Historical Linguistics 3130 A

Hints on the essay question

Some students have told me that they don't understand the essay questions I posted and can't find out anything about them in the textbook, so I have prepared extensive notes on the 5 exam essay topics pointing you to some things that you might choose to discuss. Do not try to put all of these points into your essay or you'll be writing a book instead of an exam answer. Just pick the most interesting points you can fit into 2-4 hand-written pages. You should have no shortage of things to say. Remember to give evidence to support any claims you make.

I forgot to mention earlier that you can write the essay in either English or French, whichever you are most comfortable with. Note that the exam sheet will not have these 6 pages of notes, just the 5 questions themselves. You cannot use any notes once the exam begins.

I have reworded two of the questions slightly since I first posted them, changing "gradualism" to "gradual change" and "written records" to "written documents" (although I'm including wall carvings and all sorts of things in the word "documents").