Indo-European and Indo-Iranian Studies
Indo-European and Indo-Iranian Studies (B.A.)
Vedic, Old Persian and Avestic? Pre-Hellenistic Greek, Old Latin and Old Germanic? Anatolian, Celtic and Tocharian? Can you actually still learn these languages today? Of course, even if the Indo-Germanic and Indo-Iranian Studies program is probably not as familiar to one as, say, German Studies or History. The aim of the course is to describe these and other Indo-European and Indo-Iranian languages in detail, to explain their similarities and differences, and to reconstruct the prehistoric Indo-European basic language and discover new things in the process.
Therefore, the initial focus of the bachelor’s program is on learning the languages. Here there are introductory courses for e.g. Sanskrit, Runic Norse or Hittite. But what good are languages if we don’t use them? They are put into practice in seminars, for example, on the ancient Persian inscriptions of the Great Kings Darius or Xerxes, the epics of Homer or the Gothic Wulfila Bible. In addition to the linguistic seminars, there are also events on mythology and culture in the regions of origin.
- Degree
- Bachelor of Arts (B.A.)
- Duration of studies in semester
- 6
- Start of degree program
- Winter semester
- Study location
- Erlangen
- Number of students
- 1-50
- Subject group
- Language and Cultural Studies
- Special ways to study
- 2-subject Bachelor, Part-time degree program
- Teaching language
- completely in German
- Admission Requirements
- No Admissions Restrictions
What is the degree program about?
- Comparative Indo-European Linguistics (Indo-Germanic Studies): historical comparative linguistics of the genetically related Indo-European languages.
- Indo-European language family with the Indo-European individual languages or subgroups (e.g. Indo-European, Ancient Greek, Latin, Ancient Germanic, Anatolian, Celtic, Tocharian, Baltic, Slavic)
- Subgroup Indo-European (Vedic, Classical Sanskrit, Avestic, Old Persian)
- Acquisition of basic subject knowledge of Indo-Germanic and Indo-Iranian Studies (especially the most important methods of linguistic comparison).
- Ability to receive specialized literature and to conduct independent scientific work
- Sound scientific training in dealing with text documents of ancient Indo-European languages spanning four millennia
- Acquisition of thorough knowledge of phonology, morphology, syntax and semantics of the Old Indo-European languages most important for the language comparison
- Ability to explain the similarities and differences of the related Indo-European languages
- Ability to provide a historical-genetic explanation of the individual Indo-European languages
- Ability to reconstruct the prehistoric Indo-European basic language with the methods of comparative linguistics
Bewerbung für zulassungsfreie Studiengänge
FAU - Moving Knowledge
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- First two-semester study phase: 4 basic modules “Introduction to Indo-European Studies”, “Introduction to Germanic”, “Sanskrit I” and Sanskrit II”. Treatment of the basics of comparative linguistics and Indo-European studies.
- Second four-semester study phase: 6 advanced modules: “Indo-European languages I and II”, “Other Indo-European languages I and II”, “Reconstruction of the basic Indo-European language I and II”; extension and specialization of the professional competences in the advanced modules.
- 6th semester: writing of the bachelor thesis (in the first subject Indo-European and Indo-Iranian Studies)
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The following options for specialization within the bachelor’s degree program in Indo-European and Indo-Iranian Studies are open, for example:
- Indo-Iranian Philology and Linguistics
- Comparative Germanic Linguistics
- Greek and Latin Linguistics
- Hittite and Anatolian Philology
- Celtic Philology and Linguistics
- Indo-European Classical Studies
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- Interest in languages (especially ancient languages such as Greek and Latin).
- Interest in the origin of words (keyword etymology), names and idioms of languages (so to speak detective interest in languages)
- General interest in how language works
- Interest in different writing systems (e.g. Greek alphabet, Cyrillic alphabet, Hittite cuneiform)
- General interest in the cultural history of Indo-European peoples
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- Intensive support of the students by the lecturers
- Responding also to special interests of the students
- Help in dealing with administration and bureaucratic hurdles and difficulties
- Familiar institute atmosphere
- Ideal working conditions in the institute library
- Small number of participants in the courses
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In your studies you will not only acquire language and cultural competences in a specific field. It generally prepares you for dealing with different languages that are distantly related to each other and enables you to analyze, reconstruct and compare the origin and development of languages and cultures.
By dealing with different languages, their texts, their history as well as their writings, you learn the ability to deal with unknown contents and structures in a reflective way and acquire a high intellectual flexibility, e.g. in transfer thinking. Indo-Europeanists can, apart from a university career, find employment, for example, in the following professional fields:
- Publishing and librarianship, e.g. in combination with book studies
- Public relations, cultural management, study trips
- International institutions
- Information processing
- Software development (language programs), e.g. in combination with computational linguistics or computer science
- Adult education including migrant education
- Journalism, e.g. in combination with German studies
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Degree program combinations
- Archaeological Sciences
- Art History
- Book Studies
- Business and Economics
- Chinese Studies
- Cultural History of Christianity
- Education
- English and American Studies
- French Roman Studies
- German studies
- Greek Philology
- Islamic Religious Studies
- Latin Philology
- Medieval Latin and Neo-Latin
- Oriental Studies
- Political Science
- Scandinavian Studies (BA)
- Sociology
- Theater and Media Studies
Das Lehrangebot dieser Kombination ist so aufeinander abgestimmt, dass die Fächer in der Regel überschneidungsfrei miteinander kombiniert werden können.
Limited degree program combinations
- Business and Economics
- Computational Linguistics
- Digital Humanities and Social Sciences
- Geography: Cultural Geography
- History
- Japanese Studies
- Philosophy
Diese Kombination kann nur nach einer diesbezüglichen Studienberatung studiert werden. Die Überschneidungsfreiheit kann jedoch nicht garantiert werden. Die Studierenden tragen selbst die Verantwortung für die Studierbarkeit der Kombination und die Einhaltung der Fristen des § 10. Der Nachweis einer Studienberatung ist bei der Immatrikulation vorzulegen.
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- Admission requirements (first semester)
- No Admissions Restrictions
- Application deadline winter semester
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30.09.
Language skills
- German language skills for international applicants
- DSH 2 or equivalent
- Details and notes
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The application deadline for the winter semester for international applicants is July 15th.
In addition to the general qualification for university entrance (Abitur), there are other access options for studying at FAU.
Do you need help or more information?
Our Student Advice and Career Service (IBZ) is the central point of contact for all questions about studying and starting a degree programme. Our Student Service Centres and subject advisors support you in planning your studies.