Graduate Education Institute · Turkish Language and Literature · Master
ECTS: 7.5 T+P+L: 3+0+0 Departmental Elective
Coordinator: Dr. Öğr. Üyesi Merve ERGÜT
Instructors: Dr. Öğr. Üyesi Merve ERGÜT
Course Objective
The purpose of this course is to identify language families; to examine the development and changes in historical and contemporary Turkic dialects; to analyze linguistic changes both synchronically and diachronically; to explain the historical development of grammatical rules; and to provide scientific interpretations of the origins of sounds and words.
Course Content
Classification of languages based on their structural characteristics. Examination of language change and discussion of its causes. Examination of the development of historical linguistics. Understanding the methods of historical linguistics. Teaching changes in sound, form, vocabulary, and meaning, as well as the related rules and methods.
Course Learning Outcomes
- Explains the fundamental methods of historical linguistics.
- Provides etymological explanations regarding historical texts of the Turkish language.
- Can critically evaluate art and related works.
- Understands that language change is a natural process.
- It examines the theories and methods that aim to explain linguistic change.
- Comprehends sound and word changes in the Turkish language.
Core Area Distribution
(22) Humanities%100
Teaching Methods
ExpressionQuestion-AnswerDiscussionExercise and PracticePresentationGuided PracticeSelf study
Assessment & Evaluation
Performance Assignment ( Lab / Workshop / Field Work / Seminar / Presentation / Completion Study / ThesisTesting (Essay / Tests: True-Falls, multiple-choice, short answer, matching)
ECTS / Workload
| Activity | Quantity | Duration (h) | Total Workload |
|---|---|---|---|
| Course Duration (Including Exam Week) | 16 | 3 | 48 |
| Out of Class Study Period | 16 | 3 | 48 |
| Midterm | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Quiz | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Assignment | 16 | 2 | 32 |
| Practice | 16 | 3 | 48 |
| Final | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Course Schedule
| Week | Subject | Preparation |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The development of historical linguistics; the identification of language families based on structure and origin. Major world language families. Altaic languages (theories of genetic relationship); stages in the historical development of the Turkic language. | |
| 2 | Historical linguistics: methods, fundamental concepts, and research techniques employed in the field—specifically comparison, reconstruction, and glottochronology. Causes of language change and related studies. Linguistic interaction. Linguistic dimensions in which language change manifests. | |
| 3 | Phonetics: Sound changes and their causes. The phonetic characteristics of the Turkish language. The sound system of the Turkish language and sound changes. The pronunciation of vowels and consonants | |
| 4 | Morphology: Morphological changes and their causes. The development of roots and affixes in the Turkish language. The origins of words. Studies in etymology. | |
| 5 | Lexicology: Lexical and syntactic change and their causes. Sequential and syntactic relationships. Borrowing and analogical change. | |
| 6 | Lexicography: The relationship between terminology, lexicology, and lexicography. Selection and organization of lexical items in dictionaries; methods of dictionary compilation. | |
| 7 | Semantics: Basic lexicon, conceptualization in the Turkish language, conceptual domain. Advanced semantics: schemas, emotional value, connotation, figurative language, specialization, generalization, inclusion/adjacency, ellipsis, euphemism, metaphorization. | |
| 8 | Midterm | |
| 9 | Semiotics: signifier – signified – sign – reference; the semiotic method of text analysis; advertising – poster and cartoon design – the relationship between news language and semiotics. | |
| 10 | Text linguistics, internal structure – external structure, macro – micro structure. Cohesion and coherence, establishing connections between introductory and concluding sentences, paragraph cohesion, elements of inter-sentential cohesion (anaphora, cataphora). | |
| 11 | Pragmatics—Discourse and Context, Speech-Act Theory, the Cooperative Principle (quantity, quality, relation, and manner), the Theory of Implication, the Theory of Politeness, the Theory of Relation, and the connection between the expression of emotions and thoughts and pragmatics methods | |
| 12 | Sociolinguistics: the relationship between language, gender, status, and age; media and language | |
| 13 | Discourse analysis: political discourse, advertising language (cultural differences, speech patterns, word choice, language use) | |
| 14 | Final review and submission of the article | |
| 15 | Final Exam | |
| 16 |