Slavic Linguistics
A.Y. 2024/2025
Learning objectives
The course offers an insight into the grammar of the Slavonic languages, paying particular attention to a comparative analysis of their phonetic, phonological, and morphological structures.
Expected learning outcomes
Knowledge and understanding: The student should know the history and structure of the Slavonic languages; the most significant phonological and morphological developments in a number of Slavonic languages; linguistic theories and methods. Applying knowledge and understanding: The student should be able to compare and contrast a number of Slavonic languages in terms of their phonetic, phonological, and morphological structure; apply linguistic theories and methods to Slavic languages; understand texts written in another Slavic language using one's knowledge of Russian and/or Polish.
Lesson period: Second semester
Assessment methods: Esame
Assessment result: voto verbalizzato in trentesimi
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
Second semester
Course syllabus
The course consists of 3 parts (20 hours per part):
A) The Slavic languages: a historical and cultural introduction
B) Comparative study of the Slavic languages (phonology, morphology, and lexis)
C) Language contact, identities, and borders in the Slavic area
Students who are willing to acquire 6 credits will follow parts A and B; students who need to acquire 9 credits will follow the programme of parts A, B and C.
The course programme is valid until September 2026.
A) The Slavic languages: a historical and cultural introduction
B) Comparative study of the Slavic languages (phonology, morphology, and lexis)
C) Language contact, identities, and borders in the Slavic area
Students who are willing to acquire 6 credits will follow parts A and B; students who need to acquire 9 credits will follow the programme of parts A, B and C.
The course programme is valid until September 2026.
Prerequisites for admission
Basic knowledge of at least one Slavic language is recommended. Erasmus students with a basic knowledge of one Slavic language are encouraged to attend the course.
Teaching methods
Teaching methods adopted: lectures; reading, commenting, and translating documents; students' presentations; audiovisual materials.
Teaching Resources
Most course materials, including texts for discussion in class, are available on the MyAriel site
Part A
- Comrie, Bernard and Corbett, Greville G. (eds.). The Slavonic Languages. London; New York: Routledge, 1993, pp. 20-59
- Sussex, Roland, and Cubberley, Paul. The Slavic Languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006, pp. 1-25, 60-109
Part B
Sussex, Roland, and Cubberley, Paul. The Slavic Languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006, pp. 42-59, 133-332
Part C
Lenore A. Grenoble, "Contact and the Development of the Slavic Languages," in Raymond Hickey, The Handbook of Language Contact, Wiley-Blackwell 2010, pp. 581-597
ONE reading from each of these subgroups for a total of THREE articles
1. South Slavic Languages and the Balkans
Brian D. Joseph, "Language Contact in the Balkans", in Raymond Hickey, The Handbook of Slavic Contact, Wiley-Blackwell 2010, pp. 618-632
V.A. Friedman, "Balkans as a Linguistic area", in Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics, 2nd edn., ed. Keith Brown. Oxford: Elsevier, 2005, pp. 657-72.
Robert D. Greenberg, Language and Identity in the Balkans. Serbo-Croatian and its Disintegration, Oxford University Press 2004, pp. 16-57
Andrea Trovesi, "La codificazione della lingua montenegrina. Storia di un'idea", Studi Slavistici, 6, 2009, 197-223
2. East Slavic Languages (Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian)
Gerd Hentschel, "Eleven questions and answers about Belarusian-Russian Mixed Speech ('Trasjanka')", Russian Linguistics, 2017, pp. 17-42
Curt Woolhiser, "Language Ideology and Language Conflict in Post-Soviet Belarus", in Language, Ethnicity and State, Palgrave MacMillan 2001, pp. 91-122
Dieter Stern, "Multilingual states and empires in the history of Europe: Tsarist Russia and the Soviet Union", The Languages and Linguistics of Europe (De Gruyter, 2011), 745-760
Michael Newcity, "International Law, Minority Language Rights and Russian(s) in the 'Near Abroad'", in Lara Ryazanova-Clarke (ed.) The Russian Language Outside the Nation (Edinburgh University Press, 2014), 33-55
Aneta Pavlenko, "Russian in Post-Soviet Countries", Russian Linguistics 2008, 35, 59-80
Lada Bilaniuk, "Surzhyk. A History of Linguistic Transgressions", in Contested Tongues. Language Policies and Cultural Correction in Ukraine, Cornell University Press 2005, pp. 103-141
3. West Slavic Languages (Czech, Slovak, Sorbian)
Jan Fellerer, "Multilingual states and empires in the history of Europe: the Habsburg Monarchy", in The Languages and
Linguistics of Europe (De Gruyter, 2011), 713-728.
