36
Italian Linguistics
UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DI NAPOLI "L'ORIENTALE"
Overview
Date/time interval
Syllabus
Course Objectives
EXPECTED LEARNING OUTCOMES
In line with the educational objectives of the relevant degree programs, this course aims to provide students with solid metalinguistic competence in contemporary Italian, fostering the ability to reflect on the language and to use it effectively for mediation, comparison, and translation. By the end of the course, and after passing the final exam, students will be able to:
- engage in metalinguistic reflection on contemporary Italian with awareness and precision;
- identify and distinguish the main linguistic varieties of Italian;
- analyze spoken and written texts at different levels of linguistic description;
- use historical and contemporary lexicographic tools, both printed and digital, autonomously and effectively.
ABILITY TO APPLY KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
The course provides theoretical and practical tools to analyze the structures and varieties of Italian, as well as to interpret different types of texts from a linguistic perspective. During assessment, students will be expected to:
- describe the main phonetic, morphological, lexical, syntactic, and textual features of contemporary Italian;
- recognize the specific traits of different linguistic varieties within texts;
- use lexicographic resources proficiently for lexical consultation and analysis;
- carry out linguistic analyses on texts of various types;
- assess the linguistic and communicative appropriateness of a text according to its communicative context.
ADDITIONAL EXPECTED LEARNING OUTCOMES
Independent judgment
Students will be able to evaluate the linguistic quality and communicative effectiveness of spoken and written texts and to revise them appropriately according to different communicative needs.
Communication skills
Upon completing the course, students will be able to clearly describe the structures of Italian, to use specialist terminology accurately, and to reformulate it effectively depending on the communicative situation and register.
Learning skills
Metalinguistic reflection on contemporary Italian will support and enhance the learning of other languages, fostering a critical and comparative approach to different linguistic systems.
Course Prerequisites
To successfully engage with the lectures and study programme of Italian Language and Linguistics, students are advised to:
- be familiar with the main descriptive categories of Italian grammar;
- be able to consult a contemporary usage dictionary independently and effectively;
- have a good command of the lexicon and higher registers of the Italian language.
Teaching Methods
Teaching Methods
The course activities will be carried out through the following methods:
- lectures supported by PowerPoint presentations;
- guided reading and analysis of exemplary texts;
- ongoing interaction with students, including workshop-style sessions.
Active student participation is strongly encouraged, particularly during text analysis activities, which will adopt the flipped classroom approach. This methodology is designed to foster critical thinking and collaborative learning.
Formative assessments will be administered throughout the semester to monitor students’ progress and to support steady preparation for the final exam.
Assessment Methods
Examination Methods and Assessment Criteria
The final examination will be conducted orally and in Italian. It is intended to assess:
- the level of knowledge of the course content (for attending students) and of the required bibliography (for all students);
- the ability to apply the acquired knowledge to the analysis of texts, including those not discussed during the course;
- the command and correct use of technical and linguistic terminology.
Attending students will have the opportunity to complete formative assessments during the course to verify their understanding of the topics covered.
The final grade will be expressed on a 30-point scale, as follows:
- Excellent: 30 with honours / 30
- Very good: 29–27
- Good: 26–23
- Sufficient: 22–18
- Fail: below 18
The final mark will be based on the weighted average of the scores assigned according to the following criteria:
- clarity and coherence of exposition;
- completeness and accuracy of information;
- appropriate use of specialized terminology;
- ability to apply linguistic analysis methods and tools to a variety of texts.
Texts
ATTENDING STUDENTS
- L’italiano: strutture, usi, varietà, edited by R. Librandi, Rome, Carocci, 2019.
- Texts distributed during the course and analyzed from a linguistic perspective.
- E. Salvatore, Esercizi di linguistica italiana, Bologna, il Mulino, 2022.
NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS
- L’italiano: strutture, usi, varietà, edited by R. Librandi, Rome, Carocci, 2019.
- S. Lubello, C. Nobili, L’italiano e le sue varietà, Florence, Cesati, 2018 (this book includes texts analyzed by the authors, which non-attending students are expected to be able to comment on linguistically).
- E. Salvatore, Esercizi di linguistica italiana, Bologna, il Mulino, 2022.
The following texts are highly recommended for all students enrolled in the course:
- C. De Santis, M. Prandi, Grammatica essenziale e ragionata. Per insegnare, per imparare, Novara, UTET Università, 2020.
- RIF – Repertorio Italiano di Famiglie di parole, edited by M. Colombo, P. D’Achille, Bologna, Zanichelli, 2019.
- P. Tiberi, Dizionario delle collocazioni. Le combinazioni delle parole in italiano, 2nd edition, Bologna, Zanichelli, 2018.
Contents
LIST OF TOPICS
- Sounds, forms, and constructions of spoken Italian: phonemes, stress, phenomena of phonetic reduction and expansion, etc.
- Inflectional morphology of Italian: grammatical categories and their morphological realizations.
- Derivational morphology of Italian: word-formation processes and suffix productivity.
- The Italian lexicon: composition and stratification, including loanwords, Latinisms, regionalisms, foreign words, etc.
- Main features of textuality: cohesion, coherence, thematic progression, isotopies.
- Syntax of simple and complex sentences: structure, word order, hierarchical relations.
- Marked syntax: dislocations, topicalizations, focalizations, inversions.
- Diatopic varieties of Italian: standard Italian, regional varieties, dialects.
- Diastratic varieties: linguistic variation related to sociocultural factors.
- Diamesic varieties: features of spoken and written Italian, with particular attention to spontaneous speech.
- Diaphasic varieties: communicative registers, jargons, specialized and sectorial languages.
Course Language
Italian