00660 - General Linguistics (M-Z)

Academic Year 2018/2019

Learning outcomes

Upon completion of the course, the student knows the difference between the concepts of language faculty and natural languages, is in possession of the basic tools for the analysis of languages, with respect to the phonetic-phonological, morphological, syntactic and semantic level of analysis. S/he has command of introductory notions in linguistic typology. S/he can apply this knowledge to the analysis of linguistic structures and of the dynamics that link languages to the specific contexts of communication.

Course contents

The course aims at giving the students the theoretical tools for developing a critical and consious reflection about an aspect of human beings always taken for granted: our communicative skill. Specific properties of human language will be analysed, in comparison with communicative systems attested in the 'animal kingdom'. These issues will be presented according to two complementary perspectives: an 'internal' perspective (that is, human language faculty and human languages will be described in order to focus all levels of analysis) and an 'external' perspective (in this case, we will focus on the role of language faculty and human languages in the history of our species, on how humans profited from language faculty in their evolution, on the place of languages within human communities, etc.)

As far as the 'internal' perspective is concerned, the following issues will be dealt with:

- The properties of language and languages.

- The linguistic sign

- Phonetics and phonology: phones / speech sounds and phonemes, the difference between vowels and consonants, the classification of speech sounds, the notion of minimal pair, phonetic transcriptions.

- Morphology: the notion of morpheme, the notion of word, its problematic aspects, its cross-linguistic variability

- The key principles of writing systems

- Linguistic typology (with a special focus on morphology and syntax)

- How languages change and how linguistic change spreads

As for the 'external' perspective, we'll focus on the following thematic areas:

- The problem of the origin of language and languages (polygenesis vs. monogenesis)

- The role of language in human evolution

- The relation between language, languages and brain

- The acquisition of the native language; the passage from natural to cultural dimension)

- The anthropological, cultural and social value of writing systems

- The relationship between biological diversity and linguistic diversity

Readings/Bibliography

12 cfu :
- Berruto, G. / Cerruti, M. (2017), La linguistica. Un corso introduttivo , Torino, UTET (2011 edition is also fine)
- Grandi, N. (2014), Fondamenti di tipologia linguistica, Roma, Carocci (previous editions are also fine)

- Banfi, E. / Grandi, N. (2002), Lingue d'Europa. Elementi di storia e di tipologia linguistica, Roma, Carocci (students are requested to study the whole chapters 1, 2, 3; as for chapters 4 and 5, a general knowledge of the features of all languages and language families is requested as well as a detailed knowledge of two languages / language groups of choice for both chapter 4 and chapter 5)
- Slides: http://campus.unibo.it/

Non attending students will read also: :

Masini, F. / Grandi N. (a cura di) (2017), Tutto ciò che hai sempre voluto sapere sul linguaggio e sulle lingue, Bologna -Cesena, Caissa

(for attending students this further book is optional)

6 cfu:
- Berruto, G. / Cerruti, M. (2017), La linguistica. Un corso introduttivo , Torino, UTET (2011 edition is also fine)
- Grandi, N. (2014), Fondamenti di tipologia linguistica, Roma, Carocci (previous editions are also fine)

- Slides: http://campus.unibo.it/

Non attending students will read also: :

Masini, F. / Grandi N. (a cura di) (2017), Tutto ciò che hai sempre voluto sapere sul linguaggio e sulle lingue, Bologna -Cesena, Caissa

(for attending students this further book is optional)

Teaching methods

In the lectures I'll make use of Power Point presentations that will be available to the students in the virtual space of Unibo

Assessment methods

The exam is made up of a written test followed by an oral colloquium. Both the written test and the oral colloquium are obligatory. Students are admitted to the oral colloquium if the score of the written exam is higher than 15.

The oral exam will be held approx. a week after the written test: it is not necessary to subscribe through Almaesami. Nevertheless, it's obligatory to sign up for the written test. For the oral exam, the enrolling list of the written exam will be followed.

Students are admitted to the oral exam if they achieve thr 15-30 rating.

The score range of the oral exam is 0/3; the final score is the addition of the score of the two tests.

It is not possible to take the oral exam at later session.

The first questio of the oral exam always concerns a subject freely chosen by the student.

The written test is made up of 12 questions: 10 multiple choice questions and two open questions, concerning the books ‘Lingue d'Europa' and ‘Fondamenti di tipologia linguistica' (or both concerning 'Fondamenti di tipologia linguistica' for the 6cfu exam.

The score of the written test is determined as follows:

(i) multiple choice questions assign 0, 1, or 2 point (0 if the answer is wrong; 1 if the answer is partially right or incomplete; 2 if the answer is right and fully acceptable)

(ii) the questions 2 and 4 (phonetic transcriptions and morphological analysis respectively) assign up to 4 point each

(iii) open questions assign up to 3 points each

Teaching tools

Lectures

Office hours

See the website of Emanuele Miola