OVERVIEW

This course content is borrowed from Russian Linguistics (code: 52961) of Translation and Interpreting (LM-94) MA program. Hence, the corse is structured with twodifferent profiles, depending on studied languages and previous knowledge of Slavic Philology:  

Profile A

Students who had not taken Slavic Philology during their MA will be required to follow lectures on Slavic Philology I (together with 72868 - BA in Modern languages and cultures).

Profile B

Students familiar with the basics of Slavic Philology (at least 6 credits taken during BA), will follow an independent reading course with guidance from the instructor.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Slavic Philology LM is aimed at deepening the understanding of the topics related to the diachrony of Slavic and to Slavic linguistics in general.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

Profile A

Slavic Philology I (72868)  provides basic knowledge about the linguistic and cultural development of the Slavic peoples, from Proto-Slavic to contemporary Slavic languages and cultures. In view of this, it offers an introduction to Old Church Slavonic, as well as an overview of the culture(s) of the Slavs in the early stages of their spread across Eastern and Central Europe. 

At the end of the course the student will be able to:

• define the main lines of historical and linguistic development of the Slavic world;
• make a morphological analysis of short excerpts of Old Slavonic texts (using dictionaries and grammars), correctly identify parts of speech and morphological features, highlight phonetic changes in single words;
• relate the structure and the lexicon of the Slavic language s/he studies to Old Slavonic, providing diachrony-based explanations for facts about the structure of the language and for specific phenomena.

Profile B

The aim of the readings that will be assigned is to deepen the student's knowledge about the Slavic languages and cultures and to understand the steps which brought to the their formation. In agreeing readings with the instructor, the students are encouraged to choose topics they are particularly interested in.

PREREQUISITES

Profile A

Knowledge of a Slavic language at least at the level required for passing the first-year exam of BA program.

Profile B

Knowledge of a Slavic language at least at the level required for passing the first-year exam of MA program.

TEACHING METHODS

Profile A

The course content will be delivered via classroom lectures (36 hours) with the support of Aulaweb. The last part of the course will be devoted to the analysis and linguistic comment of Old Church Slavonic texts, which will be held in the form of classroom exercises .

Profile B

Independent learning based on readings assigned by the instructor. During the academic year, seminars on specific topics may be organized based on availability and interests.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

Profile A

1. The ethnogenesis of the Slavs: from the Indo-European unity to Early Slavic; the homeland of the Slavs and their expansion; migrations and subsequent ethnical and linguistic split.
2. Old Church Slavonic: phonology and basic grammar (in comparison with modern Slavic languages).
3. Cyril and Methodius and their mission, the Christianization of the Slavs, the alphabets.

The program for both attending and non-attending students is the same.

Profile B

The ancient Slavic civilization, insights into the ethnogenesis of the Slavs; the material, social and spiritual culture of the proto-Slavs; the expansion of the Slavs and their first contacts with the the Roman-Germanic West and Byzantium. The work of Cyril and Methodius and the formation of Old Slavic. The concepts of Slavia Orthodoxa and Slavia Latina.
The modern Slavic languages: convergent and divergent features.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

Profile A

Any handbook on Old Church Slavonic among Bartula (2003), Ivanova (1977), Krivčik & Možejko (1985), Lunt (1955), Marcialis (2005), Moszyński (2006), Skomorochova Venturini (2000). Anyway, classroom lessons will be based mainly on Skomorochova Venturini (2000). For the Indo-European>Proto-Slavic diachrony, see Andersen (1997).

• Andersen, Henning. 1997. Le lingue slave. In Anna Giacalone Ramat & Paolo Ramat (eds.), Le lingue indoeuropee, 441–479. Nuova ed. (Strumenti Linguistica e critica letteraria). Bologna: Il Mulino. [English version available in Giacalone Ramat, Anna & Paolo Ramat. 1998. The Indo-European Languages, 415–453. London–New York: Routledge.]
• Bartula,Czesław. 2003. Podstawowe wiadomości z gramatyki staro-cerkiewno-słowiańskiej na tle porónawczym. 6, dodruk ed. Warszawa: Wydawn. Naukowe PWN.
• Ivanova, Tatʹjana Apollonovna. 1977. Staroslavjanskij jazyk. Moskva: Vysšaja škola.
• Krivčik, Varvara Fedorovna & Nadežda Semenovna Možejko. 1985. Staroslavjanskij jazyk : učebnoe posobie dlja filologičeskich fakul’tetov vysšych učebnych zavedenij. Minsk: Vyšejšaja škola. [Available at  http://en.booksee.org/book/353302].
• Lunt, Horace Gray. 1955. Old church Slavonic grammar. (Slavistische Drukken En Herdrukken 3). The Hague: Mouton.
• Marcialis, Nicoletta. 2005. Introduzione alla lingua paleoslava. (Biblioteca di Studi slavistici / Associazione italiana degli slavisti). Firenze : Firenze University Press. [Digital lending available for UniGe users on MLOL at https://unige.medialibrary.it/media/scheda.aspx?id=150266413]
• Moszyński, Leszek. 2006. Wstęp do filologii słowiańskiej. 2. Wydanie zmienione. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN.
• Skomorochova Venturini, Lilia. 2000. Corso di lingua paleoslava: grammatica. Pisa: ETS.

