The teaching is organized as follows:

Learning outcomes

Module:
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The goal of this course is to have the student acquainted with some basic notions concerning several aspects of human language, ranging from theoretical to the synchronic linguistics, from the theories of language change to the four levels of linguistic analysis.

Preparatory and practical classes will be held during the lesson period. The course attendance is mandatory.

Program

Introduction to general and historical linguistics.

Traditional lectures and practical classes in a proper course.


Module 1) General linguistics (prof.ssa Melloni): the essential features of human language; basic notions of phonetics and phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics and pragmatics.


Module 2) Historical linguistics (prof. Cotticelli):

notions of linguistic change,
language relationship and
language family, analogy,
Indo-European languages and the
language families of the world;
models of language classification;
models for the interpretation of linguistic change (Neogrammarian, geolinguistic, sociolinguistic),
speech contact.


References:
1) G. Graffi - S. Scalise, Le lingue e il linguaggio. Introduzione alla linguistica, nuova edizione, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2013 (capitoli 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 11 e l’Appendice).
Esercizi relativi a tutti i capitoli del volume, ed in particolare esercizi di trascrizione fonetica (il cui svolgimento verrà richiesto in sede di esame), sono disponibili sul sito della casa editrice “Il Mulino” (www.mulino.it), registrandosi nell’area denominata “Aulaweb”.
2) G. Graffi - S. Scalise, Le lingue e il linguaggio. Introduzione alla linguistica, nuova edizione, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2013 (capitoli 3, 9, 10).
R. Lazzeroni, “Il mutamento linguistico”, in R. Lazzeroni (a cura di) Linguistica storica, 16^ ristampa 2011, Carocci, 14-54.
R. Gusmani, “Interlinguistica”, in R. Lazzeroni (a cura di) Linguistica storica, 16^ ristampa 2011, Carocci, 87-114.
3) Opera di consultazione:
Lessico di Linguistica, a cura di Paola Cotticelli Kurras, Edizioni dell’Orso, Alessandria 2007.

Examination Methods

Oral examination, preceded by a written test, consisting of a short phonetic transcription, a multiple choice test and open-ended questions about all the arguments of the course. The positive overcoming of the first part of the written exam gives admission to the oral exam.

Important notice:
to pass the written exam, it is necessary to show the knowledge of basic grammatical notions (e.g., to be able to recognize the ‘subject’, the ‘predicate’, the ‘object’, etc., of a clause, to distinguish among the several kinds of subordinate clauses, to correctly classify the different parts of speech, etc.). Such notions are available within any good school grammar. Furthermore, some ad hoc exercises will be held during dedicated classes, and essential bibliographical references will be suggested to non-attending students, available on the elearning plattform.