any session :

- In-person

written exam ( multiple-choice questionnaire, open-ended questions )

- Remote

written exam ( multiple-choice questionnaire, open-ended questions )

- If evaluation in "hybrid"

preferred remote


Additional information:

Written exam, during the January session ; duration : max. 3h. Two types of knowledge and skills will be assessed:

• encyclopaedic knowledge of the facts, either linguistic or extralinguistic (i.e. history, geography, sociology or literacy);
• understanding of the concepts of linguistic description, and their correct use about specific phenomena.

• the ex-cathedra lessons on the history of Romance languages;
• the practical sessions on the history of French;
• the mandatory reading (see above).

• the relevance and accuracy of the answer ;
• the care in formulation ;
• synthesis capacity and articulation of ideas ;
• the spelling of names and concepts presented in class.

Work placement(s)

Organizational remarks

The course will take place only during the 1st term, on Wednesday, from 11 AM to 1 PM, on classroom Kurth.
The practical sessions devoted to the history of the French language will take place on Fridays (from 4 to 5 PM), alternating with the practical sessions of Historical Phonetics. A schedule of the meetings will be announced when necessary.
Resumption (first contact) : Wednesday 16/09/2020, 11AM, classroom Kurth.

Contacts

Teacher Nicolas Mazziotta Mail : nicolas.mazziotta@uliege.be

Assistant Matthieu Balthazard : matthieu.balthazard@uliege.be
Secretary Ariane Nusgens : 04 366 56 50 

Items online