Italian Linguistics

A.Y. 2024/2025
12
Max ECTS
80
Overall hours
SSD
L-FIL-LET/12
Language
Italian
Learning objectives
The course aims to provide the student with a solid basic training in Italian linguistics, giving him the ability to describe Italian as a linguistic system, where necessary through formalizations; to represent it as a set of socially determined varieties; to grasp its evolution over time, through reference to fundamental literary and non-literary texts, in their dynamic relationship between expressive instances and institutional forms.
Expected learning outcomes
As for the expected learning outcomes in terms of knowledge, at the end of the course, the student will have acquired solid basic information on the characteristics of Italian as a linguistic system and on its historical development. The student will also be able to analyze literary and non literary texts from a linguistic perspective.
With regard to skills acquisition, at the end of the course the student should be able to report with convincing accuracy and completeness of information on the structural characteristics italian; he/she should be able to report, possibly referring to some texts, on the history of Italian and on the evolution of the italian language system; he/she should be able to understand and comment on typologically different texts of various chronological heights.
Single course

This course can be attended as a single course.

Course syllabus and organization

A-De

Responsible
Lesson period
First semester
Course syllabus
The course offers a description of the main aspects of the Phonetics and the Syntax of italian, of discourse analysis and of the Historical Grammar and of the History of the Italian language; in the course of the lessons, students will also confront the reading of literary and non literary texts of different dating.
In particular, the first part provides essential information on the phonetic structure of modern Italian; the second one offers data on its syntactic structures, even from a comparative perspective; in the third lexis of italian and its structure are described; and in the fourth the evolution of the grammatical system of Italian is retraced, starting from the vulgar Latin phase; in this module basic information on moments in the history of the Italian language are given too.
International or Erasmus incoming students are kindly requested to contact the teacher of the course. Also students with disabilities should contact the teacher of the course, in order to discuss alternative examination methods, in agreement with the competent Office.
Prerequisites for admission
There are no entry requirements. Successful attendance, however, benefits from the possession of a basic knowledge of the Latin language (essentially: of morphology).
Teaching methods
Teaching consists of face-to-face lectures that include the analysis of forms, structures, sentences and texts; the teacher may propose that students work on short papers on agreed topics, which generally require linguistic analysis of texts and which in any case require reflection on language and its uses. Within the lectures, moments of interaction through the Wooclap platform are planned; especially with regard to the phonetics and syntax modules, moments of practice are proposed that require direct student intervention. For this reason, class attendance is strongly recommended.
Support materials, in the form of presentations and texts in pdf format, are made available through the Ariel platform.
Teaching Resources
Part A:
- Massimo Prada, Introduzione alla Fonetica. Italiano, Inglese, Francese, Milano, Led, 2010.

Part B:
- Massimo Prada, Annotazioni di sintassi generativa, Milano, Led, 2006 (chapters I-VI, the last one included)

Part C:
- Federica Casadei, Lessico ed educazione linguistica, Roma, Carocci, 2019.

Part D:
- Paolo D'Achille, Breve grammatica storica dell'italiano, Roma, Carocci, 2019.
- Silvia Morgana, Breve storia della lingua italiana, Roma, Carocci, 2009

Students who have to take the exam for 9 ECTS will attend the lessons (and then study the materials) relating to parts A and B or A and C and part D (for a total of 3 parts)
Those who have to take the exam for 6 ECTS will attend the lessons (and then study the materials) relating to parts A, or B, or C and part D (for a total of 2 parts).


Non attending students:

Part A:
- Massimo Prada, Introduzione alla Fonetica. Italiano, Inglese, Francese, Milano, Led, 2010.
- Antonio Batinti, Testi in trascrizione fonetica. Appunti di fonetica e fonologia dell'italiano, Perugia, Guerra, 1983 (optional, only for practising phonetic transcription).

Part B:
- Massimo Prada, Annotazioni di sintassi generativa, Milano, Led, 2006 (chapters I-VI, the last one included)
- Giorgio Graffi, La frase: l'analisi logica, Roma, Carocci, 2015.

Part C:
-Federica Casadei, Lessico ed educazione linguistica, Roma, Carocci, 2019.
- Giovanni Adamo, Valeria della Valle, Le parole del lessico italiano, Roma, Carocci, 2018.

