Ateneo - UPO

Introduction to General Linguistics and Historical Linguistics.

General Linguistics (Fondamenti di Linguistica 1):
1. G. Berruto and M. Cerruti (2022). La linguistica. Un corso introduttivo
(III Edition). Novara: UTET Università (ONLY chapters 1–6). It is also
possible to use the II edition of the volume (2017).
2. G. Berruto (2020). Riflessioni sull’insegnamento della linguistica oggi.
In A. Sansò (ed.), Insegnare linguistica: basi epistemologiche, metodi,
applicazioni. Atti del LIII Congresso della Società di Linguistica Italiana
(Università dell’Insubria, 19-21 settembre 2019), pp. 13-29. Milano:
Officinaventuno (available h t t p s : / / w w w . s o c i e t a d i l i n g u i s t i c a i t a l i a n a . n e t / w p -
content/uploads/2021/01/002_Berruto_Atti_SLI_LIII_Insubria.pdf). 3. Any other content that will be uploaded on the platform DIR during the year (including the slides used during the lessons).

Historical Linguistics (Glottologia 1):
1. E. Magni (2014). Linguistica Storica. Bologna: Patron.
2. F. Fanciullo (2007). Introduzione alla linguistica storica. Bologna: Il Mulino (ONLY Chapters 1, 6 and 7);
3. M. Napoli (2019). Linguistica diacronica. La prospettiva tipologica. Roma: Carocci (ONLY Chapter 1).
4. Any other content that will be uploaded on the platform DIR during the year (including the slides used during the lessons).

The main objective of the course, which consists of two modules – General Linguistics (Fondamenti di Linguistica 1) and Historical Linguistics (Glottologia 1) – is to provide students with knowledge of the fundamental concepts of General Linguistics and Historical Linguistics, as well as of the most important theoretical and methodological tools necessary to understand and analyze the linguistic structure of words, phrases, and sentences primarily (but not exclusively) in the Italian language, and to understand the phenomenon of linguistic variation. A second, more advanced objective of the teaching is to develop students' ability to autonomously apply the theoretical notions learned during the course to the description, comparison, and interpretation—both synchronically and diachronically—of linguistic data and phenomena of change drawn from different languages (including those other than Italian).

No specific prerequisites are required.

The course includes both lectures and more interactive classes where students are actively involved in (i) guided exercises on phonetic and phonological transcription, morphological analysis, and syntactic analysis; (ii) applying the comparative method to compare linguistic data from different languages; (iii) analyzing and understanding various cases of linguistic change (with particular focus on changes affecting Indo-European languages).

Additional readings (not obligatory for the exam) and exercise materials will be recommended or provided during the classes.

The two modules have distinct assessment methods.
1. The final exam for General Linguistics (Fondamenti di linguistica 1) consists of a 90-minute written exam, comprising 12 questions designed to assess students' acquisition of both the theoretical knowledge related to the various topics in General Linguistics covered during the course and in the exam texts, as well as their ability to classify and analyze linguistic forms at the phonetic, phonological, morphological, syntactic, and semantic levels. Therefore, the 12 questions include both open-ended theoretical questions and exercises on phonetic transcription, phonological transcription, morphological decomposition, and the construction of syntactic trees.
2. The final exam for Historical Linguistics (Glottologia 1) consists of an oral exam lasting approximately 30 minutes. During the exam, students will be asked questions to assess their level of knowledge concerning the course objectives and expected learning outcomes. The exam will include:
a. Questions on the fundamental theoretical and methodological aspects of Historical Linguistics (e.g., the comparative method, branches of the Indo-European family, fundamental mechanisms of linguistic change, etc.) and the history of the discipline;
b. At least one question on linguistic typology;
c. Discussion of at least one specific case of linguistic change, which students will need to discuss with examples of their choice.
The final grade will be determined by the average of the final grades of the two modules.

For the first module (Fondamenti di Linguistica 1), the content of the lessons will cover the following topics:
1. Definition of the field of General Linguistics, brief history of the discipline, and introduction to fundamental concepts.
2. Articulatory phonetics and phonology: vocal apparatus; phones, phonemes, and allophones in Italian; phonetic/phonological transcription; minimal pairs; the syllable; suprasegmental features.
3. Morphology: main types of morphemes; allomorphy and suppletion; morphological analysis of words; word formation processes.
4. Syntax: types of phrases; analysis of sentences into phrases; representation of sentence syntactic structure using tree diagrams.
5. Semantics: sense and meaning; relationships between lexemes.
6. Teaching General Linguistics: methods and challenges.

For the second module (Glottologia 1), the content of the lessons will cover the following topics:
The content of the lessons will cover the following topics:
- Definition of the field of Historical linguistics, history of the discipline, and introduction to fundamental concepts.
- The comparative method and the genealogical classification of languages;
- The reconstruction of the Indo-European language and the Indo-Europeans;
- Typological classification of languages;
- Phonetic and phonological change;
- Morphological change;
- Syntactic change;
- Semantic change;
- Typology and linguistic change;
- Causes and general trends of linguistic change.

To achieve the knowledge and skills corresponding to the minimum level of sufficiency, students are required to demonstrate:

- Knowledge of the fundamental theoretical and methodological principles of General Linguistics and Historical Linguistics;
- Understanding of the fundamental characteristics of human verbal language and the basic elements of language structure;
- Acquisition of the basic concepts of linguistic typology and understanding their relevance to Historical Linguistics;
- Familiarity with the main systems of language classification based on genealogy and typology;
- Knowledge of the main types of linguistic change and the fundamental mechanisms operating diachronically;
- Development of sufficient skills to correctly analyze linguistic units (words, phrases, sentences) at the phonetic/phonological, morphological, syntactic, and semantic levels using appropriate techniques for each level of analysis;
- Ability to correctly apply the concepts and analysis techniques learned during the course to the analysis of linguistic data from various languages (especially Italian);
- Ability to classify languages spoken in Europe today, both Indo-European and non-Indo-European, from a genealogical perspective;
- Ability to apply acquired knowledge to the analysis of a specific case of linguistic change;
- Proficiency in using the basic technical vocabulary of the discipline with fundamental correctness.

To achieve an advanced level, students must demonstrate:

- In-depth knowledge of the fundamental theoretical and methodological principles of General Linguistics and Historical Linguistics covered during the course and in the assigned study materials;
- Thorough understanding of the general characteristics of human verbal language and the basic elements of language structure;
- Complete acquisition of the concepts of linguistic typology presented in the course and understanding their relevance to Historical Linguistics;
- Exact knowledge of the main systems of language classification based on genealogy and typology;
- Detailed and comprehensive understanding of the main types of linguistic change and the fundamental mechanisms operating diachronically as illustrated in the course;
- Full capacity to independently and correctly analyze linguistic units (words, phrases, sentences) at the phonetic/phonological, morphological, syntactic, and semantic levels using the most appropriate techniques for each level of analysis;
- Ability to analyze and correctly interpret synchronic linguistic data from various languages (especially Italian), applying the concepts and analysis techniques learned during the course;
- Full ability to classify languages spoken in Europe today, both Indo-European and non-Indo-European, from a genealogical perspective;
- Ability to apply acquired knowledge to the analysis of a specific case of linguistic change, demonstrating appropriate autonomy;
- Proficiency in using the technical vocabulary of the discipline correctly and appropriately.