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 Simposio di Platone), 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 (Plato's Symposion) and by giving a presentation of their work to the class.

Course contents

Special focus course ('corso monografico')

a) The language of philosophical dialogue: love and knowledge in Plato's Symposion.

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) The language of traditional iambic poetry: Semonides' fragments.

Lectures Hours: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday 16-18, Aula II (9.2.2015-20.5.2015).

Start date: 9.2.2015 (2nd semester).

Office Hours: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday 9-13 (Dept.).

Links: http://www.unibo.it/docenti/camillo.neri

http://www2.classics.unibo.it/Didattica/Programs/20142015/Corso_Camillo/

Readings/Bibliography

a) Notes from the lectures. For the text, see Platone. Simposio , a c. di G. Reale, testo crit. di J. Burnet, Milano, Mondadori/Valla, 2001; see also Simonetta Nannini-A. Giavatto, Platone. Simposio, Siena, Barbera, 2008; V. Di Benedetto-F. Ferrari-M. Tulli, Platone. Simposio, Milano, Bur, 2005 (19a ed.); K. Dover, Plato. Symposium, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1980 (2007). For a critical assessment, cf. C. Rowe, Plato. Symposium, Warminster, Aris & Phillips, 1998.

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 M.L. West, Iambi et elegi Graeci ante Alexandrum cantati, II, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1992 (2nd ed.), 98-114; E. Pellizer-G.  Tedeschi, Semonides, Roma 1990 ; or any other edition with Greek text (and possibly critical apparatus). See also C. Neri, Lirici greci. Età arcaica e classica, Roma, Carocci, 2011, 48-54, 197-203, 345s., 397-399; W.J. Verdenius, Semonides über die Frauen. Ein Kommentar zu Fr. 7, «Mnemosyne» s. 4 XXI (1968) 132-158; W.J. Verdenius, Semonides über die Frauen. Nachtrag zum Kommentar zu Fr. 7, «Mnemosyne» s. 4 XXII (1969) 299-301.

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 Plato's Symposion (after some introductory lectures and the specimen analysis of some lines 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/Didattica/Programs/20142015/Corso_Camillo

Assessment methods

A first assessment will be carried out to begin with in the individual presentations on Plato's language, where the students will be able assess their own 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 passages of Plato's in the oral exam.

Teaching tools

PC, video projector, overhead projector, photocopied handouts.

Links to further information

http://www.unibo.it/docenti/camillo.neri

Office hours

See the website of Camillo Neri