Linguistic project

March 9, 2017AdminLanguages

Linguistic project

There are a few ‘Linguistic Areas’ or ‘Sparchbund’ in the world, which would include:
• South Asian (Indian) Subcontinent Linguistic Area (accepted)
• Mainland South East Asia Linguistic Area (accepted)
• The Balkan Linguistic Area (accepted)
• The Ethiopian Linguistic Area (less commonly accepted)
• The Caucasian Linguistic Area (less commonly accepted)
Your task is to pick any ONE of these Linguistic Areas and write a report about the linguistic
diversity of the region. You will refer to the information discussed in class and in the book. You will
also do your own research from other resources that you might find suitable. (Please use Wikipedia
sparingly. Wikipedia should not be your only source of information for the project!)
The main points you will discuss in the report include (but not limited to): (50 points)
1. Definition of a Linguistic Area. (2 points)
2. What countries are included in your target Linguistic Area? (3 points)
3. Please include an appropriate map of the target Linguistic Area. (5 points)
4. What are the major language families spoken in the area? What are the some of the main
features of the different language families spoken in the Linguistic Area? (10 points)
5. Why is the target region considered a Linguistic Area? And what are some of the commonly
spoken languages of each family that are or have been in contact with each other? (10 points)
6. How complex is the language contact situation in the targeted Linguistic Area? Are there any
present day or historical connections that may have led to language contact? (7 points)
7. List some features diffused from one language family to the other? Also include some words/
false cognates that may have been borrowed from one language family to the other. (7 points)
8. Is there a dominant language in the region? Or, is there a lingua franca? Why do you think that
a particular language is dominant or used as a lingua there? (socio-political factors) (5 points)
9. Please feel free to include any other exciting information that you gather during your research.
10. References to your research. (1 point)
Formatting and submission guidelines:
§ You will work independently on your project, and will not collaborate with anyone.
§ The project report should be 3-4 pages + 1 page for maps + 1 page for references.
§ Use font size 12 and Times New Roman font.
§ Your report should be 1.5 spaced with 1-inch margin on all sides.
§ The project is due on the last day of class March 16th 2017 by the end of the day 11:59pm.
§ Projects will be submitted through dropbox associated with the class on EEE.
§ For format of the references you can either use the MLA format of the APA format, as long as
you are consistent with the format you use.