GERMANIC PHILOLOGY

The module is intended for students in the second year of the Bachelor’s degree programme in Language, Civilizations, and Language Science. It is designed as an introduction to Germanic Philology, which aims to give the students the opportunity to acquire knowledge of the origin of the Germanic languages and cultures they have chosen as a major, especially from a historical viewpoint. Therefore, the module contributes in a large part to the development of several skills (e.g. language contact/interference, multilingualism, interlinguistic variation and universal language properties, analysis of texts belonging to early stages of the chosen languages), and it specifically covers knowledge and understanding of the principles of language change and language variation.

Student Learning Objectives are:

1. Knowledge and understanding.
- Students will know and understand, in a comparative perspective, the major features of linguistic change applied to the Germanic linguistic family, primarily with the aim of better understanding the modern languages;
- Students will know and understand the major literary and cultural manifestations of the Germanic medieval traditions, through the texts that have come down to us;
- Students will know and understand the mechanisms of textual production in the Middle Ages, as well as their dissemination through time and space.

2. Applying knowledge and understanding.
- Students will be able to recognize the major triggers of linguistic change, manipulate linguistic forms, derive forms from protolanguages, and account for their development;
- Students will be able to apply the research methods acquired in the course to the analysis of selected texts of the Germanic traditions;
- Students will be able to master the appropriate philological terminology in the fields of both Germanic linguistics and cultural/literary studies.

3. Making judgements.
Students will become familiar with the most up-to-date critical debate on philological topics, and will be able to evaluate different hypotheses posed by the scholars, as well as to formulate alternative hypotheses.

4. Communication skills.
Students will be able to communicate their conclusions – and the knowledge and rationale underpinning the same – clearly and unambiguously. They will also be able to use the correct register.

5. Learning skills.
By studying the recommended books under the guidance of the teacher, students will develop those learning skills that are necessary for them to undertake further study with a high degree of autonomy.

No prerequisites are required.

Presentation of the course and examination modalities. A brief overview of comparative-historical linguistics and aspects of diachronic linguistics (from Indoeuropean to Germanic; from Germanic to the historically attested Germanic languages). Major linguistic phenomena characterizing the medieval Germanic languages. The ethnogenesis of the Germanic peoples: historical, archaeological, and linguistic sources. Society and Law. Germanic religion. The Migration Period. Germanic peoples in Italy. Runes. Christianization and the birth of manuscript tradition. Medieval literary sources: the Gothic, German, English, and Nordic areas.

Reference books:
- N. Francovich Onesti, Filologia germanica. Lingue e culture dei Germani antichi. Roma: Carocci, 2002 (compulsory for non-attenders);
- M.G. Saibene / M. Buzzoni, Manuale di Linguistica Germanica. Milano: Cisalpino, 2006 (pp. 1-188, except the sections entitled “Approfondimenti”).

Other reading material:
- Excerpts from Tacito’s Germania;
- M. Battaglia, I Germani. Genesi di una cultura europea. Roma: Carocci, 2013 (chs. 6, 7, 8);
- M. Ciaravolo (ed.), Storia delle letterature scandinave. Dalle origini a oggi. Milano: Iperborea, 2019 (pp. 29-61, suggested reading).

The written exam is made up of two parts: a multiple-choice part, and an open question.
- The exam lasts 50 minutes.
- PART ONE, fifteen (15) multiple-choice questions (three possible answers, only one of which is correct). Each correct answer corresponds to 1,6 points (15x1,6=24 points maximum). Grade threshold for part one: 16 points (10/15 correct answers).
- PART TWO, one (1) open question, to be chosen among three possible topics (max 6 points).

The first part verifies the knowledge and understanding of the linguistic and cultural phenomena illustrated during the course. Furthermore, it verifies the ability to apply the concepts acquired. The second part enables the teacher to evaluate primarily the students’ ability to make judgements and to communicate the course contents.

This module consists of 15 lectures.

Italian

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