The course aims at providing students, mostly through text reading and linguistic analysis, with appropriate knowledge in three different areas:

1.  in historical grammar, illustrating the most significant phonetic and morphological developments in the transition from Latin to Italian;

2.  in the analysis and historical interpretation of peculiar linguistic features (at a graphic, morphological and syntactic level) in Galileo and Machiavelli's language, through a sample of texts from their works;

3.  in the history of Italian language, retracing its most important phases, with particular reference to significant aspects and moments in the Italian linguistic debate through the centuries.

A thorough basic knowledge of Italian linguistic history as well as the debate on the language throughout the centuries and the evolution of the language represent essential and qualifying didactic elements for this MA curriculum degree classification, in addition to being essential requirements for all those who aim at a future professional access to the school system.

The programme is divided into three parts and each of them will address the following topics in the order indicated below.

1.   Fundamentals of historical grammar: phonetic and morphological changes from Latin to Italian 

Phonetic changes: Latin and Italian vowels; stressed and unstressed vowels; the mobile diphthong rule; outcome of Latin diphthongs; anaphonesis; closed e and o in protony; deletion of final consonants; consonant assimilation; + iod consonant nexus; consonant nexus + l ; consonant voicing; general phenomena: prothesis, paragoge, epenthesis, apheresis, dicretion and concretion of the article, syncope, apocope, syntactic doubling; popular and erudite trait; doublets; the sources of spoken Latin.

Morphological changes: disappearance of neuter; disappearance of the cases system; the declension system simplification; gender and number metaplasms; derivation of Italian nouns from the accusative case; formation of articles; verbal morphology: main innovations in the passage from Latin to Italian; formation of present tense, future, past absolute, compound tenses, passive voice; formation of past participle and concordance of past participle in a diachronic perspective.
 

2.  Galileo and Machiavelli's language: reading and linguistic analysis of texts from their works

Galileo. The Italian language choice; Sidereus Nuncius: reasons for choosing Latin; Lettere copernicane: reading and linguistic analysis of the first letter; Il Saggiatore: reading and linguistic analysis of a selection of other extracts; the long way to the publication of Dialogo; reasons and advantages of the dialogue genre choice; structure and characters of Dialogo; from Dialogo: reading and linguistic analysis of a selection of other extracts; Galileo's language: graphic, morphological and syntactic peculiarities; Galileo's modernity in terms of scientific terminology.

Machiavelli.  Machiavelli and the language of chancelleries; the language of "consulte e pratiche": the weight and presence of forms of spoken language; reading and linguistic analysis of extracts from Principe: graphic, morphological and syntactic peculiarities.

3.    The history of Italian language and the debate on language through the centuries

The main steps in the historical development of the Italian language through the most important moments and issues in the linguistic debate, from the Middle Ages to current topics.

This part - recalling what has already been partially acquired by the students who passed the History of the Italian Language exam in the BA course - will be mostly self-taught through the study of the text indicated under number 3 in the bibliography. 

Knowledge and understanding

At the end of the course, the student shall have a basic theoretical knowledge of Italian language history, and shall be proficient in the different subjects studied in the three parts of the program.

Applying knowledge and understanding

At the end of the course the student shall

a) know and be able to illustrate the most significant phonetic and morphological changes in the passage from Latin to Italian;

b) know Galileo's figure and works, the reasons for his importance from the Italian language history point of view and be able to analyse his language, grasping its fundamental characteristics and interpreting them in a diachronic perspective (for attending students);

c) be able to carry out a linguistic analysis of Machiavelli's texts, grasping their fundamental characteristics and interpreting them in a diachronic perspective;

d) know the historical development of the Italian language and the related debate.

Making judgements

At the end of the course, the student should have sufficient understanding of the fundamental lines of historical-linguistic development to enable the same, on one hand, to autonomously and critically identify the reasons of the Italian phonetic results with respect to forms of Latin origin; and on the other hand, to understand the most important moments of the historical evolution of the Italian language, and historically contextualise the linguistic positions and uses of the authors.

