IRANIAN PHILOLOGY

The course complements the study of Persian language and culture by offering a detailed overview of the linguistic, cultural, and literary landscape of pre-Islamic Iran. It also contributes to the broader range of language and culture courses offered within the Near Eastern, Indological, and Central Asian curriculum of LICSAAM, allowing students to expand their philological expertise to include the wider field of Iranian languages.

The course aims to introduce students to the general lines of development of the Iranian languages and to their textual documentation, with particular attention to the historical and literary development of Persian in its Old and Middle stages. By the end of the course, students will be able to place the most significant linguistic phenomena within the broader framework of Iranian linguistics; navigate the documentary record of the pre-Islamic Iranian languages; analyse, translate, and comment on the texts studied in class from both linguistic and literary perspectives, with an understanding of their writing systems and cultural contexts; and use the relevant bibliographical tools to conduct independent research.

No specific prerequisites are required. Students’ prior knowledge will be assessed at the beginning of the course in order to suggest any necessary supplementary work in linguistics or history. A basic knowledge of Persian may facilitate the understanding of vocabulary and of selected morphological and syntactic features. A background in Indological studies, including Sanskrit or Indo-European linguistics, or in Semitic studies may also be helpful for approaching Old Iranian languages such as Avestan and Old Persian, as well as the use of Aramaic heterograms in Middle Iranian languages.

The course is structured into five thematic modules designed to provide an overview of the development of the Iranian languages from their Indo-European origins to the Middle Iranian period, together with their textual documentation and the historical and cultural contexts in which this documentation was produced and preserved. Classes will include the reading and analysis of a selection of texts in Old Persian and Middle Persian.

**Module 1: Iranian Philology**
- Introduction to the discipline: scope, methodologies, and history of scholarship.
- The Iranian languages: classification, linguistic geography, areal distribution, and historical periodization (Old, Middle, and Modern Iranian).

**Module 2: Old Iranian: Avestan and Old Persian**
- Indo-European and the Indo-Iranian branch.
- Avestan: the textual corpus.
- Old Persian: the Achaemenid inscriptions, cuneiform script and its decipherment, and the main morphosyntactic features of the language. Reading of short passages from Achaemenid inscriptions in the original language.

**Module 3: Middle Iranian**
- Overview of the Middle Iranian languages, their areal classification, writing systems, and documentary record.

**Module 4: Middle Persian**
- Middle Persian (Pahlavi): historical development, writing systems, heterography (Aramaic heterograms), and contexts of use.
- Reading and analysis of short epigraphic texts from the Sasanian period, including royal inscriptions, coin legends, and seal inscriptions.
- Pahlavi literature: genres, textual transmission, and major themes.

**Module 5: Pahlavi Epic and Its Reception**
- Reading, analysis, and commentary of selected chapters from the *Ayādgār ī Zarērān* (“Memorial of Zarēr”), with particular attention to the reception and adaptation of its epic material in the New Persian tradition.

I.M. ORANSKIJ, Le lingue iraniche [ed. or. Iranskie jazyki, Mosca, 1963], a cura di A.V. ROSSI, Napoli, 1973
W.B. HENNING, Il medioiranico [ed. or. Mitteliranisch, in B. Spuler (ed.), Iranistik (Handbuch der Orientalistik I/I.1), Leiden, 1958, pp. 20-130], trad. it E. FILIPPONE, Napoli, 1996

The course handouts will include, alongside the texts discussed in class, additional bibliographical references.

The examination will consist of an oral discussion with the instructor on the topics covered during the course.

oral

The instructor is responsible for ensuring the authenticity and originality of all examinations and coursework. In cases of suspected academic misconduct, an additional on-site assessment may be required during the exams, which may differ from the standard format.

Regarding the grading scale, scores will be assigned according to the following scheme:
A. Scores in the 18-22 range will be awarded in the presence of: Sufficient knowledge and applied
comprehension of the program;
B. Scores in the 23-26 range will be awarded in the presence of: Fair knowledge and applied
comprehension of the program;
C. Scores in the 27-30 range will be awarded in the presence of: Good or excellent knowledge and
applied comprehension of the program;
D. Honors will be awarded in the presence of excellent knowledge and applied comprehension of
the program.

Lectures supported by handouts, including reproductions and transliterations of the texts studied, as well as visual materials. Translation workshops.