AINU LANGUAGE MOD.2

This course is among the ones characterizing the China, Japan, and Korea curricula of the degree programme "Languages, Cultures and Societies of Asia and Mediterranean Africa".
The course aims at providing students with a basic knowledge of the Ainu language (Southern Hokkaido and Sakhalin varieties) and with the analytical methods to approach audio and written Ainu sources.
In the second module of the course, we will address some theoretical aspects of Ainu oral literature as well as elements of philology. Knowledge of Ainu grammar, acquired after attending the first module of the course, will be applied to the analysis and translation of simple Ainu traditional folklore texts.

Students will gain basic knowledge on the Ainu oral literature (subdivision into genres, main themes, narrative structure) and will develop a philologically sound method to access first person sources on Ainu from the 18th-19th centuries. Having acquired a basic knowledge of the Ainu grammar in the first module, the students will be able to analyze and translate folklore texts, with the teacher’s guidance and without, and to recognize the regional variety of the language.

Good knowledge of the English language and perfect knowledge of the grammar of the student's mother language.
Having attended the first module of the course.

Analysis of Russian and Japanese sources on the Ainu language from the 18th-19th centuries.
Ainu literature (Ainu "poetry" and "prose", literary sub-genres, differences in the structure of poetry and prose genres)
Listening, reading, and translation of Ainu folklore texts with the help of dictionaries and materials given by the teacher.

Mandatory readings:
1) Selected chapters from Dal Corso, Elia. 2021. “The language and folklore of West Sakhalin Ainu – A re-edition of Murasaki Kyōko’s ‘Karafuto ainugo’ with translation and grammatical notes” (provided by the teacher).
2) Selected chapters from Tamura Suzuko. 2000. “The Ainu language” (provided by the teacher).
3) Slides on moodle platform.

Optional readings:
1) Satō Tomomi & Anna Bugaeva. 2019. "The study of old documents of Hokkaido and Kuril Ainu: promise and challenges" in "Hoppō gengo kenkyū 9", Sapporo: HUSCAP, pp. 67-93.
2) Satō Tomomi. 2022. "Major old documents of Ainu and some problems in the historical study of Ainu" in Anna Bugaeva (ed.) "Handbook of the Ainu language", Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton, pp. 79-98.
3) Majewicz, Alfred F. 2022. "Ainu language Western records" in Anna Bugaeva (ed.) "Handbook of the Ainu language", Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton, pp. 99-146.
All parts of the two above-mentioned grammars, which are not assigned as mandatory readings, should be considered optional readings.

The Ainu Language course spans over two semesters.

Assessment of the skills acquired in module 2 will happen with an oral exam.
The oral interview (around 30 minutes) on the exam day will touch upon all topics discussed during the course.

Only students who successfully pass the exam for the first module will be able to take the exam for the second module. At the end of the exam for the first module, the teacher will communicate a grade that will not be recorded. Rather, this grade will give a total average grade together with the grade obtained after passing the second module's exam.
The eligibility obtained when passing the exam of the first module will be valid until the autumn exam session (August-September) of the academic year in which the module 1 exam was taken.

Taught class with active participation from the students.

Italian

Though not mandatory, attending the course is strongly advised.

oral