Romance Linguistics

A.Y. 2020/2021
9
Max ECTS
60
Overall hours
SSD
L-FIL-LET/09
Language
Italian
Learning objectives
This course aims to provide advanced knowledge on themes, methods and problems related to Romance linguistics. The history of the Romance languages will be studied from a comparative perspective (both in synchrony and in diachrony); particular attention will be paid to methodology concerning geolinguistics and/or sociolinguistics points of view.
Expected learning outcomes
At the end of the course every student will have an in-depth knowledge of nineteenth- and twentieth-century history of Romance linguistics, as well as the theories and methodologies used in the field of Romance linguistics. Students will learn to discern, understand, describe and classify the most important linguistic data through Medieval and/or Modern texts or documents, considering them from a diachronic and a diatopic point of view. Finally, they will learn how to use the main consultation sources as well as orienting themselves effectively and confidently within the specific reference bibliography, using the appropriate discipline-specific terminology.
Single course

This course cannot be attended as a single course. Please check our list of single courses to find the ones available for enrolment.

Course syllabus and organization

Single session

Responsible
Lesson period
First semester
Lectures will be held remotely via Microsoft Teams, mainly in synchronous mode; some activities may also take place via Zoom platform.
Students will find all the information to access the digital lectures (links, notices, etc.), as well as any changes to the program or bibliography to be studied, on the Ariel website of the course.
If the exam can't take place as provided in the Syllabus, it will be held online (the procedure will be communicated on the Ariel website at the end of the course).
Course syllabus
The following topics will be dealt with:

A. Historical Romance Linguistics profile (XIX-XX centuries), with notions of compared historical grammar of Romance Languages (20 hours, 3 UFC, prof. Tagliani).
B. Systems and methods of research: linguistic geography (20 hours, 3 UFC, prof. Tagliani).
C. French outside France: the crusader states and Cyprus (20 hours, 3 UFC, prof. Gaggero).
Prerequisites for admission
No prerequisites for admission.
Teaching methods
The course consists of 60 hours of lectures; linguistic texts' analysis activity will be carried out, as well as written exercise and specific case-studies. The course relies on e-learning material, available on Ariel 2.0.
Attendance in this course is strongly recommended; active participation from the students will be required during the lessons.
Teaching Resources
For attending students
For part A:
- Personal class notes;
- Marcello Barbato, Le lingue romanze. Profilo storico-comparativo, Laterza, Roma-Bari, 2017;
- Alberto Varvaro, Il latino e la formazione delle lingue romanze, Il Mulino, Bologna, 2014;
- Other learning material available online on the Ariel 2.0 platform at the end of the course.

For part B:
- Personal class notes;
- An essay chosen from the following:
a) Corrado Grassi, La geografia linguistica, in Lexikon der romanistischen Linguistik (LRL), hrsg. von Günter Holtus, Michael Metzeltin, Christian Schmitt, vol. I, t. 1. Geschichte des Faches Romanistik. Methodologie (Das Sprachsystem), Max Niemeyer, Tübingen, 2a ed. 2011, pp. 207-235;
b) Hans Goebl, La geografia linguistica, in Manuale di linguistica italiana, a cura di Sergio Lubello, de Gruyter, Berlin-Boston, 2016, pp. 553-580.
- Other learning materials available online on the Ariel 2.0 platform at the end of the course.
Note: a valid reference work, which we will often use is: Gerhard Rohlfs, Panorama delle lingue neolatine. Piccolo atlante linguistico pan-romanzo, Gunter Narr, Tübingen, 1986 (several linguistic maps from this atlas will be commented on in class and will be subject of exam).

For part C:
- Personal class notes;
- L. Minervini, Le français dans l'Orient latin (XIIIe-XIVe siècles). Élements pour la caractérisation d'une scripta du Levant, in «Revue de Linguistique romane», 74 (2010), pp. 119-198.
- L. Minervini, La variation lexicale en fonction du contact linguistique: le français dans l'Orient latin, in M. Glessgen/D. Trotter (éds.), La régionalité lexicale du français au Moyen Âge, Strasbourg, ÉLiPhi, 2016, pp. 195-206.
- Other learning material available online on the Ariel 2.0 platform at the end of the course.

Warning for non-attending students
Non-attending students are required to get proper notes from their colleagues. Notes should be taken carefully and students should try to have a complete set of notes for each part of the course.
Further bibliography to be studied must be agreeded with the teacher at the student reception.
Assessment methods and Criteria
The final exam consists of an oral exam on course syllabus topics, aimed at verifying:
1) The knowledge of course syllabus contents;
2) The ability of critical thinking and application of the analysis methodologies explained in class;
3) The quality and efficacy of presentation
4) The competence in the use of discipline-specific terminology
All the students who are going to take this exam (personally or by e-mail) are required to hand to the teacher (Prof. Tagliani for 6 credits, Prof. Gaggero for 9 credits), at least 10 days before the start of the exam session, a short paper (max. 15.000 characters), containing a written exercise on a topic, agreed with the teacher, aimed at showing the ability to prepare independently a thorough linguistic examination of a text. The paper will contribute to the final evaluation and will be the subject of a brief exposure during the exam.
Non-attending students are invited to contact the teacher (during office hours or by e-mail) before studying for their exam.
National and international students or incoming Erasmus are promptly invited to contact the teacher of the course.
The exam mode for SLD students and/or for students with other disabilities will have to be agreed with the teacher in accordance with the Office in charge.
Unita' didattica A
L-FIL-LET/09 - ROMANCE PHILOLOGY AND LINGUISTICS - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Professor: Tagliani Roberto
Unita' didattica B
L-FIL-LET/09 - ROMANCE PHILOLOGY AND LINGUISTICS - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Professor: Tagliani Roberto
Unita' didattica C
L-FIL-LET/09 - ROMANCE PHILOLOGY AND LINGUISTICS - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Professor: Gaggero Massimiliano
Professor(s)
Reception:
In the second semester, the student reception takes place by appointment, approximately on Monday or Tuesday mornings. To request an appointment, please email [email protected].
Teacher’s Office, Dipartimento di Studi letterari, filologici e linguistici, sezione Modernistica - First floor