Admission requirements
BA in Languages or Linguistics
Description
The course is offered to students of the Master in (Italian) Linguistics, and aims at stimulating the students’ research interests by providing them with the competence that is necessary to conduct comparative investigations on Italian varieties of different geographic areas and/or belonging to different registers.
The course shall provide an introduction to structural and pragmatic characteristics of contemporary Italian, and presents a typological and comparative study with respect to the properties of other European languages. The focus is on language use in several contexts, and special attention is paid to the different levels of synchronic variation.
Course objectives
- Specific knowledge of salient properties of Italian grammar, with respect to other more or less closely related languages
- Specific knowledge of the grammatical (syntactic, morphological, phonological) changes and variation of contemporary Italian from a comparative perspective
- Acquisition of the research methodology required for conducting independent investigations (e.g. corpus search, field-work methods, study methods)
- Acquisition of the theoretical tools that are necessary for elaborating an independent and innovative analysis of linguistic facts
Timetable
Tuesday 13.15-13.00
Mode of instruction
Seminar ### Course Load
Attending lectures and seminars: 28 hours
Studying the compulsory literature: 185 hours
Prepare for the final paper: 67 hours
Assessment method
Study of material presented in class (course slides), and of the compulsory literature will be assessed with in-class discussion. Assigned homework will be corrected in class. Active participation in class and study/work at home will be part of the final evaluation (15%). The student will chose a topic of investigation, which will be presented in class at the end of the semester. Evaluation of the presentation will contribute to the final grade (15%). The student will then write a paper on the chosen topic where s/he will provide an analysis (or discuss various working hypotheses) for the investigated linguistic phenomena. The paper grade will contribute to the final evaluation (70%).
Blackboard
Blackboard will be used to provide students with an overview of current affairs, as well as specific information about (components of) the course.
Reading list
Sobrero, Alberto (1993 (2008)). _ Introduzione all’italiano contemporaneo, Le strutture (vol. 1); Le variazioni e gli usi (vol. 2)_ Roma-Bari: Edizioni Laterza.
Donati, Caterina (2008). La sintassi. Regole e strutture Bologna: Il Mulino.
Additional literature and literature for students who do not understand Italian will be provided during the course and decided together with the teacher.
Registration
Enrolment in uSis is obligatory. If you have any questions, please contact the student administration, tel. 071 5272144 or mail: <ma-linguistics@hum.leidenuniv.nl>
When registering, students that are registered for the specialisation that this course belongs to, or the Research Master, take priority. The deadline for registration is August 15. All other students should contact the coordinator of studies
Registration Studeren à la carte and Contractonderwijs
Registration Contractonderwijs
Contact
MA Linguistics departmental office, P.N. van Eyckhof 4, room 102C. Tel. 071 5272144; mail: ma-linguistics@hum.leidenuniv.nl.
Remarks
The course will be given in English unless all enrolled the students are proficient in Italian.