Part D:
- Paolo D'Achille, Breve grammatica storica dell'italiano, Roma, Carocci, 2019.
- Silvia Morgana, Breve storia della lingua italiana, Roma, Carocci, 2009
- Claudio Marazzini, Breve storia della questione della lingua, Roma, Carocci, 2018

Students who have to take the exam for 9 ECTS will study the materials relating to parts A and B or A and C and part D (for a total of 3 parts)
Those who have to take the exam for 6 ECTS will study the materials relating to parts A, or B, or C and part D (for a total of 2 parts).
Assessment methods and Criteria
The achievement of the learning objectives is ascertained with an oral test. In addition to the correctness of the contents, their relevance, the possession of the disciplinary lexicon and the ability to grasp linguistically salient phenomena within relevant texts are positively evaluated.
Papers produced during the year cooperate in determining the evaluation.
Marks are out of 30; minimum passing grade 18.
Unita' didattica A
L-FIL-LET/12 - ITALIAN LINGUISTICS - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Unita' didattica B
L-FIL-LET/12 - ITALIAN LINGUISTICS - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Unita' didattica C
L-FIL-LET/12 - ITALIAN LINGUISTICS - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Unita' didattica D
L-FIL-LET/12 - ITALIAN LINGUISTICS - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours

Di-N

Responsible
Lesson period
First semester
Course syllabus
The course offers a description of the main aspects of phonetics, syntax, historical grammar and of the history of the Italian language; during the lectures students will also experience a linguistically oriented reading of literary and non literary of different periods.
In particular, the first part provides essential information on the grammatical structures of contemporary Italian. The second part will focus on the varieties of italian. The third part deals with textuality. In the fourth part some moments in the history of the Italian language will be looked into.
Prerequisites for admission
The course is not preparatory in a binding way for other courses, but it offers basics of knowledge for other courses in the Italian Linguistics area.
There are no prerequisites for admission. Attendance, however, benefits from an elementary knowledge (essentially: of the morphology) of Latin.
Teaching methods
Teaching consists of face-to-face lectures that include the analysis of case studies; the teacher may propose that students work on short papers on agreed topics, which generally require linguistic analysis of texts. There are moments of practice that require the proactive involvement of students. For this reason, attendance at classes is strongly recommended.
Support materials, in the form of presentations and texts in pdf format, are made available through the Ariel platform.
Teaching Resources
First part:
- Elvira Assenza, Fabio Rossi, Fabio Ruggiano, Manuale di Linguistica italiana, Pearson, 2023
- Marcello Aprile, Dalle parole ai dizionari, Bologna, il Mulino, 2015

Second part:
- Gaetano Berruto, Varietà, in Enciclopedia dell'italiano, http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/varieta_(Enciclopedia-dell%27Italiano)/
- Mari d'Agostino, Variazione diastratica, in Enciclopedia dell'italiano http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/variazione-diastratica_(Enciclopedia-dell'Italiano)/
- Gaetano Berruto, Variazione diafasica, in Enciclopedia dell'italiano, http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/variazione-diafasica_(Enciclopedia-dell'Italiano)/
- Paolo D'Achille, Variazione diatopica, in Enciclopedia dell'italiano,
http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/variazione-diatopica_(Enciclopedia-dell'Italiano)/
- Fabio Rossi, Variazione diamesica, in Enciclopedia dell'italiano, http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/variazione-diamesica_(Enciclopedia-dell'Italiano)/

Third part:
- Angela Ferrari, Che cos'è un testo?, Roma, Carocci, 2019

Fourth part:
- Paolo D'Achille, Breve grammatica storica dell'italiano, Roma, Carocci, 2001
- Marco Biffi, Viaggio nei tempi della lingua italiana, Firenze, Cesati, 2017

Students who have to take the exam for 9 ECTS will attend the lessons (and then study the materials) relating to parts A and B or A and C and part D (for a total of 3 parts)
Those who have to take the exam for 6 ECTS will attend the lessons (and then study the materials) relating to parts A and B.

