Ortography and Grammar: Norm and Variation
Code
722131087
Academic unit
Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas
Department
Linguística
Credits
10
Teacher in charge
Alexandra Fiéis
Weekly hours
3 letivas + 1 tutorial
Teaching language
Portuguese
Objectives
By the end of the unit, students are expected to:
1. Understand the relativity of the concept of ‘norm’
2. Undestand crucial issues related to linguistic standardization
3. Describe explicitly the rules of the orthographic system of contemporary Portuguese
4. Identify the dimensions of linguistic variation: geographic variation, social variation and diachronic variation
5. Describe the main aspects of linguistic variation inherent to European Portuguese
6. Identify unstable areas in the Portuguese linguistic system
7. Recognize the main characteristics that distinguish European Portuguese from other national varieties of Portuguese
Prerequisites
None.
Subject matter
1. Norm and Variation
2. Dimensions of linguistic variation
3. The role of the norm; the concepts of linguistic norm(s) and correction put forward
4. Norm and language policy
5. Orthographic standardization
5.1. Spoken language and writing: different systems of representation; writing systems (and orthography)
5.2. Orthographic and grammatical issues: historical survey; origins of the orthography of Contemporary Portuguese
6. Areas of instability in European Portuguese, changes in progress and the stabilization of the norm(s)
7. Linguistic variation in the Portuguese territory: phonological, lexical, morphological and syntactic aspects
8. Some distinctive features of different linguistic varieties of Portuguese and the problem of standardization
Bibliography
Castro, Ivo. 2003. O Linguista e a Fixação da Norma. In A. Mendes e T. Freitas (orgs.) Actas do XVIII Encontro Nacional da APL, Lisboa: APL, 11-24.
Ferreira, M. B. et ali. 1996. Variação linguística: perspectiva dialectológica. In Faria et al., orgs. Introdução à Linguística Geral e Portuguesa. Lisboa: Caminho, 479-502.
Gonçalves, Perpétua. 1996. Aspectos da sintaxe do Português de Moçambique. In Faria et al., orgs. Introdução à Linguística Geral e Portuguesa. Lisboa: Caminho, 313-322.
Lucchesi, Dante & Tânia Lobo. 1996. Aspectos da sintaxe do Português Brasileiro. In Faria et al., orgs. Introdução à Linguística Geral e Portuguesa. Lisboa: Caminho, 303-311.
Martins, Ana Maria (2003) Variação e Mudança no Português. A Língua Portuguesa: Actas dos IX Cursos Internacionais de Verão de Cascais - 2002. Cascais: CMC & IES. 29-44
Peres, João Andrade & Móia, Telmo. 1995. Áreas críticas da Língua Portuguesa. Lisboa: Caminho.
Teaching method
The teaching units will have the format of seminars. The seminars will have both a theoretical and a practical component. Oral presentations of relevant texts focusing on topics from the programme are expected. The students are also expected to do research work based on a theoretical research topic and its possible solution(s).
Evaluation method
The evaluation will be based on students’ participation in the seminars, and the elaboration of two article reviews (40%); and on one final essay, supervised by the teacher, which will be presented and discussed in class (60%).