20702770 - ELEMENTS OF LATIN LINGUISTICS

Students will gain an understanding of certain aspects of historical phonetics, morphology, and syntax, leading to a clearer grasp of the structures and dynamics of the Latin language, as well as a deeper understanding of Italian. Through a basic understanding of historical phonetics, students will also acquire the fundamentals of prosody, which form a necessary foundation for reading prose texts and for the study of Latin meter.
teacher profile | teaching materials

Mutuazione: 20702770 ISTITUZIONI DI LINGUISTICA LATINA in Lettere L-10 R Bramanti Andrea

Programme

The course focuses on teaching the normative grammar of Latin. The first part will be devoted to an overview of the main features of the Latin language, including phonetics and prosody, nominal and verbal morphology, and syntax, along with some basic elements of historical grammar. These are intended solely to support a more accurate understanding of the language, free from the common oversimplifications of school-level instruction. The second part of the course will consist of grammatical, logical, and syntactic analysis of the first half of Book I of the De bello Gallico, where the main linguistic features will be applied in translation practice.

Core Documentation

1) Grammatica normativa: M.J. Falcone, Breve grammatica di latino, Carocci: Roma 2026; M. Fucecchi – L. Graverini, La lingua latina. Fondamenti di morfologia e sintassi, Mondadori; F. Lubian - L. Salvioni, Latino zero. Guida all'apprendimento della lingua, Il Mulino: Bologna 2025; oppure V. Tantucci - A. Roncoroni, Il Tantucci plus, Grammatica + Laboratorio 2, Milano 2015 [Si consiglia l'acquisto del Laboratorio 2, utile per le esercitazioni in aula e a casa].

2) A. Traina-G. Bernardi Perini, Propedeutica al latino universitario, Patron (dal cap. 1 al cap. 7 compreso)

3) Cesare, La guerra gallica, introduzione e note di E. Barelli, traduzione di F. Brindesi, testo latino a fronte, BUR Rizzoli, Milano 2014 (o altra edizione: Einaudi o Garzanti)

4) D. Michienzi, Latin Lover. Come una lingua di duemila anni fa può migliorare la tua vita nel XXI secolo, Blackie edizioni: Milano 2026

Attendance

Attendance of the course, either in person or remotely, is recommended.

Type of evaluation

Assessment will take place through an oral examination, during which the student must demonstrate the ability to read, analyze, and translate Book I of De bello Gallico according to the methods presented during the course. The exam is therefore intended to assess the student's grammatical knowledge as applied to a work of Latin literature.