Programme

Through the knowledge of the main notions of phonetics, morphology and syntax, the course aims to provide students with a more complete domain of the Latin language, also for a better understanding of the Italian language and word formation mechanisms. Reading and analyzing a prose and a poem text intends to provide the tools to grasp the specificities of these languages ​​and go back to their linguistic, cultural and anthropological models.

To this end it includes:

(1) A cycle of lessons aimed at offering an overview of the main aspects of phonetics, morphology and syntax of the Latin language, with notions of prosody and metrics;
(2) Framework, reading, translation and commentary on the following two works of Latin literature:
- (a) Cicero, Laelius seu de amicitia.
- (b) Ovid, Medicamina faciei femineae.

Core Documentation

For point 1 of the Course:

- R. Oniga, Il latino: breve introduzione linguistica, 2a edizione, Milano, ed. Franco Angeli, 2007.
- S. Timpanaro, Nozioni elementari di prosodia e metrica latina, Firenze, 1953 [a copy will be provided from the reprint at the bottom of the anthology for the biennium “Primordia et incrementa Latinitatis” edited by Antonio La Penna (Torino, 1966, pp. 353-376)].
- Further teaching materials (notes on Latin language and textbooks on metric reading) will be distributed in class and / or uploaded to the teacher's page available on the website of the Department of Humanities.

For point 2 of the Course:

- (a) Cicerone, L’amicizia; saggio introduttivo di I. Vilardi; nuova traduzione e note di F. Biddau, Milano, Rusconi, 2017 (alternatively, any of the various reprints of the text in the BUR or Garzanti edition);
- (b) P. Ovidio Nasone, I cosmetici delle donne, a cura di G. Rosati, Venezia, Marsilio, 1995.


Non-attending students will integrate the program with the individual study of the following text:
- A. Traina - G. Bernardi Perini, Propedeutica al latino universitario (preferably, 6th ed. revised and updated by C. Marangoni, Bologna, Pàtron, 2007).

Type of delivery of the course

Teaching organization: Lectures hours 36. Mode of delivery of teaching: Traditional

Attendance

The exam consists of an interview on the topics of the program. During the interview will be ascertained the student's ability to: read, translate and understand the Latin texts in the program; answer questions regarding the grammatical structure of the language (phonetics, morphology and basic syntax) starting from the texts themselves. In this way, the students will verify the breadth and depth of their knowledge; the property of their language; the ability to critically link texts and issues addressed.

Type of evaluation

The exam is oral and takes place at the end of the course, without intermediate tests. It will focus on the texts in the program and on the topics presented during the lessons. The mark is expressed on a scale from a minimum of 18 (the threshold to pass the exam) to the maximum of 30 (cum laude). Marks below 18 will be equivalent to insufficient assessment of learning.