B005547 - GENERAL LINGUISTICS

Italian

The aim of the course is to introduce students to the study of
key concepts of the Historical Linguistics, with specific reference to the diachronic approach for the analysis of natural languages. An excursus will be devoted to the understanding of the linguistic diversity and of the relationship between human language, thought and reality.

1. E. Magni, Linguistica storica, Bologna, Patron, 2014.
2. R. Cardona, I sei lati del mondo, Bari-Roma, Laterza, 2015(5)
3. G.F. Arcodia, C. Mauri, La diversità linguistica, roma, Carocci, 2018(3^ rist.)

During the course, students are introduced to the study of advanced concepts of historical linguistics.
Discipline-specific skills :
- Demonstrate an advanced knowledge of terms and concepts of historical linguistics, with particular reference to linguistic change and etymology
- Demonstrate the knowledge of basic linguistic terminology
- Demonstrate good knowledge of linguistic methods and diachronic analysis, including specially phonetic, morphological and semantic change
- Demonstrate good knowledge of the linguistic analysis of texts
- Demonstrate a good understanding and a detailed knowledge of variation and language change
- Demonstrate a good understanding of the linguistic diversity
- Demonstrate a good understanding of the relationship between linguistic categorisation and reality
- Use of real-life examples to illustrate a point

Basic knowledge of general linguistics

Lectures and seminars; handouts and basic readings during seminars; use of electronic resources (via the Moodle learning platform)

The course involves compulsory attendance for 2/3 of the lessons for full-time students. Lesson attendance for part-time students (part-time enrolment)
is not mandatory. Part-time students have to contact the teacher at the beginning of the course.

Oral examination in order to asses theoretical knowledge acquired during the course.
Topics:
- methodological introduction
- concepts and basic terms of Historical Linguistics
- theory, methods and analysis models of Linguistics
- analysis of diachronic linguistic change
- analysis of linguistic categorisation

This examination will also assess students' ability to apply their knowledge to concrete cases of linguistic analysis, the relevance and coherence of the students' answers, their communication skills, their capacity for making judgements, their ability to express opinions on a topic in a structured way, their language accuracy and their style.
Students must demonstrate an adequate level of preparation in all the required topics in order to pass the examination.
The final mark will be based on the assessments given for all the questions.

The aim of the course is to introduce students to the study of
key concepts of the Historical Linguistics, with specific reference to the diachronic approach for the analysis of natural languages. An excursus will be devoted to the understanding of the linguistic diversity and of the relationship between language, thought and reality.
The course will introduce the following issues and concepts:
- principles and methods of Historical Linguistics
- causes and mechanisms of linguistic change
- language change in a diachronic perspective
- etymology and motivation
- Language change in a diachronic perspective. Diachronic studies of classical languages
- the relationship between human language, thought and reality
- the linguistic categorisation