ITALIAN LANGUAGE - INTERMEDIATE/ADVANCED

The course contents ​​the history of the Italian language, linguistics and Italian sociolinguistics.

The first part of the course will give a general outline of the crucial moments in the history of the Italian language from its Origins to the present days. The second part will focus on the contemporary Italian linguistic repertoire and on the study of linguistic variability, also through the analysis of texts and examples. The aim of the course is to stimulate metalinguistic capabilities and to facilitate the acquisition of a specialized lexicon.

A B2-level knowledge of Italian.

Week 1: Introduction to the course; history of Italian (first documents in "volgare"; the affirmation of Fiorentino; Dante, Petrarca, Boccaccio; Dante's De Vulgari Eloquentia; Bembo and the so-called "questione della lingua").
Week 2: Post-unification Italy, the literacy process and the diffusion of Italian; language policy in Italy.
Week 3: Basics of linguistics and sociolinguistics: linguistic variation, repertoire, the Italian linguistic repertoire today (standard, substandard and neostandard; regional Italian; dialects).
Week 4: Regional and popular Italian, analysis of linguistic phenomena at a phonetical, phonological, morphosyntactic and lexical level.
Week 5: Differences between language and dialect; the definition of prestige and linguistic attitudes; the relationship between codes in the linguistic repertoire (bilingualism, diglossia, "dilalìa"); comparisons with other languages.
Week 6: Venetian dialect: analysis of selected texts and examples. Italian and dialect in contact: code-switching, code-mixing, polylanguaging.
Week 7: Age and gender variability; the language of adolescents; code-switching in the language of adolescents; dialect in social network.
Week 8: Italian communities abroad; New linguistic minorities in Italy.

Presentations and text on Moodle.

Written and oral exam. The candidate is expected to demonstrate a critic knowledge of the topics covered during lectures, being able to use a correct lexicon.

Conventional lectures, delivered with PowerPoint presentations, supported by audio and video materials and selected texts.

written and oral