Learning objectives

At the end of the course students will know the theoretical foundations and the technical terminology of the discipline and will be able to recognise the phenomena of language change visible in diachronic perspective at the different levels of linguistic analysis, the forms of interference in the context of language contact and the different manifestations of geographic and sociolinguistic variation.

Prerequisites and basic notions

No specific prerequisites are needed. Having previously completed the General Linguistics exam (L-LIN/01), although not a requirement, may be an element of greater familiarity with the content offered by the Glottologia course. In fact, both courses are supported by common practical and meeting hours.

Program

The course aims at providing an overview of some key concepts and research topics of historical linguistics, both from the diachronic perspective of linguistic change and from the synchronic perspective of geographical and sociolinguistic variation.

The lectures will be divided into the following macro-topics:
1. Indo-European languages and the historical-comparative method: criteria for classifying world languages, notions of the history of the discipline (historical and cultural context), stages of the method, family tree theory, wave theory.
2. Change: phonetic, phonological (Grimm's law, Verner's law, concept of phonetic law), morphological, syntactic, semantic-lexical.
3. Hints of contact linguistics: loans and casts as interference phenomena.
4. Introduction to sociolinguistics: American (Labov) and Italian (Berruto and the axes of variation) research topics. Concepts of linguistic prestige and standard language. Languages and dialects.
5. Intercomprehension: search for correspondences between Romance languages in synchronic perspective.

REFERENCE BOOKS:
G. Graffi. 2019. L’Ottocento, cap. 5 di Breve storia della linguistica, Carocci.
G. Graffi, S. Scalise, Le lingue e il linguaggio. Introduzione alla linguistica (qualsiasi edizione), Il Mulino. Cap. 3 - Le lingue del mondo; cap. 9 - Sociolinguistica e dialettologia; cap. 10 - La trasformazione delle lingue: linguistica storica.
G. Fiorentino. 2018. Variabilità linguistica. Temi e metodi della ricerca. Carocci.

All teaching materials uploaded on the platform are an integral part of the bibliography.

The bibliography and examination modalities are the same for attending and non-attending students.

Bibliography

Didactic methods

Frontal lectures, supported by a small number of lectures (selected on the basis of the content) that will be conducted in laboratory teaching according to the principles of cooperative learning and flipped classroom.

This course will be complemented by 12 hours of classroom practice and 24 hours of student office hours held by a tutor and common to the General Linguistics course.

Learning assessment procedures

Written test + oral interview.

The exam consists of two parts: a written test that determines the admission to the following oral exam. The written test consists of a series of closed-ended and open-ended questions, based on the contents of the course, on the supplementary materials and on the references indicated for personal study.

If the written test is passed with a positive score, students will be admitted to the oral interview in which both the theoretical contents and the description of the linguistic data will be examined in more details (phenomena of change at different levels of analysis, forms of interference in the context of linguistic contact, examples of geographical and sociolinguistic variation, data from Romance languages in the perspective of intercomprehension).

The bibliography and examination modalities are the same for attending and non-attending students.

Erasmus students, if they wish, may take the exam (or part of it) in English or French. In any case, the written test will be given in Italian.

Evaluation criteria

In both tests (written and oral), students will have to demonstrate the degree to which they have achieved the knowledge and skills required by the teaching. In particular, the correctness and relevance of the answers, the use of terminology required by the discipline, the ability to provide definitions and corresponding examples will be evaluated.

Criteria for the composition of the final grade

The final grade is unique and is expressed in thirtieths.

Exam language

Italiano. Gli studenti Erasmus, se lo desiderano, possono sostenere l'esame (o parte di esso) in inglese o in francese. La prova scritta sarà in ogni caso somministrata in lingua italiana/Erasmus students, if they wish, may take the exam (or part of it) in English or French. In any case, the written test will be given in Italian.