Paul Roberge
Paul Roberge
Professor of Germanic Languages; Joint Professor of Linguistics
Education
Ph.D., Linguistics, University of Michigan
Intellectual Biography & Awards
Paul Roberge is professor of Germanic languages, joint professor of linguistics, and former chair of the Department of Linguistics at UNC-CH. He also holds the title of professor extraordinary of general linguistics at Stellenbosch University (South Africa). He did his graduate work at the University of Michigan, where he concentrated in both Germanic and general linguistics. He received MA degrees in 1973 (Germanic languages) and 1975 (linguistics), and the PhD in 1980. He came to Chapel Hill in 1985 by way of Princeton University (1980-85; visiting associate professor, 1988). His research and teaching areas include older Germanic dialects (esp. Gothic, Old High German, Old Saxon, Old Norse); comparative Germanic grammar; Afrikaans; pidgins and creoles; sociolinguistics; origin and evolution of human language.
Recent Publications
“Germanic contact languages,” to appear in Richard Page and Michael Putnam, eds., The Cambridge Handbook of the Germanic Languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
“Lexical innovation in the Cape Dutch Vernacular,” to appear in Raymond Hickey and Ana Deumert, eds., Sociolinguistics in South Africa. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Frequently Taught Courses
- GSLL 252 South Africa in Literary Perspective
- GERM 053 Early Germanic Culture: Myth, Magic, Murder, and Mayhem
- GERM 216 The Viking Age
- GERM 500 History of the German Language
- GERM 501/LING 567 Structure of German
- GERM 514-515 Old Norse I and II
- LING 050 Language in the USA
- LING 444 Origin and Evolution of Human Language
- LING 541 Sociolinguistics
- LING 542 Pidgins and Creoles
- LING 543 Language in Politics