The course aims at providing students with appropriate skills on recent developments and trends at different linguistic analysis levels, through the description of contemporary Italian and its varieties. A sound basic training in Italian linguistics, with the subsequent capacity to reflect on the main developing features of contemporary Italian and on the pressure they exert upon norms, as well as a good knowledge of the peculiarities of the different types of texts constitute the key didactic and qualifying elements for this curriculum degree classification and the essential requirements for all those who aim at a future professional access to the school system. 

The course will address the following topics, in the order mentioned below.
Lexicon
Components of Italian lexicon; lexical morphology: word transformation processes; derivational suffixes and their peculiarities; analysis of some derivational suffixes values, functions and productivity aimed at illustrating their multi-functionality, semantic versatility and unpredictability; prefixes and parasynthetic verbs; composition: analysis of different types of nouns, adjectives and compound verbs; two-noun sequences and polyrhematic collocations in contemporary Italian; alteration; different categories of neologisms; linguistic borrowings; reduction phenomena and new trends in contemporary vocabulary; semantic lexicology; terms - words: their differences at various levels.
The verbal system: analysis of values and functions of some tenses and moods, between norms and spoken use
The verb properties; indicative present and imperfect, future, present perfect and past absolute in their different contexts of use; present participle and past participle: verb, adjective and noun value; gerund: tenses and syntactic polyfunctionality; subjunctive-indicative in subordinate clauses, between norms and spoken use; completive and incompletive verb aspect; passive voice in oral and written production; distribution of verbal circumlocutions.
Simple and complex sentences 
Concept of verb valency, actants, circumstantial verbs, expansions; word order in simple and complex sentences: relationship with the information structure; concept of given-new and topic-comment; marked constructions: left or right dislocations, topicalisation, anacoluthon, cleft sentences, pseudo-cleft sentences and presentative sentences in their syntactic and informative properties; relative clauses between norms and spoken use; che as a general relativisator polyvalent che; coordination, subordination, juxtaposition, fragmented syntax; nominalisation: its repercussions on syntactic organization.
Linguistic variation 
Italian linguistic repertoire; contemporary Italian varieties; analysis of the most important linguistic variation factors: diachronic, diatopic, diastratic, diaphasic, diamesic variation axis and its main features; concepts of standard, neo-standard, sub-standard Italian; evolution of the language and norm: description of current status with particular reference to rising morphological and syntactic features; contemporary written Italian in different types of texts: linguistic analysis of journalistic, bureaucratic, regulatory prose texts to grasp some continuity aspects with the past as well as innovative elements. 

At the end of the course, the student 
- shall know and use terminology and basic concepts of Italian linguistics in an appropriate way;
- shall be able to describe contemporary Italian at different levels of analysis (morphology, syntax, lexicon, study of meanings);
- shall be able to analyse the language in relation to different variation parameters;
- shall recognise and analyse peculiar morphological and syntactic aspects of colloquial and/or popular spoken Italian;
- shall recognise and analyse peculiar morphological and syntactic aspects of written Italian in specific types of texts.

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

Teaching

Taught lectures and seminar.

Attendance

It is assumed that the student has basic Italian grammar knowledge. For all those who feel the need to acquire or increase Italian grammar notions, the following texts are recommended: G. Patota, Grammatica di riferimento dell'italiano contemporaneo, Garzanti, Novara, 2006; or P. Trifone - M. Palermo, Grammatica italiana di base, Zanichelli, Bologna, Third edition 2014; or  M. Dardano – P. Trifone, Grammatica italiana modulare, Zanichelli, Bologna, 2002.
Please note that, during the exam, some Italian grammar notions that are not directly taught as part of the programme might be assessed, since these are considered to have been acquired in secondary and high school.

Course books

1) P. D'Achille, L'italiano contemporaneo, il Mulino, Bologna, Third edition 2010. The entire text must be studied.
2) L. Serianni, Italiani scritti, il Mulino, Bologna, Third edition 2012. The entire text must be studied.

Assessment

Oral exam. Evaluation criteria will consider: a) knowledge of basic concepts of Italian linguistics and related terminology; b) capacity to recognise and describe lexical, morphological and syntactic phenomena of contemporary Italian; c) capacity to recognise and analyse texts belonging to different types and different Italian varieties; d) correct and effective presentation.

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

It is assumed that the student has basic Italian grammar knowledge. For all those who feel the need to acquire or increase Italian grammar notions, the following texts are recommended: G. Patota, Grammatica di riferimento dell'italiano contemporaneo, Garzanti, Novara, 2006; or P. Trifone - M. Palermo, Grammatica italiana di base, Zanichelli, Bologna, Third edition 2014; or  M. Dardano – P. Trifone, Grammatica italiana modulare, Zanichelli, Bologna, 2002.
Please note that, during the exam, some Italian grammar notions that are not directly taught as part of the programme might be assessed, since these are considered to have been acquired in secondary and high school.

Course books

1) P. D'Achille, L'italiano contemporaneo, il Mulino, Bologna, Third edition 2010. The entire text must be studied.
2) L. Serianni, Italiani scritti, il Mulino, Bologna, Third edition 2012. The entire text must be studied.
3) P. Trifone (editor), Lingua e identità. Una storia sociale dell'italiano, Carocci, Roma, 2009. Only the following chapters must be studied: 1, 7, 8, 9, 10.

Assessment

Oral exam. Evaluation criteria will consider: a) knowledge of basic concepts of Italian linguistics and related terminology; b) capacity to recognise and describe lexical, morphological and syntactic phenomena of contemporary Italian; c) capacity to recognise and analyse texts belonging to different types and different Italian varieties; d) correct and effective presentation.

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.