Ateneo - UPO

HISTORY OF THE ITALIAN LANGUAGE. General course of History of the Italian language, from the Origins to the present time. Lessons will be dedicated in particular to the Origins of the Italian vernaculars, with analysis of the most ancient documents and to the “questione della lingua”.

1. L. MACONI e M. VOLPI, Antichi documenti dei volgari italiani, Roma, Carocci, 2022.

2. P. D’ACHILLE, Breve grammatica storica dell’italiano, nuova edizione, Roma, Carocci, 2019.

3. C. MARAZZINI, La lingua italiana. Storia, testi, strumenti, Bologna, il Mulino, 2015.

4. Texts and ppt archived in DIR.

1. Good basic knowledge of Italian historical grammar.

2. Good general knowledge of the History of the Italian language, from del Origins to the present time, according particular attention on the “questione della lingua”.

3. Being able to comment on ancient texts written in Medieval Italian vernaculars.

4. Being able to comment on ancient and modern texts representative in the evolution of the Italian literary language; being able to recognize and describe documents of common language and of the so called “italiano popolare” and “linguaggio aziendale”.

5. Being able to comment the main essays of the “questione della lingua”.

None.

Lessons, exercises, video clips and PPT.

Useful notions to teach the ancient and modern Italian language at high schools will be given during the lessons. Students will learn to overcome a reductive vision of the grammatical norms, replacing it with a problematic and historical vision of the rules, paying attention to regional varieties, Italian dialects and contacts between Italian and other languages. Free online digital library and dictionaries will be used.

Oral exam on the books listed in the bibliography and on texts archived in DIR.

The exam of History of the Italian language C (12 cfu) lasts 40 minutes ca.

However, the exam can be divided into two different parts lasting 20 minutes each, and corresponding to module A and module B (in this case the final grade will be the result of the average of the marks obtained in the two tests).

The exam will be structured as follows:

1. Some questions will verify the overall knowledge achieved. Value 50% of the final mark.

2. Some questions will concern the analysis of ancient texts, modern texts and relevant texts for the “questione della lingua” in Italy (the texts object of the exam are anthologized in the reference book listed in the exam bibliography or archived in DIR). Value 30% of the final mark.

3. The oral presentation and the dialectical conversation with the teacher will be assessed. Value 20% of the final mark.

1. The origin of the Italian language: language, vernaculars and dialects.

2. Historical dictionaries and grammars, linguistic atlases, etymological dictionaries.

3. Notions of Italian language historical grammar.

4. History of the discovery of the ancient documents of the Italian vernaculars.

5. The Placito Capuano as “birth certificate” of the Italian language. Placiti campani.

6. Vulgar-latin documents and vulgar documents in the IX and X centuries.

7. Documents of Northern Italian vernaculars from the XI century to the beginning of the XIII century.

8. Ancient Tuscan texts from the XI century to the beginning of the XIII century.

9. Middle-south Italian and Sardinian vernaculars documents from the XI century to the beginning of the XIII century.

10. Ancient fragments of Italian poetry.

11. The problem of the language used by the poets of the “Scuola siciliana” and the most ancient manuscript collections of poetries.

12. The first Italian literary prose.

13. Italian varieties: “standard”, “dell’uso medio”, “regionale”, “popolare”.

14. “Alloglotti”.

15. What does “questione della lingua” mean?

16. Dante and the “De vulgari eloquentia”.

17. The XV century. The discussions on the birth of the Italian vernaculars. “Umanesimo volgare”. Leon Battista Alberti and the first grammar of the Italian language. The invention of printing. Aldo Manuzio and Pietro Bembo.

18. The XVI century. Le “Prose della volgar lingua” by Pietro Bembo.

19. The XVI century. Trissino and the discovery of the DVE. “Teoria italiana” and “teoria cortigiana”.

20. The XVI century. “Toscanisti” and “fiorentinisti”. Il “Discorso intorno alla nostra lingua” by Machiavelli. Benedetto Varchi. Lionardo Salviati. Ludovico Castelvetro. Celso Cittadini.

21. The XVII century. The Accademia della Crusca and its Vocabolario. Carlo Dati. Francesco Redi. Scholars against the Vocabolario della Crusca.

22. The XVIII century. Philology and linguistic-historical researches: Fontanini, Muratori, Maffei.

23. The XVIII century. Italian vs French and the defense of the Italian language.

24. The XVIII century. The Illuminism: the review “Il Caffè” in Milan and the “Saggio sulla filosofia delle lingue” by Melchiorre Cesarotti.

25. The XIX century. The Crusca veronese dictionary by Antonio Cesari. The “Proposta” by Vincenzo Monti. Perticari’s theories. The “Parallelo dei tre vocabolari italiano, inglese e spagnolo” by Giuseppe Grassi.

26. The XIX century. The language of the new Italian State. Manzoni and the “questione della lingua”. Manzoni annotator of the Crusca veronese. Manzoni’s linguistc ideas. The two editions of the “Promessi sposi”. Manzoni’s “Relazione” del 1868. Lexicographers adhering to Manzoni’s linguistic ideas and new types of vocabulary.

27. The XIX century. “Manzoniani” and “antimanzoniani”. Tommaseo linguist and lexicographer. Ascoli and the “Proemio” in the AGI review. De Amicis “L’idioma gentile”.

28. The XX century. Linguistic effects of political unity. Linguistic policy of Fascism. The Accademia d’Italia. Alberto Manzi teacher of the Italians people through television programs. The “Nuove questioni linguistiche” by Pasolini.

29. The beginning of the XXI century. GRADIT Postfazione by De Mauro. Business language. Politically incorrect language. English vs Italian. “Incipit” project promoted by the Accademia della Crusca.

1. Good basic knowledge of Italian historical grammar.

2. Good general knowledge of the History of the Italian language, from del Origins to the present time, according particular attention on the “questione della lingua”.

3. Being able to comment on ancient texts written in Medieval Italian vernaculars.

4. Being able to comment on ancient and modern texts representative in the evolution of the Italian literary language; being able to recognize and describe documents of common language and of the so called “italiano popolare” and “linguaggio aziendale”.

5. Being able to comment the main essays of the “questione della lingua”.