HISTORY OF THE GREEK LANGUAGE
cod. 13019

Academic year 2008/09
2° year of course - Second semester
Professor
Academic discipline
Lingua e letteratura greca (L-FIL-LET/02)
Field
Lingue e letterature classiche
Type of training activity
Characterising
40 hours
of face-to-face activities
5 credits
hub:
course unit
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Learning objectives

The lecture course will centre upon an analysis of the literary languages of the archaic period (with particular reference to monody and choral lyric), in relation to contemporary epigraphic evidence and the essential characteristics of the various language groups. A part of the lectures will be dedicated to the history of Greek language studies, beginning from classical times. <br />
The main objective is the acquisition of solid skills related to the history of Greek dialects from the archaic period (with a close examination of the Mycenaean period) until the formation of the “common language” and its Byzantine and modern developments, with special reference to literary languages. <br />
Students are presented with literary and documentary texts from the epigraphic, papyrus and book traditions, to provide them with an exhaustive illustration of linguistic phenomena. <br />

Prerequisites

An important requirement to attend the course are the skills acquired during the courses taught by Professor Gabriele Burzacchini, i.e. 12952 - Greek Literature I (10 learning credits), 13060 - Greek Literature (Module A, 5 learning credits), 16439 - Greek Literature (Module B, 5 learning credits) and by Professor M. Magnani, 19934 - Greek Literature II (Module B, 5 learning credits) for degree course 0243, Literary Civilisations and History of Civilisations. <br />

Course unit content

<p>Course title: Literary languages, epigraphic languages.</p>
<p><br />
The series of lectures will focus on the analysis of the language in archaic epic poetry, dealing in particular with Homeric language and contemporary critical perspectives. Part of the lectures will be dedicated to the historical lineaments of the Greek language, with special emphasis on documentary and literary texts of epigraphic origin. <br />
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</p>

Full programme

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Bibliography

Lecture part: the reading list will be provided during the course. <br />
<br />
General part: O. Hoffmann-A. Debrunner-A. Scherer, Storia della lingua greca, I-II, Italian translation by F. Bonino, with introduction by M. Gigante, Napoli (Macchiaroli) 1969, or A. Meillet, Lineamenti di storia della lingua greca, Italian translation by D. Lanza, Torino (Einaudi) 2003, or V. Pisani, Manuale storico della lingua greca, Brescia (Paideia) 19732. In addition, students are recommended to consult: P. Chantraine, Morphologie historique du grec, Paris (Éditions Klincksieck) 19612, L. Heilmann, Grammatica storica della lingua greca, with Cenni di sintassi storica by A. Ghiselli, Torino (SEI) 1963 (Enciclopedia classica, II, V/3), M. Lejeune, Phonétique historique du mycénien et du grec ancien, Paris (Éditions Klincksieck) 1972 (for phonetics and historical morphology); Y. Duhoux, Introduzione alla dialettologia greca antica, Italian translation by F. De Martino, Bari (Levante) 1986; L. Bottin, Testi greci dialettali, Padova (Imprimitur) 2000 (for dialectology); P. Szemerényi, Introduzione alla linguistica indoeuropea, by G. Boccali-V. Brugnatelli-M. Negri, Milano (Unicopli) 1985, W.P. Lehmann, La linguistica indoeuropea. Storia, problemi e metodi, Italian translation by F.A. Leoni, Bologna (Il Mulino) 1999 (for Indo-European). <br />

Teaching methods

Teaching methods are based on classroom lectures, but may at times take the form of seminars. Lectures are accompanied by tutorial sessions. <br />
Assessment consists of an oral exam to ascertain that the course goals have been attained. <br />

Assessment methods and criteria

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Other information

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