HISTORICAL LINGUISTICS

Università degli Studi
"G. d'Annunzio"

Chieti - Pescara

Single discipline educational activity

Course Sheet

Course code:

MM1006

Academic Year of enrolment:

2023

Year of supply:

2023/2024

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:

First semester

Hours of classroom activity:

Individual study hours:

108

Prerequisites:

It would be desirable to have an excellent command of Italian.

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 analysis 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 of linguistic theory.

Besides the deepening of the relevant notions of Historical Linguistics, the main learning outcomes include:

1. Understand the concepts and the technical terminology of historical linguistic theory.

2. Grasp the universal mechanisms of language change through time, thus drawing a cross-linguistic paradigm of language development.

3. Acquire the scientific methods, both deductive and inductive, of language reconstruction and comparative linguistic analysis.

4. Recognize the contribution of Historical Linguistics to the explanatory adequacy of linguistic theory.

5. Appreciate the common heritage that languages share as well as the variety that differentiates them.

6. Examine the socio-cultural factors that influence language change through history and make the relevant generalizations to different languages and cultures.

7. Manage a variety of learning sources and tools, including digital collections of old texts, digital linguistic corpora, on-line material and portals, technological devices, etc.

Contents

The course deepens the knowledge in the field of Historical Linguistics. Building upon exemplified data, the students will be trained to describe and discuss, both theoretically and empirically, a wide range of linguistic phenomena from ancient to modern languages.

The historical-diachronic analysis will be carried out on the canonical levels of analysis applied to natural languages (namely, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics) and their interplay. Variation and diachronic development will be deepened and detailed at all levels of linguistic analysis. In particular, attention will be paid to different processes of grammaticalization and syntactic change.

The mechanisms of language change over time will be studied with focus on the Indo-European family and its subsequent linguistic ramifications.
The analysis of the historical data will be framed within a typological (cross-linguistic) approach, which aims to explore and deepen the structural relations among languages as well as the linguistic universals underlying linguistic change over time.

Extended Syllabus

▪ Theoretical grounding of the discipline: history, paths, and approaches of Historical Linguistics.

▪ Diachronic (historical) analysis of phonetic and phonological, morphological, syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic changes.

▪ Typological macrovariation and linguistic microvariation.

LANGUAGE CHANGE OVER TIME

▪ Approaches, methods, and models in historical linguistics: The comparative method, internal reconstruction.

▪ Linguistic classification: Family-tree Model, Wave Theory, Glottochronolgy, Dialectology and Linguistic Geography, Sociolinguistics and language change.

▪ Sound change: Main types of sound change: assimilation, dissimilation, deletion, epenthesis, lengthening, rhotacism, metathesis, voicing, palatalization, diphthongization, chain shifts, (Grimm’s, and Verner’s laws).

▪ Morphological change: Analogy, analogical levelling, extension, hypercorrection, folk etymology, blending.

▪ Syntactic change: Non-configurational and configurational syntax, reanalysis, extension, grammaticalization: lexical to functional change, syntactic reconstruction.

▪ Semantic and lexical change: Semantic widening and narrowing, metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche, hyperbole, litotes..

▪ Language contact and borrowing: Mechanisms and direction of borrowing, loanwords.

Recommended Bibliography

The material is entirely created and 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 chosen volume on Historical Linguistics and one chosen volume on General Linguistics, among those listed below. Even though it is highly recommended, the reading of the suggested texts will not be part of the exam.

GLOTTOLOGIA

Campanile, E., De Felice, E., Gusmani, R., Lazzeroni, R. e Silvestri, D. (2017). Linguistica storica. Roma: Carocci.

Magni, E. (2014). Linguistica storica. Bologna: Pátron Editore.

Fanciullo, F. (2013), Introduzione alla linguistica storica. Bologna: il Mulino.

Luraghi, S. (2021). Introduzione alla linguistica storica. Roma: Carocci.

Campbell, L. (2004). Historical linguistics: An introduction. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Trask, R. L. (1996). Historical Linguistics. London: Routledge.

Bynon, T. (1977). Historical Linguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

LINGUISTICA GENERALE

Berruto, G. e Cerruti, M. (2017). La Linguistica. Un corso Introduttivo. Torino: UTET.

Casadei, F., Lorenzetti, L., Schirru, G., Thornton, A. M. e Basile, G. (2010). Linguistica generale. Roma: Carocci.

Graffi, G. e Scalise, S. (2002). Le lingue e il linguaggio. Introduzione alla linguistica. Bologna: Il Mulino.

Teaching Methods

Frontal lessons, with frequent group- and individual-exercises.
Dynamic PowerPoint presentations.

Students are 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 on the e-leraning platform).

Evaluation methods

Verification of learning:

Oral exam aimed at verifying the ability to apply the course 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 reseat the exam.

Grades from 0 to 30. Grades are assigned according to the following scale:

1-17 = not pass
18-21 = pass
22-24 = average
25-27 = good
28-29 = very good
30-30 and distinction = excellent.

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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