78692 - Italian Morphology (LM)

Learning outcomes

Students will become familiar with the structure of Italian complex words. They will be able to distinguish between derived and compound words and made aware of the role played by semantics in word formation processes. Students will also become familiar with the issues that fostered a lively debate on compound formation.

Course contents

The course is intended to provide students with the essentials for the study and the synchronic analysis of Italian word formation. Previous knowledge on the word formation procedures in general is minimally requested.

Lectures will deal with the following issues: derivation, compounding, minor word formation procedures. Some peculiar derived words will be examined and the role played by semantics in their formation illustrated. Italian compound words will also be analyzed and the debate on compound formation underlined.

Readings/Bibliography

Sergio Scalise, Antonietta Bisetto (2008), La struttura delle parole, Bologna: il Mulino editore.  
Anna M. Thornton (2005), Morfologia, Roma, Carocci editore only the following parts: chap. 1,2,3,4,5. Chap. 7: sect ions7, 7.1, 7.3.  
Paolo Acquaviva (2013), Il nome, Roma, Carocci editore.  
Antonietta Bisetto (2004), Composti con elementi italiani, in M. Grossmann & F. Rainer (eds.) (2004), La formazione delle parole in italiano, Tübingen, Niemeyer, pp.  33-55.   
For the seminar activity students will present one of the following works:

1) Bisetto, A.& C. Melloni (2007), Result nominals: a lexical semantic investigation. Proceedings of MMM5, Booij et al. (eds.), University of Bologna.

2) Bisetto, A. (2013), Why can one be irritabile 'irritabile' but not *divertibile 'amuse+able'. On Italian -bile adjectives from psychological verbs. Quaderns de filologia. Estudis lingüistics. XVIII, 25-36.

3) Bisetto, A. & S. Scalise (2005), The classification on compounds. Lingue e Linguaggio, IV,2, 319-332.

4) Bisetto, A. & S. Scalise (1999), Compounding: Morphology and/or syntax? in Mereu, L. (ed) Boundaries of morphology and syntax. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 31-48.

5) Gaeta, L. e D. Ricca (2009), Composita solvantur: compounds as lexical units or morphological objects? Rivista di Linguistica 21.1, 35-70.

6) Gaeta, L. (2011), La composizione in italiano ed oltre, Quaderni CLA, 1, Napoli: Edizioni Scientifiche Italiane, 73-92.

7) Bisetto, A. (2010), Recursiveness and Italian compounds, SKASE: journal of Theoretical Linguistics [online]. vol. 7, no. 1. Available on web page <http://www.skase.sk/Volumes/JTL15/pdf_doc/02.pdf>.

Readings/bibliography for the students of the LM14, Italianistica, Culture Letterarie Europee, Scienze Linguistiche:

Saeed, John (1997), Semantics, Blackwell (chapters 1-6);

Casadei, Federica (2003), Lessico e semantica, Roma, Carocci editore. 

Scalise, S. & A.Bisetto (2008) La struttura delle parole, only the following parts: chap. 1, sections 1.1-1.2.5; chapters 4, 5, 6, 9; chap. 8 sections 8.2 and subsections,  section 8.3.

Antonietta Bisetto (2004), Composti con elementi italiani, in M. Grossmann & F. Rainer (eds.) (2004), La formazione delle parole in italiano, Tübingen, Niemeyer, pp. 33-55.

Readings for the seminar activity are the same listed for the course Morfologia dell'italiano.

For the students not attending the courses tests are the same. Seminar activity, if not carried out, must be substituted by a written essay of 4-5 pages discussing one of the work listed as material for the seminar activity. The written essay must be submitted one week before the exam date.

Teaching methods

Traditional lectures, reading seminars/discussion groups.

Assessment methods

The final grade will be based on:

a) an oral presentation of a specific topic each student will discuss during the seminar session; students who do not partecipate in the in the seminar activity have to present a written essay (of 4-5 pages) discussing one of the work listed as material for the seminar activity;

b) an oral discussion to assess the students' knowledge of the topics dealt with in the course of the lessons;

 The evaluation of the student's overall skill will take into account of the two phases above.

Those students who demonstrate to have a global and harmonious knowledge of the subject and its specific language/terminology, to communicate ideas in a proper and clear way and to have acquired adequate analysis skills will get high grades. A partial knowledge of the subject and its specific language/terminology, an overall fair but not perfect way of communicating, and less refined analysis skills imply average grades. A limited knowledge of the subject and its specific language/terminology and poor communication and analysis skills imply low grades. Those students who prove to have an inadequate and/or insufficient knowledge of the subject (in both its theoretical and practical parts) and its specific language/terminology will fail the exam.

Teaching tools

PowerPoint presentations and printed handouts will support most of the lectures.

Office hours

See the website of Antonietta Bisetto