Department of General Linguistics
university of Helsinki

Professor John McWhorter

is going to teach a course (20 hours) on

Language Contact and Structural Complexity

Time: September 1,2,5-9,12-14,2005, at 2-4 p.m. Place: September 2 in seminar room 303, all other days in auditorium 334D, both at Siltavuorenpenger 20A, 3rd floor.

Professor McWhorter was formerly affiliated with the Department of Linguistics, University of California (Berkeley), and is presently at Manhattan Institute, New York. His work on the complexity and formation of creole languages as published i.a. in the journal Linguistic Typology has generated a lively discussion. Professor McWhorter is a former Associate Editor of the journal Language.

The course will take in creoles as well as older languages. It is intended for postgraduate and MA level students (jatko-opiskelijat, graduaan tekevät ja aloittelevat opiskelijat) from linguistics and the language subjects with an interest in language contact phenomena.

Please sign up for the course by sending an e-mail to Fred Karlsson. As for credits, the course qualifies for 2-5 study weeks in general linguistics, depending upon the amount of work put in by the student.