Communication skills

At the end of the course the student shall have the ability to express the contents of the course in an appropriate manner, using the relevant terminology correctly; the student should know how to communicate what he or she has learnt in a clear and unambiguous manner to experts and non-experts, using examples to support the theoretical description of the linguistic facts analysed.

Learning skills

At the end of the course, given the learning methods developed, the student should have the ability to autonomously analyse the knowledge acquired, and the ability to understand texts dating to different periods of the past, linking them to the linguistic context in which they were produced.

The teaching material prepared by the lecturer in addition to recommended textbooks (such as for instance slides, lecture notes, exercises, bibliography) and communications from the lecturer specific to the course can be found inside the Moodle platform › blended.uniurb.it

A seminar addressing the reading and linguistic analysis of some extracts from Machiavelli's Principe contained in Scavuzzo's text indicated in the Study Texts is scheduled. This seminar (6 hours) will be held by Mr. Andrea Felici during the last weeks of the course, integrating the taught lessons hours. 

 

Teaching

Lectures and seminar.

Attendance

For the first part of the programme, relevant to Fundamentals of historical grammar, at least a basic knowledge of Latin would be desirable.

Course books

1) G. Patota, Nuovi lineamenti di grammatica storica dell'italiano, il Mulino, Bologna, 2009. Only the following chapters must be studied: I, II, III and IV.
2) a. Galileo's texts analysed during the course, which will be made available by the lecturer inside the Moodle platform;  b. C. Scavuzzo, Machiavelli. Storia linguistica italiana, Carocci, 2003. Only pages 1-72 will have to be studied. 
3) C. Marazzini, La lingua italiana. Storia, testi, strumenti, il Mulino, Bologna, second edition, 2016. The entire text must be studied. 

Assessment

The expected learning results will be assessed through an oral examination.

The oral examination will assess the level of knowledge acquired by the students in each of the three parts of the program.

The assessment criteria will take into account: a) the level of knowledge of the topics covered during lessons and the seminar, or in any case discussed in the study texts for the three parts of the program; c) degree of articulacy of the reply; c) correctness and effectiveness of the presentation; the appropriateness of the terminology used; use of examples to explain the theoretical concepts and the phenomena and linguistic constructs analysed.

Each criterion shall be evaluated according to a 4-level scale of values/judgement, with equal weight assigned to each criterion. The final evaluation, expressed in marks out of thirty, corresponds to the average of the marks obtained in the separate parts of the oral examination; in order to pass the exam, the score in each part, should at least be a pass mark.

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.

Attendance

For the first part of the programme, relevant to Fundamentals of historical grammar, at least a basic knowledge of Latin would be desirable.

Course books

1) G. Patota, Nuovi lineamenti di grammatica storica dell'italiano, il Mulino, Bologna, 2009. The entire text must be studied.
2) a. C. Scavuzzo, Machiavelli. Storia linguistica italiana, Carocci, 2003. The entire text must be studied.  b. Texts presented and commented in G. Patota's volume, Nuovi lineamenti di grammatica storica dell'italiano, il Mulino, Bologna, 2009: extracts from Boccaccio's "Decameron" analysed in  chapters III, IV and V, and texts included in chapter VI. 
3)  C. Marazzini, La lingua italiana. Storia, testi, strumenti, il Mulino, Bologna, second edition, 2016. The entire text must be studied.

Assessment

The expected learning results will be assessed through an oral examination.

The oral examination will assess the level of knowledge acquired by the students in each of the three parts of the program.

The assessment criteria will take into account: a) the level of knowledge of the topics discussed in the study texts for the three parts of the program; c) degree of articulacy of the reply; c) correctness and effectiveness of the presentation; the appropriateness of the terminology used; use of examples to explain the theoretical concepts and the phenomena and linguistic constructs analysed.

Each criterion shall be evaluated according to a 4-level scale of values/judgement, with equal weight assigned to each criterion. The final evaluation, expressed in marks out of thirty, corresponds to the average of the marks obtained in the separate parts of the oral examination; in order to pass the exam, the score in each part, should at least be a pass mark.

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.

Part 2 of the programme, as illustrated above, only applies to attending students.
For non-attending students, this part of the programme is modified in line with the indications provided in the specific section containing information for NON-attending students, under the item Study texts, 2).