85076 - Morphosyntax (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

At the end of this course, students are able to analyze the main morpho-syntactic structures of the Italian language and to compare them to the cross-linguistically more frequent structures. Students also know the main linguistic theories in the field of morphology and syntax.

Course contents

The course will focus mainly on the critical discussion of some of the key concepts of traditional grammar, which will be reviewed in light of the latest linguistic theories and of the analysis of real data, taken from Italian and its varieties and other languages.

For what concerns morphology, we will focus mainly on the basic notions (word, morpheme, types of morphemes), and on the notions of inflectional morphology (inflectional classes, paradigms, morrphomes), derivational morphology (affixation, evaluation) and word formation (compounding and other mechanisms). For what concerns syntax, we will focus on basic notions (part of speech, phrases) and he syntax of clauses (valency).

The aim of the course is to transmit the ability to tackle the study of language structures in a conscious and critical way and above all to acquire tools for the analysis of real data.

During the first week of classes a detailed syllabus, with a list of topics for each lecture and the suggested reading (from the material indicated in the "Readings/Bibliography" section), will be published. The syllabus will be made available on the Virtuale e-learning platform.

 

Prerequisites:

The course discusses advanced grammatical models, comparing and evaluating them. As such, it has been designed for students with a solid basic background in linguistics (i.e. with competences like those that are developed in General Linguistics classes, or in classes on the History of various languages). The students who believe not to have this background knowledge are advised to refer to a basic handbook of linguistics, as. e.g. Berruto, G. / Cerruti, M. (2017), La linguistica. Un corso introduttivo , Torino, UTET.

Readings/Bibliography

- Class notes.

- Thornton, A.M. (2015 o edizioni precedenti), Morfologia, Roma, Carocci.

- Micheli, M.S. (2020), La formazione delle parole, Roma, Carocci.

- Payne, T. (1997), Describing morphosyntax: A guide for field linguists, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press (only chapters 7 and 8).

 

In replacement of class notes students who do not attend the lectures one additional volume among the following ones:will read

- Acquaviva, P. (2013), Il nome, Roma, Carocci.

- Squartini, M. (2015), Il verbo, Roma, Carocci.

Teaching methods

Lectures

Assessment methods

The final exam is an oral colloquium dealing with the course contents; its aim is to evaluate the critical skills and methodological knowledge gained by the student. 

All the students must register for the exam with Almaesami. The oral colloquia can be scheduled in different days depending on the number of students enrolled. The precise day will be communicated once the enrollment list will be closed.

Teaching tools

The material (syllabus, slides used in class) will be uploaded on the Virtuale e-learning platform. The e-learning platform will also be used as a general managing tool for the course (i.e. for short-term notices). Students can access the course page on the platform directly with no need for a course password (institutional login will suffice). All the students are required to enroll on the course page.

Office hours

See the website of Simone Mattiola