Projects / Programmes
Theoretical and applied linguistic research: contrastive, synchronic and diachronic aspects
January 1, 2017
- December 31, 2021
| Code |
Science |
Field |
Subfield |
| 6.05.00 |
Humanities |
Linguistics |
|
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| H350 |
Humanities |
Linguistics |
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| 6.02 |
Humanities |
Languages and Literature |
LINGUISTICS; THEORETICAL, DESCRIPTIVE AND APPLIED LINGUISTICS; FUNCTIONAL APPROACHES; SLOVENE, ENGLISH, GERMAN, SPANISH, ITALIAN, ANCIENT GREEK, LATIN; LANGUAGE TEACHING AND LEARNING, TRANSLATION AND INTERPRETING, LEXICOGRAPHY
Researchers (39)
Organisations (1)
Abstract
The research dealt with by our team is based on the theoretical assumption that language as a social phenomenon is a result of past spontaneous and planned conventions and gradual modifications that occur in its development. Our goal is to discover the principles and tendencies governing its form and its functioning in concrete communicative situations. In the epistemological respect it is thus necessary to take into account the tying of individual linguistic phenomena into a text or into the broadest situational context, which means that the theoretical base of our approach is mostly that of text linguistics, although the classical philological approaches are also employed in dealing with languages such as Ancient Greek, Latin and (to a smaller extent) Hittite. In most of our research, contrastive textual study of Slovene on the one hand and the other languages dealt with on the other hand is of central importance. At the same time, a group of researchers in our team study linguistic phenomena from a more strictly theoretical perspective, using in particular the approach of the generative grammar, although the latter remains of relatively marginal importance in comparison to the functional paradigm on which the majority of our research is based. However, taking into consideration different frameworks is important, since they are complementary and thus enable us to ask various relevant questions about linguistic phenomena and shed light on them from more than one viewpoint.
Our chief research preoccupation is how to better understand the different phenomena of language functioning, while at the same time strive to promote advances in the applied domain, especially in language teaching and language learning, in the practice of translation and interpreting and in lexicography.
Our agenda includes research on specific and general properties of English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Latin and Greek as well as the contrastive research of these languages in relation to Slovene as the mother tongue or second/foreign language, since to an extent at least, the goal of our research is to study the phenomena in question from the point of view of Slovene. The above mentioned languages and cultures are important in a world context and Slovenes have traditionally lived in close contact with them in economic, political, scientific, cultural and other terms.
Significance for science
Considering that our research will mostly be carried out in areas in which some members of the research group have become internationally recognized experts, we expect that the results of their research will remain to be a useful and interesting contribution to the field of linguistics in Europe and elsewhere in the world.
Due to the role of English as the most important language of international communication, our work will include research in the role of English as a foreign language in countries with different linguistic and cultural backgrounds. We will strive to develop a methodologically clear and professionally sound approach to different linguistic aspects of this language, in particular those that are internationally relevant with respect to the current function of this global language. Our Slovene-English contrastive studies are important also from the point of view of informing the international community of the specific linguistic and cultural characteristics of our own, Slovene language.
Considering studies in those Romance languages that are important for our country either as languages of international communication (French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian) or as languages of contact (Italian, Friulian), our most important contribution will remain to be offered in the following fields: contrastive research in the functions of texts at all levels, from systemic to lexical and phonological, between these languages and Slovene (and other Slavic languages) as well as between these languages and English; lexicological, lexicographic and translation projects, research in bilingualism, allowed by the Italian-Slovene sociolinguistic situation around the border between the two countries, as well as research in diachronic linguistic development and changes, based on observation of Slovene-Italian and Slovene-Friulian language contacts (in the extreme western part of the Slovene ethnic area), and of the Slovene-Spanish contact (among Argentinian Slovenes). A sub-area of research will include Romance loanwords of different origins in Slovene. Over the past few years our reseaarch has also dealt with selected aspects of German, which in Slovenia has been of special significance as a language of international communication. Also in dealing with German, our approach has been mainly contrastive and textual.
In the field of general linguistics, researchers will contribute to the theory of syntax, morphology and phonology, as well as to the theory of universal grammar, generative grammar, language typology and psycholinguistics. The results are expected to be useful for further research in Slovene and Slavic studies, comparative linguistics, psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics, applied linguistics and computer processing of language data. The general linguistic research will encompass topical aspects of language studies, either from a theoretical point of view or in connection with social and psychological variables (sex, age, social status, ethnic identity, cognitive capacity, perceptions, attitudes), whereas research in languages with the oldest attested documents (e.g. in Hittite) will combine classical methods of comparative linguistics with modern approaches of discourse analysis and functionalism.
Also the research work of classical philologists will contribute to an upgrading of the linguistics and rhetoric of antiquity with the contemporary approaches to text analysis. They will focus on the developmetn of linguistics as an independent discipline, and present its role in the light of relationships with the (once more strongly) related areas, such as rhetoric and philosophy. At the same time, their analysis of Greek and Latin texts will contribute to our knowledge of classical languages, which can only be achieved by applying the contemporary functional approach to linguistic research.
Significance for the country
There is no doubt that the political, economic and cultural development of Slovenia depends to a large degree upon our ability to communicate crossculturally in effective ways, both in ENGLISH as the primary lingua franca as well as in OTHER LANGUAGES which are important for the communication at the political, economic, cultural, scientific and educational levels. In order for members of the Slovene society to be able to use foreign languages effectively, it is necessary to provide them with high-quality language teaching at all levels and to develop suitable language materials for different types of users and, above all, to carry out excellent research into foreign languages on their own and from the specific viewpoint of Slovene.
Our aim is to produce high-quality language manuals and textbooks as well as to contribute to contrastive research of language for specific purposes and to the improvement of foreign-language literacy. We also have strong ambitions in lexicography and plan to continue to publish bilingual dictionaries in both printed and electronic format. To achieve these goals, we shall carry on our contrastive research in all the languages studied by members of our research team. An even greater emphasis than in the past will be placed on the study of translation and interpreting, in order to better understand translation phenomena and to improve the practice of translation and interpreting.
In Slovenia, the research on ROMANCE languages is of exceptional importance for two reasons: first, because of its potential to contribute to the preservation of the global linguistic and cultural balance and because of the role these languages have played in Slovene cultural and general history. Second, for centuries there has been direct contact between Slovene on the hand and Italian and Friulian on the other; research on various contact phenomena should enable us to better understand the reality of bilingualism and biculturalism and to help their development. Of particular significance is also the research of German as the language which has for centuries been an important language of international communication in Slovenia.
Our research on MODERN and CLASSICAL languages will contribute, among other things, to the preservation of the classical Latin and Greek heritage through the enhancement of classical studies (descriptive presentations of the two languages and of various grammatical problems related to them; production of new bilingual dictionaries) and and will increase the awareness of the classical civilization as the basis of European culture.
Most important scientific results
Annual report
2017,
2018,
2019
Most important socioeconomically and culturally relevant results
Annual report
2017,
2018,
2019
