Corso di laurea magistrale in Scienze linguistiche

A B2 knowledge of English. No previous knowledge of Semitic languages is required.

Semitic Linguistics belongs to a group of disciplines dealing with oriental languages and focuses on selected themes in Semitic linguistics:

• Linguistic analysis and philological methods will be applicable to the study of other languages and ­– oral and written - textual traditions.
• The learning tools used foster capacity for independently achieving new knowledge and skills.

Students will be able to:

• recognize the phonology and the main morphosyntactic structures of the North-Eastern Neo-Aramaic dialects, with a focus on the verbal system;
• read, analyze and translate some oral texts and texts written in traditional script;
• use the main bibliographic tools (handbooks, dictionaries, grammars, encyclopedic works, online bibliographic databases) relevant for the selected topics.

The story of the basket-seller who became a monk in Neo-Aramaic, as preserved in oral and written forms

1) North-Eastern Neo-Aramaic phonology

• a Semitic comparative description of the NENA phonetic system
• East-Syriac script: consonants and vowel notation

2) Neo-Aramaic morpho-syntax

• the Aramaic group
• Neo-Aramaic dialects
• North-Eastern Neo-Aramaic verb conjugations

3) Reading and analysis of the story of the basket-seller

• oral version
• collation of available manuscripts

The course is divided into two parts:

1. In the first part, the teacher sketches North-Eastern Neo-Aramaic phonology and morpho-syntax, focusing on the verbal system and analyzes a sample of oral and written texts;
2. The second part of the course is a workshop, in which students prepare in small group and present the reading and analysis of samples of oral and written texts (story of the basket-seller who became a monk).

Classes are face to face. Classroom attendance is highly recommended. Audio- or video-recordings of classroom activities will not be provided. Who for reasons of time or other limitations cannot attend the lessons face to face in the classroom can prepare the exam with the program indicated below for non-attending students.

The exam consists in the evaluation of the student's contribution to the workshop part of the course (20/30) and an oral exam on the bibliography given below (10/30), which will be presented, read and discussed during the course.

Students who cannot attend the classes prepare the bibliography given below.

Students with special needs (disabled students and students with specific learning disability/SLD)

The University of Turin offers different kinds of services for students with temporary or permanent disabilities and provides technical and/or didactic support, and also specialized services, to students with specific learning disability (SLD).

Further information is available here.

Students who attend classes and contribute to the workshop part of the course (20/30) will prepare for the exam the following bibliography (10/30):

• Braida, E., ed. 2011. Yawsep ʻAbbaya of Alqosh, “On the Hermit Barmalka.” In Religious Poetry in Vernacular Syriac from Northern Iraq (17th-20th Centuries). An Anthology, ed. by A. Mengozzi, CSCO 627, 83-98 (Sureth text: only the parts read during the workshop) and vol. 628, 95-108 (intr. and Engl transl.). Leuven: Peeters.
• Mengozzi, A. Forthcoming. “Islamic Traits and Motifs in Jewish and Christian North-Eastern Neo-Aramaic Languages ​​and Literatures.” Kervan
• Khan, G., M. Mohammadirad, D. Molin and P.l.M. Noorlander. 2022. Neo-Aramaic and Kurdish Folklore from Northern Iraq. A Comparative Anthology with a Sample of Glossed Texts (Cambridge Semitic Languages and Cultures 12), vol. 1, pp. 1-86 (87-155, optional), vol. 2 pp. 1-59 (only the parts read during the workshop). Cambridge: OpenBook Publishers.

Students who cannot attend classes will prepare for the exam the following bibliography:

• Coghill, E. 2018. The rise and fall of ergativity in Aramaic. Cycles of Alignment Change. Oxford: Oxford University Press
• Coghill, E. 2019. "Northeastern Neo-Aramaic", in The Semitic Languages, ed. Huehnergard and N.Pat-El, Abingdon: Routledge, 711-747
• Haig, G.L.J. 2008. Alignment Change in Iranian Languages. A Construction Grammar Approach. Berlin De Gruyter
• Kapeliuk, O. 2011. "Language Contact between Aramaic Dialects and Iranian". in The Semitic Languages, ed. Weninger, Berlin: De Gruyter, 738-747
• Khan, G. 2011. “North-Eastern Neo-Aramaic," in The Semitic Languages, ed. Weninger, Berlin: De Gruyter, 708-724

Gli studenti e le studentesse di qualsiasi corso di laurea triennale che devono/intendono inserire 6 CFU di Semitistica (SSD L-OR/07) o di Iterazione L-Or/07 nel loro piano carriera possono scegliere uno dei seguenti insegnamenti, in base ai propri interessi ed orari:

• STU0520 — Filologia semitica: lingue del Medio Oriente (corso introduttivo, per chi non ha mai fatto filologia semitica, interamente online, in e-learning)
• STU0574 — Lingua e letteratura siriaca (Hagar nell’esegesi siriaca, novembre-dicembre 2023, lu-ma-me 10-12 - orario da confermare)
• STU0481 — Semitic Linguistics (introduction to Neo-Aramaic; settembre-ottobre 2023, lu-ma-me 10-12 - orario da confermare)

Studenti e studentesse che devono/vogliono inserire 12 CFU devono combinare tra loro

• Filologia semitica: lingue del Medio Oriente (online)
• ed un insegnamento a scelta tra Lingua e letteratura siriaca e Semitic Linguistics

Gli studenti e le studentesse non frequentanti di una laurea triennale devono inserire il corso online da 6 CFU (Registrazione gratuita dal sito start@unito > Area linguistica): Filologia semitica: lingue del Medio Oriente. Gli studenti e le studentesse di una laurea magistrale che non possono frequentare le lezioni di Semitic Linguistics o Lingua e letteratura siriaca devono portare all’esame il programma da non frequentanti di Semitic Linguistics o di Lingua e letteratura siriaca.