This course varies in topic and fulfills requisite coursework for the Ph.D. in Hispanic Linguistics. Topics may range from foundational coursework (e.g. Spanish Phonetics and Phonology, History of the Spanish Language, etc.) to specialized topics in Hispanic Linguistics (e.g. Microsociolinguistics, Contact Linguistics, etc.).

Taught in English, this course serves as an in-depth exploration of two antithetical phenomena in Contact Linguistics: endogenous change and contact-induced change. A focal point of the seminar will be problematizing the assessment of linguistic innovation and change as contact-induced, as frameworks of language contact span the gamut from 'perhaps no change is ever contact-induced' all the way to 'all change is contact-induced'. Through a review of several case studies on phonological, phonetic, morphosyntactic, and lexical variables in Spanish and other languages in contact, students will gain a critical understanding of various theoretical frameworks and terminology to define and consequently empirically classify language contact phenomena.

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