Spring

Selected readings of Akkadian texts in the Standard Babylonian dialect of the 1st millennium BC.

This class is designed to provide an advanced grammar course focusing on syntactic topics for students who have intermediate or advanced knowledge of Akkadian. The class will read texts from different periods and genres to compare the treatment of certain syntactic structures.

This is the third in a three-quarter sequence that covers the basic grammar and cuneiform writing system of the Hittite language. It also familiarizes the student with the field's tools (i.e., dictionaries, lexica, sign list). Readings come from all periods of Hittite history (1650 to 1180 B.C.).

Third quarter of Advanced Turkish / Elementary Ottoman

Third Quarter of Intermediate Modern Turkish.

An introductory sequence in the written language of the Orkhon Inscriptions, dating back to the fifth-to-eighth-century Kök Türk State of Central Eurasia, and of related inscriptions from the Yenisei River area, Mongolia, Central Asia, and Eastern Europe. The language of the inscriptions is considered to be the ancestor of the majority of Turkic languages spoken today and uses a distinctive alphabet sometimes known as the Old Turkic Runiform Alphabet. The sequence covers a brief historic overview, basic grammar, reading selections from the inscriptions in the original and in translation, and familiarization with the alphabet itself. An introductory sequence in the written language of the Orkhon Inscriptions, dating back to the fifth-to-eighth-century Kök Türk State of Central Eurasia, and of related inscriptions from the Yenisei River area, Mongolia, Central Asia, and Eastern Europe. The language of the inscriptions is considered to be the ancestor of the majority of Turkic languages spoken today and uses a distinctive alphabet sometimes known as the Old Turkic Runiform Alphabet. The sequence covers a brief historic overview, basic grammar, reading selections from the inscriptions in the original and in translation, and familiarization with the alphabet itself.

Third Quarter of 1st Year Modern Turkish

This course is intended for those students who have learned Persian well enough to start enjoying Persian poetry in the original language. Starting from the Constitutional Revolution of 1906, each session several new poems by one or more poets will be discussed against the socio-political background of the time. The poets will include some women poets also, and the poems range in form, style and subject matter from traditional to modern, from satirical to prison poems and issues of human/women’s rights. The students are expected to prepare for each session, participate actively in discussions, be ready for short presentations based on the assigned secondary literature, and write an essay.

This sequence deepens and expands the students' knowledge of modern Persian at all levels of reading, writing and speaking. Grammar will be taught at a higher level and a wider vocabulary will enable the students to read stories, articles and poetry and be introduced to examples of classical literature towards the end of the sequence. Introducing the Iranian culture will be continued. Class meets three hours a week with the instructor and (with enough students) two hours with a native informant who conducts grammatical drills and Persian conversation.

This sequence concentrates on modern written Persian as well as modern colloquial usage. Towards the end of the sequence the students will be able to read, write and speak Persian at an elementary level. Introducing the Iranian culture is also a goal. The class meets three hours a week with the instructor and two hours with a native informant who conducts grammatical drills and Persian conversation