IT20410 - HISTORY OF THE ITALIAN LANGUAGE

Module Identifier

IT20410

Module Title

HISTORY OF THE ITALIAN LANGUAGE

Academic Year

2003/2004

Semester

Intended for use in future years

Next year offered

N/A

Next semester offered

N/A

Pre-Requisite

(Normally) Eligibility for entry to Level 2 Italian.

Course delivery

Lecture

11 Hours (11 x 1-hour lectures)

Seminars / Tutorials

2 Hours (2 x 2-hour seminars)

Assessment

Assessment Type	Assessment Length/Details	Proportion
Semester Exam	2 Hours written examination	70%
Semester Assessment	Continuous Assessment: Essay 1,500-2,000 words.	30%

Learning outcomes

On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
At the end of this course, students should

have an insight into the development of the Italian language from its origins to the present day;
be aware of the main aspects of the process of development from Latin into Italian;
be aware of the main debates on the Italian ''language question''.

Brief description

This module will provide a survey of the development of the Italian language from its origins to the present day. The course will examine the position of Italian within the Indo-European family of languages, the main developments in the transformation from Latin to "Italian", the recurrence of debates on what should constitute the Italian language (questione della lingua) across several centuries, and the influence of writers like Dante Alighieri and Alessandro Manzoni on the making of the language.

Finally, the course will touch briefly on the consequences of all this in the present linguistic make-up of Italy.

Reading Lists

Books
** Recommended Text
A. L. Lepschy and G. Lepschy (1991) The Italian Language Today Routledge
Martin Maiden (1995) A Linguistic History of Italy Longman
** Reference Text
B. Migliorini (1995) Storia della lingua italiana Mondadori
B. Migliorini (1984) The Italian Language, tr. T.G. Griffith Faber
B. Migliorini - I Baldelli (1979 or 84) Breve storia della lingua italiana Sansoni

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 5