Non attending students:
First part:
- Elvira Assenza, Fabio Rossi, Fabio Ruggiano, Manuale di Linguistica italiana, Pearson, 2023.
- Marcello Aprile, Dalle parole ai dizionari, Bologna, il Mulino, 2015
- Pietro Maturi, I suoni delle lingue, i suoni dell'italiano. Nuove introduzione alla fonetica, Bologna, il Mulino, 2014 (terza edizione)

Second part:
- Gaetano Berruto, Varietà, in Enciclopedia dell'italiano, http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/varieta_(Enciclopedia-dell%27Italiano)/
- Mari d'Agostino, Variazione diastratica, in Enciclopedia dell'italiano http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/variazione-diastratica_(Enciclopedia-dell'Italiano)/
- Gaetano Berruto, Variazione diafasica, in Enciclopedia dell'italiano, http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/variazione-diafasica_(Enciclopedia-dell'Italiano)/
- Paolo D'Achille, Variazione diatopica, in Enciclopedia dell'italiano,
http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/variazione-diatopica_(Enciclopedia-dell'Italiano)/
- Fabio Rossi, Variazione diamesica, in Enciclopedia dell'italiano, http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/variazione-diamesica_(Enciclopedia-dell'Italiano)/
- Carla Marcato, Dialetto, dialetti e italiano, Bologna, il Mulino, 2007

Third part:
- Angela Ferrari, Che cos'è un testo?, Roma, Carocci, 2019
- Letizia Lala, Tipi di testo, in Enciclopedia dell'italiano, https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/tipi-di-testo_(Enciclopedia-dell'Italiano)

Fourth part:
- Paolo D'Achille, Breve grammatica storica dell'italiano, Roma, Carocci, 2001
- Roberta Cella, Storia dell'italiano, Bologna, IlMulino, 2015

Students who have to take the exam for 9 ECTS will attend the lessons (and then study the materials) relating to parts A and B or A and C and part D (for a total of 3 parts)
Those who have to take the exam for 6 ECTS will attend the lessons (and then study the materials) relating to parts A and B.
Assessment methods and Criteria
The achievement of the learning objectives is ascertained an oral test that aim at verifying the possession of qualifying knowledge and the ability to put it into practice in the analysis of texts of various kinds.
Correctness in relation to the content, relevance, possession of the disciplinary lexicon and the ability to capture linguistically key phenomena within the proposed texts are positively assessed. Papers produced during the year cooperate in determining the evaluation.
Marks are out of 30. The minimum mark to pass the exam is 18.
International or Erasmus incoming students are kindly requested to contact the teacher of the course. Also students with disabilities should contact the teacher of the course, in order to discuss alternative examination methods, in agreement with the competent Office.
Unita' didattica A
L-FIL-LET/12 - ITALIAN LINGUISTICS - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Unita' didattica B
L-FIL-LET/12 - ITALIAN LINGUISTICS - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Unita' didattica C
L-FIL-LET/12 - ITALIAN LINGUISTICS - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Unita' didattica D
L-FIL-LET/12 - ITALIAN LINGUISTICS - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours

O-Z

Responsible
Lesson period
First semester
Course syllabus
Course title:
The Italian linguistic system: starting a synchronic and diachronic description (80 hours; 12 ECTS)

Part A (20 hours; 3 CFU): Elements of the history of the Italian language
Part B (20 hours; 3 CFU): Elements of historical grammar and reading of texts
Part C (20 hours; 3 CFU): The words in history
Part D (20 hours; 3 CFU): Text types

The course deals with the history of Italian linguistic from different perspectives, considering the significant stages of Italian education, from its origins to contemporary uses. Teaching units A and B will touch on moments of linguistic diachrony, exemplifying on the texts the historical grammar of Italian and the historically attested varieties. The course will therefore focus on the vocabulary of the Italian language considered from a historical perspective (part C); part D will be dedicated to text typologies, with references to historical models and contemporary uses.
Prerequisites for admission
There are no prerequisites for admission. Frequency, however, benefits from an elementary knowledge (essentially: of the morphology) of Latin.
Teaching methods
The course is offered in a lecture format.The materials that will be commented on in class will be made available on the Ariel platform and in-depth, non-mandatory, information will be made available to improve the skills acquired.
Teaching Resources
Part A:
- I. Bonomi, A. Masini, S. Morgana, M. Piotti, Elementi di linguistica italiana, Roma, Carocci, 2011.
- M. Prada, L'italiano in rete. Usi e generi della comunicazione mediata tecnicamente, Milano, FrancoAngeli, 2015.
- Elena Felicani, Un giardino di cose e parole. Ecosistema linguistico e formazione negli scritti di Virginia Staurenghi, Gemma Harasim, Maria Montessori, Milano, Biblion, 2023.

Part B:
- P. D'Achille, Breve grammatica storica dell'italiano, Roma, Carocci, 2001.

