BALKAN AND SLAVIC LANGUAGES

This course makes part of the common courses related to the curriculum of international politics. Its purpose is to provide the students with initial methodological instruments in the field of linguistics and philology.
The main objective of this course is to present the complex mosaics of the Slavic and the Balkan languages and introduce students to the basic theoretical and empirical issues of Slavic and of Balkan linguistics.

1. Knowledge and understanding
Understand the linguistic and cultural diversity characterizing the Slavic and Balkan areas from a comparative perspective.
Be familiar with the main features of the cultural heritage and the oral and written traditions of Slavic and Balkan societies.
Acquire knowledge and understanding of the linguistic complexity of the Slavic and Balkan areas, including historical and typological approaches to language classification and interaction.

2. Applying knowledge and understanding
Use linguistic terminology appropriately when describing the processes of formation, evolution, and classification of Slavic and Balkan languages.
Identify and interpret interlinguistic variation among Slavic languages as a result of historical divergence, and among Balkan languages as a result of contact-induced convergence.
Analyze language data and recognize key features of linguistic structures and change, using examples from Slavic and Balkan languages.

3. Making judgements
Reflect critically on processes of language change, contact, borrowing, and structural convergence.
Assess the role of morphosyntactic and semantic stability in diachronic and areal linguistic developments.
Evaluate linguistic arguments and data, making independent connections between theoretical concepts and empirical evidence.

4. Communication skills
Clearly explain linguistic phenomena and theoretical concepts related to Slavic and Balkan languages, using appropriate academic language.
Engage in informed discussion on the typological and sociolinguistic features of the languages studied, both in oral and written form.

5. Learning skills
Develop autonomous learning strategies for the study of historical and typological linguistics.
Demonstrate the ability to access and use relevant bibliographical, digital, and corpus-based resources for research on Slavic and Balkan languages.

There are no prerquisites for this course

The course focuses on the sociolinguistic, historical, and typological aspects of the languages spoken in Eastern and Southeastern Europe, with particular attention to the processes of stability, change, and language contact. It aims to introduce students to the complexity and richness of these two areas by analyzing them from a comparative and dynamic perspective that takes into account both genealogical traits and areal convergence phenomena.

The first part of the course is dedicated to the Slavic language family. Topics include the current number and distribution of Slavic languages, their original homeland (protopatria), the main historical changes leading to internal diversification, and the comparative-historical foundations for their classification into three major groups: East Slavic, West Slavic, and South Slavic. Special attention is devoted to the boundaries between languages and dialects, the concept of diasystem, and the relationship between standardization, national identity, and dialectal variation. The presence of Slavic languages in Italy will also be covered, from both a historical (migration and settlement) and a linguistic perspective (Slavic-speaking communities in Italy and their linguistic repertoire).

The second part of the course centers on the Balkan area, viewed as a linguistic space shaped by intense and long-term contact, which has led to the emergence of shared features among genealogically unrelated languages. Core structural features will be illustrated (e.g., postposed definite article, use of fixed complementizers with the subjunctive, absence of the infinitive, widespread use of the dative for possession, etc.) along with their distribution across Balkan languages (Albanian, Bulgarian, Greek, Macedonian, Romanian, and partially BCMS). The course will explore the concept of the Balkan Sprachbund and examine several case studies on language contact, lexical borrowing, and structural change, with a focus on grammaticalization, functional convergence, and morphosyntactic reanalysis.

Throughout the course, students will be introduced to conceptual tools from historical and typological linguistics, including:
– language transmission and mechanisms of change (how and why languages change);
– structural stability (which features resist change and why);
– stable and unstable parameters (micro vs. macroparameters);
– structural and semantic convergence.

Empirical data from Slavic and Balkan languages will be analyzed to reflect on the role of structural diversity, sociolinguistic mechanisms (prestige, bilingualism, diglossia), and the cognitive and functional constraints that drive language change.

The course aims to equip students with theoretical and analytical tools to understand the historical and typological dynamics that have shaped Slavic and Balkan languages through parallel processes of genealogical divergence and areal convergence, affecting both grammar and cultural vocabulary across the region.

Comrie B. G. Stone, D.Short & G.Corbett "Slavonic Languages" in B. Comrie (ed.) The Major Languages of Eastern Europe. Routledge, London, 1990, pp. 56-143.
Comrie, B. Language Universals and Linguistic Typology. Syntax and Morphology, B. Blackwell, Oxford, 1981.
Dvornik, F. The Slavs. Their Early History and Civilization, Boston, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1956.
Fici Giusti, F. Le lingue slave moderne, Unipress, Padova 2001
Friedman, V., B. Joseph. 2025. The Balkan languages. Cambridge University Press.
Jakobson, R. Slavic Languages. A condensed Survey. Harvard University, King's Crown Press, 1955.
Stankiewicz E., The Slavic Languages. Unity in Diversity, Mouton de Gruyter, 1986.
Tomic, O. The Balkan Sprachbund properties. An introduction. In: Tomic, O. (ed.) Balkan Syntax and Semantics. John Benjamins, Amsterdam, 2004.

The students' progress will be verified through a written exam. The exam will feature two questions selected from a precompiled list. For the first question, students can choose from the list, while the second question will be chosen by the teacher to ensure it tests their knowledge of the material covered during the course. Students will respond to the questions by writing a brief text.

written

The final grade will be determined based on the following criteria:
- Knowledge of theoretical topics (up to 12 points)
- Ability to critically analyze theoretical topics (up to 5 points)
- Clarity and confidence in oral presentation (up to 3 points)
- Command of specialized terminology and appropriate language use (up to 5 points)
- Ability to engage in autonomous and well-structured discussion (up to 5 points)

The maximum score is 30/30. Cum laude may be awarded in the case of an excellent performance across all evaluated criteria.

Lectures will be held in the classroom and the students will avail themselves of various materials uploaded in moodle for additional preparation