An introduction to the historical events that shaped the
development of Spanish from Latin and the resulting linguistic
evolution, including phonological, morphological, syntactic,
lexical, and semantic changes. Given in Spanish.
Athena Title
Intro to History of Spanish
Prerequisite
SPAN(LING) 3050 or SPAN(LING) 3050E
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Student Learning Outcomes
Students will analyze the impact for human behavior(s) on the organizational and social environment as relates to language development and change.
Students will reflect on how one’s social identities and roles shape one’s worldview and interactions.
Students will develop an awareness, appreciation, and knowledge of cultures and communities beyond one’s own, through the understanding of various factors in language development.
Students will identify connections between language and identity, both historically and in the present day, that led to the formation of the Spanish language and continues to influence these languages today.
Students will express and manipulate concepts and thoughts in verbal and symbolic forms, including in Portuguese and/or Spanish and using the International Phonetic Alphabet.
Students will organize and synthesize historical developments to reveal insightful patterns, differences, or similarities in both historical and synchronic language change.
Students will support, evaluate and communicate conclusions based on qualitative data found in historical corpora.
Students will summarize the structural developments and historical changes of the Portuguese, Spanish, and Romance languages.
Topical Outline
I. Introduction: basic principles of linguistics analysis and
the nature and types of language change
II. External history of the Spanish language and possible
effects of language contact
III. Analysis of historical sound changes from Spoken Latin to
Modern Spanish
IV. Analysis of ongoing sound changes in the Spanish-speaking
world, including vowel, diphthong, and consonant changes
V. Analysis of morphological and syntactic changes in the noun
phrase and the verb phrase: the tendency toward analytical
structures and the role of analogy
VI. Semantic and lexical changes
VII. The impact of the expansion of Spanish into the New World
