LINGUISTICS

Università degli Studi
"G. d'Annunzio"

Chieti - Pescara

Single discipline educational activity

Course Sheet

Course code:

FL052

Academic Year of enrolment:

2021

Year of supply:

2021/2022

Type of Course:

Characterising

Degree:

Course of 2nd Cycle Degree in PHILOLOGY, LINGUISTICS AND LITERARY TRADITIONS

Disciplinary Sector:

HISTORICAL AND GENERAL LINGUISTICS

Location:

CHIETI

Credits:

Programme Year:

Professor and Collaborators:

CICONTE FRANCESCO MARIA

Cycle:

Second semester

Hours of classroom activity:

Individual study hours:

108

Prerequisites:

Knowledge of basic linguistic theory.

It would be desirable to have a very good command of Italian and its varieties, as well as of one of the Italo-Romance dialects.

Although not necessary, it may be useful to have some knowledge of (one or more) foreign languages, or of (one or more) ancient languages.

Objectives

The course aims to provide the students with a wide picture of the unique and crucial complexity of language, resorting to multi-disciplinary epistemological hints as well as references to the key achievements in the recent history linguistic theory.

Building upon guided analyses, the course aims to challenge the students towards critical and autonomous thinking, accompanied by an acquired ability for the description and analysis of the linguistic phenomena, ultimately achieving a set of skills to formalize and advance hypotheses.

The main learning outcomes include:
1. Understand the concepts and the technical terminology of linguistic theory.
2. Grasp the universal mechanisms of language, thus drawing a cross-linguistic paradigm of language development.
3. Acquire the scientific methods, both deductive and inductive, linguistic analysis.
4. Elaborate the relevant formal generalizations of the linguistic phenomena.
5. Familiarize with the deep structures of language and its universals.
6. Be aware of language change and linguistic variation.
7. Develop skills in analysing written and spoken texts.
8. Manage a variety of learning sources and tools, including digital texts, linguistic corpora and dataset, etc.

Contents

The course deepens and enhances the knowledge of linguistic theory, whose different approaches, principles, and methods will be examined and compared.

The advancement in the set of theoretical notions will be strengthened by studying the interplay of the levels of linguistic analysis (namely, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics). These levels will thus be observed in their complex correlation, which computes the realization of clause structures in discourse.

The data upon which the observations and generalizations will be made are drawn from a wide range of linguistic phenomena, which are attested in European and extra-European languages, whether ancient or modern, both at synchronic and diachronic level.

Extended Syllabus

▪ Theoretical grounding of the discipline: between formalism and functionalism.
▪ Advancements into phonetics and phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics.
▪ Typological macrovariation and linguistic microvariation.
▪ The mental representation of discourse referents and types of predicates.
▪ The logic-argument structure, valency schemes, semantic roles.
▪ Some lexical-aspectual elements of the predication.
▪ The interface of pragmatics, semantics, and syntax in the Information Structure of discourse sentences.

Recommended Bibliography

The material is entirely offered by the course-convenor in the form of notes, PowerPoint presentations, PDF, etc.

This material is enough for an adequate preparation for the final exam.

To integrate the course’s material, it is recommended to read at least one of the three manuals in Italian and the volume in English.

Even though it is highly recommended, the reading of the suggested texts will not be part of the exam.

Berruto, G. e Cerruti, M. (2017). La Linguistica. Un corso Introduttivo. Torino: UTET.
Graffi, G. e Scalise, S. (2002). Le lingue e il linguaggio. Introduzione alla linguistica. Bologna: Il Mulino.
Casadei, F., Lorenzetti, L., Schirru, G., Thornton, A. M. e Basile, G. (2010). Linguistica generale. Roma: Carocci.
Van Valin, R. Jr (2005). Exploring the syntax-semantics interface. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Teaching Methods

Frontal lessons, with frequent group- and individual-exercises.

Dynamic PowerPoint presentations.

Students are also invited to actively participate in the discussion of the topics of the course, both during the lesson and in the deferred debates (forums and chats of both platforms).

Evaluation methods

Verification of learning:

Oral exam aimed at verifying the ability to apply the class contents to selected cases of linguistic analysis.

The interview will be assessed according to the following criteria: (i) congruence of the response, (ii) organization of the discourse, (iii) ability for critical reasoning (iv) appropriate use of the technical-specialist terms of the discipline, (v) argumentative originality.

At the end of the task, students can decide whether to accept the grade or repeat the exam.

Grades from 0 to 30 (pass = 18).

Contacts/More Information

Attendance to the course is highly recommended.

Students who cannot attend are kindly asked to take an appointment with the lecturer to discuss alternative learning methods. The programme is the same for both attending and non-attending students.

Università degli Studi
"G. d'Annunzio"

Chieti - Pescara

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