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What’s in a name? Teaching linguistics using onomastic data
- Language
- Linguistic Society of America
- Volume 94, Number 4, December 2018
- pp. e293-e310
- 10.1353/lan.2018.0068
- Article
- Additional Information
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Abstract:
This article describes how students can be introduced to the basics of linguistic analysis using personal, product, and place names as data. I outline several areas of linguistics that can be effectively taught at an introductory level through name data and provide examples of accompanying in-class and take-home exercises. Throughout the article, I demonstrate that the everyday familiarity of names and the ready availability of name data combine to create a class that not only engages students but also teaches them practical data-analysis skills.