HISTORICAL LINGUISTICS MOD.1

The course is one of the core educational activities of the Linguistics, Philology and Language Teaching Research curriculum, focusing on the acquisition of knowledge concerning the nature of language and its historical variation. Module I aims to provide the basis for understanding the variability of languages according to the parameters of the historical dimension (time, space, society).

The student knows the basic terminology of historical linguistics and understands the texts that use it.
The student knows the methods of language classification.
The student knows the parameters of language variation.
The student will be able to use the linguistic terminology correctly, at all stages of application of the acquired knowledge.
The student will be able to recognize and describe the variation phenomena in different languages.
The student will be able to formulate simple hypotheses, to evaluate two competing hypotheses, and to argument their judgement with empirical evidence.
The student is able to transfer their reflection capacity on a number of linguistic phenomena with appropriate terminology.
The student is able to argument critically and respectfully with the peers and with the tutor.
The student is able to critically consult reference books and references contained therein.

No specific previous knowledge is required.

The course is intended as an introduction to the linguistic change; it will be analysed the causes of the change (internal and external to the language) and the various levels of language analysis: phonetic, phonological, morphological, syntactic, semantic change. Thw change over time (diachrony) will be investigated, but in a global historical perspective that also takes into account the social and local conditions in which these phenomena occur, and the contact between languages. The notions of linguistic kinship and linguistic families will be introduced, with particular regard to the languages of the Indo-European family.

S. Shukla, J. Connor-Linton, Il mutamento linguistico, Bologna, il Mulino 2008
Choise between:
- F. Fanciullo, Introduzione alla linguistica storica, Bologna, Il Mulino 2013, chapters I-II (pp.23-77).
- R.Lazzeroni, Il mutamento linguistico, in E. Campanile, R. Lazzeroni (eds.), Linguistica storica, Roma, La Nuova Italia Scientifica, 1990, pp.13-54.

Oral exam: assessment of knowledge and understanding of theoretical and methodological principles; application to the analysis of the linguistic change.

Face-to-face lessons. An active student partecipation would be appreciated.

Italian

oral