HISTORICAL LINGUISTICS

Università degli Studi
"G. d'Annunzio"

Chieti - Pescara

Single discipline educational activity

Course Sheet

Course code:

LC007

Academic Year of enrolment:

2020

Year of supply:

2021/2022

Type of Course:

Characterising

Degree:

Course of 1st Cycle Degree in HUMANITIES

Disciplinary Sector:

HISTORICAL AND GENERAL LINGUISTICS

Location:

CHIETI

Credits:

Programme Year:

Professor and Collaborators:

CICONTE FRANCESCO MARIA

Cycle:

Second semester

Hours of classroom activity:

Individual study hours:

162

Prerequisites:

It would be desirable to have a very good command of Italian.

Although not necessary, it may be useful to have some knowledge of (one or more) foreign languages, or of (one or more) ancient languages.

Objectives

The course aims to provide the students with a wide picture of the unique and crucial complexity of language, resorting to multi-disciplinary epistemological hints as well as references to the key achievements in the recent history linguistic theory.

Besides the acquisition of relevant notions of General Linguistics, the main learning outcomes include:

1. Understand the concepts and the technical terminology of historical linguistic theory.
2. Grasp the universal mechanisms of language change through time, thus drawing a cross-linguistic paradigm of language development.
3. Acquire the scientific methods, both deductive and inductive, of language reconstruction and comparative linguistic analysis.
4. Recognize the contribution of Historical Linguistics to the explanatory adequacy of linguistic theory.
5. Appreciate the common heritage that languages share as well as the variety that differentiates them.
6. Examine the socio-cultural factors that influence language change through history and make the relevant generalizations to different languages and cultures.
7. Manage a variety of learning sources and tools, including digital collections of old texts, digital linguistic corpora, on-line material and portals, technological devices, etc.

Contents

The course provides the students with some basic knowledge in the field of Historical Linguistics. Building upon exemplified data, the students will be trained to describe and discuss, both theoretically and practically, a wide range of linguistic phenomena from ancient and modern languages.

Before delving into the historical-diachronic analysis, the course will provide a general overview on language according to the canonical levels of analysis applied to natural languages (namely phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics) and their interplays, both from a synchronic and a diachronic point of view.

The course will then move on to the historical-diachronic analysis, examining the main mechanisms of language change over time, with focus on the Indo-European family and its subsequent linguistics ramifications.

Extended Syllabus

▪ Theoretical grounding of the discipline: Linguistics and Historical Linguistics.
▪ General notions of phonetics and phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics.
▪ Typological macrovariation and linguistic microvariation.

LANGUAGE CHANGE OVER TIME

▪ Approaches, methods, and models in historical linguistics: The comparative method, internal reconstruction.
▪ Linguistic classification: Family-tree Model, Wave Theory, Glottochronolgy, Dialectology and Linguistic Geography, Sociolinguistics and language change.
▪ Sound change: Main types of sound change: assimilation, dissimilation, deletion, epenthesis, lengthening, rhotacism, metathesis, voicing, palatalization, diphthongization, chain shifts, (Grimm’s, and Verner’s laws).
▪ Morphological change: Analogy, analogical levelling, extension, hypercorrection, folk etymology, blending.
▪ Syntactic change: Non-configurational and configurational syntax, reanalysis, extension, grammaticalization: lexical to functional change, syntactic reconstruction.
▪ Semantic and lexical change: Widening and narrowing, metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche, hyperbole, litotes.
▪ Language contact and borrowing: Mechanisms and direction of borrowing, loanwords.

Recommended Bibliography

The material is entirely offered by the course-convenor in the form of notes, PowerPoint presentations, PDF, etc. This material is enough for an adequate preparation for the final exam.

To integrate the course’s material, it is recommended to read at least one chosen volume on Historical Linguistics and one chosen volume on General Linguistics, among those listed below. Even though it is highly recommended, the reading of the suggested texts will not be part of the exam.

HISTORICAL LINGUISTICS

Campanile, E., De Felice, E., Gusmani, R., Lazzeroni, R. e Silvestri, D. (2017). Linguistica storica. Roma: Carocci.
Magni, E. (2014). Linguistica storica. Bologna: Pátron Editore.
Fanciullo, F. (2013), Introduzione alla linguistica storica. Bologna: il Mulino.
Luraghi, S. (2006). Introduzione alla linguistica storica. Milano: Feltrinelli.
Campbell, L. (2004). Historical linguistics: An introduction. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Trask, R. L. (1996). Historical Linguistics. London: Routledge.
Bynon, T. (1977). Historical Linguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

GENERAL LINGUISTICS
Berruto, G. e Cerruti, M. (2017). La Linguistica. Un corso Introduttivo. Torino: UTET.
Casadei, F., Lorenzetti, L., Schirru, G., Thornton, A. M. e Basile, G. (2010). Linguistica generale. Roma: Carocci.
Graffi, G. e Scalise, S. (2002). Le lingue e il linguaggio. Introduzione alla linguistica. Bologna: Il Mulino.

