The course aims at providing theoretical and methodological knowledge about human languages, their structures and the mechanisms of their functioning.
At the end of the course, the student will know the fundamental notions of linguistic analysis at the various levels (phonetics and phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics), and will have acquired the basic concepts of historical linguistics, linguistic typology and textual linguistics.
No prerequisites are required.
Frontal lessons. Particular emphasis will be placed on discussion and direct dialogue with the students, who will be invited to formulate proposals for further study or debate.
The examination consists of a written and oral test. Both tests are compulsory.
The written test, which lasts about 45 minutes, may contain both open- and closed-ended questions.
The evaluation is expressed in thirtieths.
Only those who score more than 18/30 in the written test are admitted to the oral examination.
The oral test, except in special cases, consists of approximately four questions covering the entire programme.
The final score is the average of the written and oral scores.
The acquisition of the course content as well as argumentation skills and mastery of specialistic terminology will be tested.
The course is intended as an introductory module to the study of descriptive and historical linguistics, with the aim of providing students with knowledge of the main aspects and specialised terminology. In particular, the course focuses on the study of phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, lexicon, as well as on the pragmatic and textual properties of languages.
The basics of historical linguistics, typology and textual linguistics will also be introduced, as well as some essential aspects related to linguistic variation and to sociolinguistics.
Lectures will be accompanied by classroom exercises, which will serve as a tool to support the acquisition of theoretical content and practical language analysis skills.
The programme includes the discussion of the following topics:
1. Language, linguistics, verbal communication
2. Language structures
3. Phonetics and phonology
4. Types of morphemes and word formation processes
5. Lexicology
6. Syntax
7. Pragmatics
8. Textual linguistics
9. Language tipology
10. Language classification
11. Language change
12. Linguistic variation
The course is annual and will run from September until the end of March (subperiods I-II-III).
There are no syllabus differences between attending and non-attending students.