Mira Nábelková, "The Czech-Slovak Communicative and Dialect Continuum: With and Without a Border", in The Palgrave Handbook of Slavic Languages, Identities and Borders, Palgrave MacMillan 2016, pp. 140-184
Roland Marti, "'Our People is Divided, Yes, and Torn Asunder ': The Sorbian Language Community and Its Internal Divisions", in The Palgrave Handbook of Slavic Languages, Identities and Borders, Palgrave MacMillan 2016, pp. 206-229
Part A
- Comrie, Bernard and Corbett, Greville G. (eds.). The Slavonic Languages. London; New York: Routledge, 1993, pp. 20-59
- Sussex, Roland, and Cubberley, Paul. The Slavic Languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006, pp. 1-25, 60-109
Part B
Sussex, Roland, and Cubberley, Paul. The Slavic Languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006, pp. 42-59, 133-332
Part C
Lenore A. Grenoble, "Contact and the Development of the Slavic Languages," in Raymond Hickey, The Handbook of Language Contact, Wiley-Blackwell 2010, pp. 581-597
ONE reading from each of these subgroups for a total of THREE articles
1. South Slavic Languages and the Balkans
Brian D. Joseph, "Language Contact in the Balkans", in Raymond Hickey, The Handbook of Slavic Contact, Wiley-Blackwell 2010, pp. 618-632
V.A. Friedman, "Balkans as a Linguistic area", in Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics, 2nd edn., ed. Keith Brown. Oxford: Elsevier, 2005, pp. 657-72.
Robert D. Greenberg, Language and Identity in the Balkans. Serbo-Croatian and its Disintegration, Oxford University Press 2004, pp. 16-57
Andrea Trovesi, "La codificazione della lingua montenegrina. Storia di un'idea", Studi Slavistici, 6, 2009, 197-223
2. East Slavic Languages (Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian)
Gerd Hentschel, "Eleven questions and answers about Belarusian-Russian Mixed Speech ('Trasjanka')", Russian Linguistics, 2017, pp. 17-42
Curt Woolhiser, "Language Ideology and Language Conflict in Post-Soviet Belarus", in Language, Ethnicity and State, Palgrave MacMillan 2001, pp. 91-122
Dieter Stern, "Multilingual states and empires in the history of Europe: Tsarist Russia and the Soviet Union", The Languages and Linguistics of Europe (De Gruyter, 2011), 745-760
Michael Newcity, "International Law, Minority Language Rights and Russian(s) in the 'Near Abroad'", in Lara Ryazanova-Clarke (ed.) The Russian Language Outside the Nation (Edinburgh University Press, 2014), 33-55
Aneta Pavlenko, "Russian in Post-Soviet Countries", Russian Linguistics 2008, 35, 59-80
Lada Bilaniuk, "Surzhyk. A History of Linguistic Transgressions", in Contested Tongues. Language Policies and Cultural Correction in Ukraine, Cornell University Press 2005, pp. 103-141
3. West Slavic Languages (Czech, Slovak, Sorbian)
Jan Fellerer, "Multilingual states and empires in the history of Europe: the Habsburg Monarchy", in The Languages and
Linguistics of Europe (De Gruyter, 2011), 713-728.
Mira Nábelková, "The Czech-Slovak Communicative and Dialect Continuum: With and Without a Border", in The Palgrave Handbook of Slavic Languages, Identities and Borders, Palgrave MacMillan 2016, pp. 140-184
Roland Marti, "'Our People is Divided, Yes, and Torn Asunder ': The Sorbian Language Community and Its Internal Divisions", in The Palgrave Handbook of Slavic Languages, Identities and Borders, Palgrave MacMillan 2016, pp. 206-229
Assessment methods and Criteria
Students are assessed by oral examination at the end of the course. The oral examination is structured as follows:
- Questions on the different Slavic languages, their history, alphabets, and codification (part A)
- Questions on the phonological, morphological, and lexical features of the Slavic languages (part B)
- Questions on language contacts, identities, and borders in the Slavic area (part C)
Erasmus students are invited to contact the professor via email or during her office hours. Disabled students and students with specific learning disabilities should determine appropriate assessment accommodations with the professor and the University services for disabled students.
- Questions on the different Slavic languages, their history, alphabets, and codification (part A)
- Questions on the phonological, morphological, and lexical features of the Slavic languages (part B)
- Questions on language contacts, identities, and borders in the Slavic area (part C)
Erasmus students are invited to contact the professor via email or during her office hours. Disabled students and students with specific learning disabilities should determine appropriate assessment accommodations with the professor and the University services for disabled students.
L-LIN/21 - SLAVIC STUDIES - University credits: 9
Lessons: 60 hours
Professor:
Bartolini Maria Grazia
Professor(s)