Academic staff

Maria Adele Cipolla , Fabrizio D. Raschellà, Tarrin J. Wills (Copenhagen)

Referent

Maria Adele Cipolla

Credits

2.5

Language

English

Class attendance

Free Choice

Location

Verona e Bolzano

Moodle Seminars 0

Learning objectives

On successful completion of this module, Phd students will be able to:
- outline the cultural context of Icelandic grammatical literature,
- outline the contribution of Icelandic schools and Grammatical Treatises (= GT) to a description of vernacular phonology, the interpretation of runes and adaptations of the Latin alphabet.

Prerequisites and basic notions

There are no prerequisites for doctoral students in Linguistics.

Program

This 10-hour course will introduce students to Old Icelandic literature on vernacular phonology, orthography and poetics.
Raschellà’s lectures will cover
- A general introduction to medieval Icelandic grammatical literature: manuscript corpus, contents, editions.
- 1st and 2nd GT: Purpose, methodology, relationship to the Latin grammatical tradition, and innovative aspects; alleged function of the 2nd GT as a linguistic introduction to poetic rhyme based on principles of combinatorial phonology.
- The phoneme inventories underlying the orthographic systems outlined in GT.
- The technical terminology: Latin models and original features.
Wills’ lectures will cover
- Introduction to the 3rd and 4th GT: manuscripts, the author(s), Latin and Norse sources, poetic citation, structure, etc.
- The runological-orthographical chapters in 3rd GT: relationship to the orthographical treatises, treatment and forms of runes.
- The treatises as evidence for language change, esp. phonology and accent.
- Poetic terminology and theory
- The apparent working method and goals of the 3rd and 4th GT
Cipolla’s lecture will cover
- An afterthought on the attempts at drafting original Old Icelandic treatises on vernacular phonology, orthography (included runes).
- Their relevance on the backdrop of medieval linguistic thought and further attempts at grammatical description of European vernacular languages

Bibliography

Didactic methods

The course will be held in person

Learning assessment procedures

PhD students can choose aspects of the module as topic of their term paper.

Assessment

The term paper will assess the skills acquired during the course and the ability to address the syllabus topics and establish connections between them. Accurate presentation and appropriate use of specialized terminology will also be assessed.

Criteria for the composition of the final grade

The term paper will assess the skills acquired during the course and the ability to address the syllabus topics and establish connections between them. Accurate presentation and appropriate use of specialized terminology will also be assessed.

Scheduled Lessons