Part C:
- Luca Lorenzetti, Lessico, in Enciclopedia dell'italiano (Treccani): https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/lessico_(Enciclopedia-dell'Italiano)/

Part D:
Letizia Lala, Testo, tipi di, in Enciclopedia dell'italiano (Treccani): https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/tipi-di-testo_(Enciclopedia-dell'Italiano)/

Program for non-attending students

12 ECTS
Part A
- I. Bonomi, A. Masini, S. Morgana, M. Piotti, Elementi di linguistica italiana, Roma, Carocci, 2011.
- M. Prada, L'italiano in rete. Usi e generi della comunicazione mediata tecnicamente, Milano, FrancoAngeli, 2015.
- Elena Felicani, Un giardino di cose e parole. Ecosistema linguistico e formazione negli scritti di Virginia Staurenghi, Gemma Harasim, Maria Montessori, Milano, Biblion, 2023.
- G. Polimeni, Il filo della voce. Indagini sul pensiero linguistico di Manzoni e sui Promessi sposi, Milano, FrancoAngeli, 2020.

Part B
- P. D'Achille, Breve grammatica storica dell'italiano, Roma, Carocci, 2001.
- L. Serianni, Appunti di grammatica storica italiana, Roma, Bulzoni, 1995.

Part C:
- Luca Lorenzetti, Lessico, in Enciclopedia dell'italiano (Treccani): https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/lessico_(Enciclopedia-dell'Italiano)/

Part D:
Letizia Lala, Testo, tipi di, in Enciclopedia dell'italiano (Treccani): https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/tipi-di-testo_(Enciclopedia-dell'Italiano)/

9 ECTS:
Part A
-I. Bonomi, A. Masini, S. Morgana, M. Piotti, Elementi di linguistica italiana, Roma, Carocci, 2011.
-M. Prada, L'italiano in rete. Usi e generi della comunicazione mediata tecnicamente, Milano, FrancoAngeli, 2015.
- Elena Felicani, Un giardino di cose e parole. Ecosistema linguistico e formazione negli scritti di Virginia Staurenghi, Gemma Harasim, Maria Montessori, Milano, Biblion, 2023.
- G. Polimeni, Il filo della voce. Indagini sul pensiero linguistico di Manzoni e sui Promessi sposi, Milano, FrancoAngeli, 2020.

Part B
- P. D'Achille, Breve grammatica storica dell'italiano, Roma, Carocci, 2001.
- L. Serianni, Appunti di grammatica storica italiana, Roma, Bulzoni, 1995.

Part C:
- Luca Lorenzetti, Lessico, in Enciclopedia dell'italiano (Treccani): https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/lessico_(Enciclopedia-dell'Italiano)/

6 ECTS:
Part A
- I. Bonomi, A. Masini, S. Morgana, M. Piotti, Elementi di linguistica italiana, Roma, Carocci, 2011.
- M. Prada, L'italiano in rete. Usi e generi della comunicazione mediata tecnicamente, Milano, FrancoAngeli, 2015.
- Elena Felicani, Un giardino di cose e parole. Ecosistema linguistico e formazione negli scritti di Virginia Staurenghi, Gemma Harasim, Maria Montessori, Milano, Biblion, 2023.
- G. Polimeni, Il filo della voce. Indagini sul pensiero linguistico di Manzoni e sui Promessi sposi, Milano, FrancoAngeli, 2020.

Part B
- P. D'Achille, Breve grammatica storica dell'italiano, Roma, Carocci, 2001.
- L. Serianni, Appunti di grammatica storica italiana, Roma, Bulzoni, 1995.
Assessment methods and Criteria
The achievement of the learning objectives is ascertained through an oral test aiming at verifying the possession of qualifying knowledge and the ability to put it into practice in the analysis of texts of various kinds.
Correctness in relation to the content, relevance, possession of the disciplinary lexicon and the ability to capture linguistically key phenomena within the proposed texts are positively assessed. Papers produced during the year cooperate in determining the evaluation.
Marks are out of 30.
International or Erasmus incoming students are kindly requested to contact the teacher of the course. Students with disabilities should contact the teacher of the course, in order to discuss alternative examination methods, in agreement with the competent Office.
Unita' didattica A
L-FIL-LET/12 - ITALIAN LINGUISTICS - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Unita' didattica B
L-FIL-LET/12 - ITALIAN LINGUISTICS - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Unita' didattica C
L-FIL-LET/12 - ITALIAN LINGUISTICS - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Unita' didattica D
L-FIL-LET/12 - ITALIAN LINGUISTICS - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Professor(s)
Reception:
Thursday, 13.30 - 16.30
The teacher sees students through Skype; the appointment is made by email.