PROSODY AND TRANSLATION

The Metrica e traduzione module is a didactic activity within the Department of Humanities, designed for Ca' Foscari students who are required to take Latin examinations as part of their Master's degree courses and who need to address gaps in their linguistic knowledge of Latin. This is a practical course, intended to support advanced Latin students, but it is also open to anyone wishing to refine their knowledge of Latin.
All Latin examinations within Master's degree courses at Ca' Foscari include, as an integral component, a preliminary test designed to assess the minimum language competence required for advanced Latin study. This test is administered by the lecturer responsible for Metrica e traduzione, and its result (expressed as a score out of 30) contributes to the final assessment of the Master's examinations, as outlined in the syllabus of each course.

A good knowledge of Latin morphology and syntax, enabling students to independently analyse texts by authors of both prose and poetry from various periods of Latin literary history.
The ability to independently perform scansion and metrical reading of the dactylic hexameter and the elegiac couplet.

Knowledge of the grammatical and logical structures of the Italian language.
Knowledge of the basic morphology and syntax of the Latin language.
12 CFU previously acquired in ssd LATI01-A (formerly L-FIL-LET/04).

The course will examine poetic and prose texts by authors primarily from the classical period, though not exclusively. Using these texts as a starting point, morphological and syntactic phenomena will be explored in a highly interactive manner, accompanied by relevant theoretical insights. Students will be encouraged to actively participate and will be assigned individual exercises, which will be corrected collectively. Additionally, the course will introduce key concepts of Latin metre, focusing on the dactylic hexameter and the elegiac couplet.

M. Fucecchi, L. Graverini, La lingua latina, Milano 2016 (II edizione).
Alfonso Traina, Tullio Bertotti, Sintassi normativa della lingua latina. Teoria, terza edizione, Pàtron 2015 (ristampa anastatica).

- A translation from Latin into Italian of a prose or poetic text by an author, using a printed (non-digital) dictionary.
- Four closed-answer questions on grammatical aspects.
- An optional question requiring the scansion of a given hexameter.
The duration of the examination is two hours.

Translation
This section serves as a barrier requirement, meaning that a pass mark in the translation test is mandatory.
- A translation is considered sufficient (18–22/30) if the student can identify the morpho-syntactic structure of most of the Latin text and convey its overall meaning in correct and complete Italian.
- A translation is considered good (22–26/30) if the student can identify the morpho-syntactic structure of almost all of the Latin text and produce a generally correct translation into Italian.
- A translation is considered excellent (27–30/30) if the student can identify the morpho-syntactic structure of the entire text and provide a fully accurate translation into Italian.
NB: For poetic texts, a poetic translation is not required.

Questions
- Each of the four grammar questions is worth 0.5 points. A correct answer adds the corresponding increment to the overall score.
Example: If the translation score is 24/30, answering all four grammar questions correctly increases the score to 26/30.

Optional Question (Hexameter Scansion)
This question is worth 1 additional point, which can be added to the previous total.

Honours
Honours will be awarded to students who achieve full marks across all sections.

Lectures and interactive exercises focused on logical and grammatical analysis, as well as translation, based on the reading of Latin texts.