13049 - General Linguistics (1)

Learning outcomes

At the end of this course the student will have gained a thorough knowledge of the theoretical and methodological foundations at the core of the scientific study of language and languages.

Course contents

This course is beginners' level. It is not expected from the student to have previous knowledge of linguistics or similar subjects.


The contents of the course are as follows: after an introduction to the discipline of linguistics, the properties of the historical-natural languages and the human verbal language, the different levels of linguistic analysis will be treated in details (phonetics and phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics and lexicon, and pragmatics). The last part of the course will be dedicated to the study of some linguistic phenomena of typically pragmatic nature that are widespread in the spoken language.

Readings/Bibliography

Berruto, Gaetano e Massimo Cerruti, 2017, La linguistica. Un corso introduttivo, Torino, UTET. (or previous editions)


Bianchi, Claudia, 2003, Pragmatica del linguaggio, Roma/Bari, Laterza. (or later)


Non-attending students must also study:


Masini, Francesca and Nicola Grandi, 2017, All you ever wanted to know about language and languages, Bologna, Caissa Italia.


For attending students this last reading is optional but recommended.

Teaching methods

The course's teaching method is frontal instruction. Data from different languages will be analyzed in a theoretical and empirical-descriptive perspective.

Assessment methods

The exam aims at assessing the level reached by the student in understanding the tools provided during the course.

The knowledge and skills acquired will be verified by a written test and by an optional oral test. Once the written test is passed, students can choose whether to confirm the grade of the written test or take the oral test.

The written test consists of 12 questions, to be completed within an hour. The total score of a test whose answers are all correct is 31  (corresponding to a score of 30/30 + laude).

The written questions are multiple choice, true/false, matching and short-answers questions both of theoretical and/or argumentative nature. The topics will cover the program: phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics, the most general definitions of language.

The final score takes into account:

the number of correct answers.

vocabulary adequacy and exposition.

the ability to organize the argument.

If the student has obtained a higher than or equal to 18 score in the written test, the grade can be either confirmed or improved by taking an the oral test. 

Office hours

See the website of Laura Tramutoli