03644 - History of the Greek Language

Learning outcomes

Gli studenti acquisiranno nozioni di base sulle tappe essenziali della lingua greca nella sua diacronia, dall'età arcaica alla formazione di quella 'lingua comune' che porterà al greco moderno.
Attraverso l'analisi diretta di specimina testuali, acquisiranno a) i concetti fondamentali per collocare storicamente un testo o un documento greco e b) le competenze metodologiche per analizzarlo dal punto di vista storico-linguistico.
Nella seconda parte del corso, gli studenti dimostreranno di aver raggiunto gli obiettivi sopra indicati attraverso una relazione (scritta e orale) su un passo dell'opera oggetto del corso (il V libro di Tucidide), svolgendo una vera e propria lezione alla presenza del docente e dei compagni.

The students are expected to acquire a basic knowledge of the fundamental stages of the Greek language in its diachronic development, from the archaic age to the formation of the so-called 'common language' that then developed into Modern Greek.

Through a direct analysis of textual specimens the pupils are expected to develop: a) the ability to recognise the proper historical setting of a Greek text or document; b) the methodological skills to analyse a text from a historical and linguistic point of view.
In the second part of the course, the students will prove their meeting of these goals by producing an essay on a passage of the work studied (Thucydides' 5th book) and by giving a presentation of their work to the class.

Course contents

sSpecial focus course ('corso monografico')

a) The language of Thucydides' historiography: historical reconstruction and tragic characterisation in the 5th book of the Peloponnesian War (chapts. 26-116).

Core course ('parte istituzionale')

  b)  General rudiments of History of the Greek Language

 Seminar (optional, for students majoring in Greek, held in further meetings to be arranged)

c) Language of aeolic lyric and female poetry: Sappho's fragments.

Lectures Hours: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday 16-18, Aula Mansarda (Mon.) e Auletta Seminari (Tue. and Wed.) (13.2.2012-23.5.2012).

Links: http://www2.classics.unibo.it/Organico/profili/neri.html

Readings/Bibliography

a) Notes from the lectures. For the text, see G.B. Alberti, Thucydidis historiae, II, Roma, Poligrafici dello Stato, 1992; vd. anche J. de Romilly, Thucydide. La guerre du Péloponnèse , III. Livres IV et V, Paris, Les Belles Lettres, 1967. For a translation, see L. Canfora (et all.), Tucidide. La guerra del Peloponneso, Torino, Einaudi-Gallimard, 1996; G. Donini, Le storie di Tucidide, II, Torino, Utet, 1982; or a different edition with Greek text. For a commentary and a critical widening, see S. Hornblower, A Commentary on Thucydides, III, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 2008; A.W. Gomme-A. Andrewes-K.J. Dover, A Historical Commentary on Thucydides, IV, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1970 (rist. 2001); A. Rengakos-A. Tsakmakis, Brills Companion to Thucydides, Leiden-Boston, Brill, 2006.

b) O. Hoffmann-A. Debrunner-A. Scherer, Storia della lingua greca , trad. it. Napoli, Macchiaroli, 1969, or A. Meillet, Lineamenti di storia della lingua greca , trad. it. Torino, Einaudi, 1981 (2nd ed.), or L.R. Palmer, The Greek Language , London, Faber, 1980. For the study of the Greek dialects, Y. Duhoux, Introduzione alla dialettologia greca antica , trad. it. Bari 1986; L. Bottin, Testi greci dialettali , Padova 2000.

 The following optional texts are also recommended: for phonetics, L. Heilmann, L'alfabeto e la pronuncia del greco , in Introduzione allo studio della cultura classica , II, Milano, Marzorati, 1973, 335-362, and M. Lejeune, Phonétique historique du mycénien et du grec ancien , Paris, Klincksieck, 1972; as for morphology, P. Chantraine, Morphologie historique du grec , Paris, Klincksieck, 1961, and L. Heilmann, Grammatica storica della lingua greca , Torino, Sei, 1963; for the 'Indo-European language', P. Szemerényi, Introduzione alla linguistica indoeuropea , ed. by G. Boccali-V. Brugnatelli-M. Negri, Milano, Unicopli, 1985, F. Villar, Gli indoeuropei e le origini dell'Europa , trad. it. Bologna, il Mulino, 1997, W.P. Lehmann, La linguistica indoeuropea. Storia, problemi e metodi , trad. it. Bologna, il Mulino, 1999, M. Alinei, Origini delle lingue d'Europa , I-II, Bologna, il Mulino, 2000 (2nd ed.); for the epic language, P. Chantraine, Grammaire homérique , I-II, Paris, Klincksieck, 1948-1953.

c) Notes from the lectures. For the text, see  E.-M. Voigt, Sappho et Alcaeus. Fragmenta, Amsterdam, Polak & van Gennep, 1971. For a translation, see A. Aloni, Saffo. Frammenti, Firenze, Giunti, 1997; V. Di Benedetto-F. Ferrari, Saffo. Poesie, intr. di V. D.B., trad. e note di F. F., Milano, Rizzoli (Bur), 1987; or a different edition with Greek text. See also E. Degani-G. Burzacchini, Lirici greci, Bologna, Pàtron, 2005 (2nd ed.); C. Neri, Lirici greci. Età arcaica e classica, Roma, Carocci, 2011; F. Ferrari, Una mitra per Kleis: Saffo e il suo pubblico, Pisa, Giardini, 2007.

Teaching methods

The lectures will be of two kinds: a) lectures given by the teacher, which will outline a concise history of the Greek language from the origins to the Byzantine era through the reading of original texts, translated and analysed in class; b) the reading of Thucydides' 5th book (after some introductory lectures and the specimen analysis of some verses made by the teacher) will be carried out by the students themselves as presentations (which will test thus the abilities they have developed in the first part of the course).

All the material handed out in the lectures will be available afterwards on line at http://www2.classics.unibo.it/Organico/profili/neri.html

Assessment methods

A first assessment will be carried out to begin with in the individual presentations on Thucydides' language, where the students will be able auto-assess their learning.
The viva voce examination consists of a conversation in which the teacher, through a series of questions, will test the theoretical knowledge and the theoretical-practical methodologies as explained in the lectures. In particular, the students will be invited to deal with a particular chapter of the history of the Greek language (i.e. the Ionic-Attic dialect group, the koiné, etc.) through the analysis of the textual examples illustrated in class.
The students who will not have given a presentation to the class will be required to carry out a linguistic analysis of some chapters of 5th book in the viva voce.

Teaching tools

PC, video projector, overhead projector, photocopied handouts.

Links to further information

http://www2.classics.unibo.it/Organico/profili/neri.html

Office hours

See the website of Camillo Neri