Teaching Methods

Frontal lessons, with frequent group- and individual-exercises.

Dynamic PowerPOint presentations.

Students are also invited to actively participate in the discussion of the topics of the course, both during the lesson and in the deferred debates (forums and chats of both platforms).

Evaluation methods

Verification of learning:

Oral exam aimed at verifying the ability to apply the class contents to selected cases of linguistic analysis.

The interview will be assessed according to the following criteria:

(i) congruence of the response, (ii) organization of the discourse, (iii) ability for critical reasoning (iv) appropriate use of the technical-specialist terms of the discipline, (v) argumentative originality.

At the end of the task, students can decide whether to accept the grade or repeat the exam.

Grades from 0 to 30 (pass = 18).

Contacts/More Information

Attendance to the course is highly recommended.

Students who cannot attend are kindly asked to take an appointment with the lecturer to discuss alternative learning methods. The programme is the same for both attending and non-attending students.

Mutuations

HISTORICAL LINGUISTICS

Course degree in: HUMANITIES

Training in:
HISTORICAL LINGUISTICS

Course degree in: HUMANITIES

Training in:

Other courses

Course year: 1

CLASSICAL PHILOLOGY
9 Credits - Basic
GREEK HISTORY
9 Credits - Basic
GREEK LITERATURE
9 Credits - Basic
ITALIAN LITERATURE
12 Credits - Basic
COMPARATIVE LITERATURES
6 Credits - Related/Supplementary
CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY
6 Credits - Related/Supplementary
HISTORY OF ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY
6 Credits - Related/Supplementary
HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY
6 Credits - Related/Supplementary
HISTORY OF LITERARY CRITICISM
6 Credits - Related/Supplementary
HISTORY OF MODERN AGE
6 Credits - Related/Supplementary
ITALIAN PHILOLOGY
6 Credits - Related/Supplementary
ITALIAN THEATRICAL LITERATURE
6 Credits - Related/Supplementary
LITERATURE FOR CHILDHOOD AND ADOLESCENCE
6 Credits - Related/Supplementary
MEDIEVAL HISTORY
6 Credits - Related/Supplementary
MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY ITALIAN LITERATURE
6 Credits - Related/Supplementary
PHILOSOPHICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
6 Credits - Related/Supplementary
ROMANCE PHILOLOGY
6 Credits - Related/Supplementary

Course year: 2

LATIN LITERATURE
9 Credits - Basic
ROMAN HISTORY
9 Credits - Basic
HISTORICAL LINGUISTICS
9 Credits - Characterising
HUMANISTIC PHILOLOGY
9 Credits - Characterising
GEOGRAPHY
12 Credits - Related/Supplementary
BASIC COMPUTER SCIENCE
3 Credits
BASIC JOURNALISTIC WRITING SEMINAR
3 Credits
CINEMA SEMINAR
3 Credits
EDITING SEMINAR
3 Credits
ENGLISH SEMINAR
3 Credits
FRENCH SEMINAR
3 Credits
GERMAN SEMINAR
3 Credits
HISTORY OF ARTISTIC TECHNIQUES SEMINAR
3 Credits
INTERNATIONAL INTERNSHIPS
3 Credits
INTERNSHIPS
3 Credits
INTERPRETATIVE READING AND ELOCUTION SEMINAR
3 Credits
PARTECIPATION IN CONGRESSES, SEMINARS AND CONFERENCES
3 Credits
POETRY SEMINAR
3 Credits
SPANISH SEMINAR
3 Credits
STRATEGIES AND TECHNIQUES FOR LATIN TRANSLATION
3 Credits
THE DIGITAL PARADIGM: EDITING AUDIO, VIDEO, WEB SEMINAR
3 Credits
WRITING AND ACTING BETWEEN THEATRE AND CINEMA
3 Credits

Course year: 3

HISTORY OF THE ITALIAN LANGUAGE
9 Credits - Basic
ANCIENT THEATRE
6 Credits - Characterising
CONTEMPORARY HISTORY
9 Credits - Characterising
ENGLISH LITERATURE
6 Credits - Characterising
FRENCH LITERATURE
6 Credits - Characterising
GERMAN LITERATURE
6 Credits - Characterising
GREEK
6 Credits - Characterising
HISTORY OF THE LATIN LANGUAGE
6 Credits - Characterising
LATIN PALAEOGRAPHY
9 Credits - Characterising
MEDIEVAL ARCHAEOLOGY
9 Credits - Characterising
MEDIEVAL LATIN PHILOLOGY
9 Credits - Characterising
ROMAN AND GREEK ARCHAEOLOGY AND ART HISTORY
9 Credits - Characterising
SPANISH LITERATURE
6 Credits - Characterising

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