Toscano (2014) serves as a general introduction to the topics dealt with in this part of the course. Some chapters from Garzaniti et al. (2013) and/or Conte (2006) will be assigned as supplementary readings. Saronne & Alberti (2002) is recommended, too, as an overview of all the questions related to this part of the program.

• Conte, Francis. 2006. Gli slavi : le civiltà dell’Europa centrale e orientale. Torino: Einaudi. [Original 1986 edition in French: Les Slaves: aux origines des civilisations d’Europe centrale et orientale (Vle-Xllle siècles). Paris: A. Michel. English edition (1995): The Slavs. New York: Columbia Univ. Press.]
• Garzaniti, Marcello, Alberto Alberti & Francesca Romoli. 2013. Gli Slavi : storia, culture e lingue dalle origini ai nostri giorni. Roma: Carocci.
• Saronne, Edgardo Tito & Alberto Alberti. 2002. Chi sono gli slavi? (Heuresis 26). Bologna: CLUEB.
• Toscano, Silvia. 2014. Introduzione alla Filologia Slava. Roma: Università La Sapienza. [An updated edition, courtesy of prof. Toscano, will be made available on the Aulaweb course page]

Profile B

The following reading list can be agreed with the instructor as an exam program:

• Garzaniti, Marcello, Gli slavi: storia, culture e lingue dalle origini ai nostri giorni, a cura di Francesca Romoli. Nuova ed. Roma : Carocci, 2019
• Francesca Fici , Le lingue slave moderne. Padova : Unipress, 2001

From Gazaniti & Romoli (2019): first part (the first 5 chapters), second part (all), one chapter of the third part and one of the fourth part. From Fici (2001): all the general part, plus three chapters to choose from, each on a Slavic language.

Based on the student's personal interests, a different program can be agreed for this profile.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

LESSONS

LESSONS START

Profile A

Slavic Philology I: 2nd semester, february 2025.  

Profile B

This profile has no classroom lectures. Any seminar meetings will be agreed upon during the academic year.

Class schedule

SLAVIC PHILOLOGY LM

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

Profile A

The exam is oral. In the first part of the exam the student will be required an analysis of a short excerpt from a text in Old Church Slavonic. a time slot of about 20 minutes will be provided for completing the analysis before presenting it to the instructor. During this part of the exam, the handbook, as well as the dictionary, can be used to prepare the required analysis. An example of the analysis required at the exam (morphological analysis of the text word by word and comment on the phenomena of phonetic change, e.g. palatalizations, reflexes of apophonic alternations in flexion , etc.)  will be provided in the final classes of the course. In the second part of the exam the student will be presented with a bilet containing 5 random questions to answer; a few minutes to prepare the answers will be allowed; no texbook or othe materials can be used during this part of the exam. A list of the random questions that will be contained in the bilety will be available beforehand.

Profile B

The exam is oral. The student will be required to present one of the topics dealt with in the readings s/he has been assigned. The first part of the of the exam will be on the history of Early Slavs, the formation of the different Slavic cultures, the medieval and modern Slavic countries. The second part will mainly deal with linguistics, with a special focus on modern Slavic languages.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

Profile A

As detailed in "exam description".  The teacher will require the student to assess the morpho-syntactic and phonetic phenomena in the analyzed text and to suggest possible links with other parts of the syllabus. Expository skills and clarity, as well as the ability to find appropriate information in the available materials will be evaluated. The student should be able to relate what s/he learned in the classes to her/his learning language (Russian or Polish).

Profile B

The instructor will assess the student's ability to expose a topic from his/her readings. The ability to relate the topic to her/his learning language and culture (Russian or Polish).will be be positively evaluated. 

FURTHER INFORMATION

Students who have valid certification of physical or learning disabilities on file with the University and who wish to discuss possible accommodations or other circumstances regarding lectures, coursework and exams, should speak both with the instructor and with Prof. Sara Dickinson (sara.dickinson@unige.it), the Department’s disability liaison.