116-466 The Story of Italian

Formerly available as 116-076/366. Students who have completed 116-076 or 116-366 are not eligible to enrol in this subject.

Completion of 37.5 points of Italian at intermediate or post-VCE level for third year. Admission to the postgraduate diploma or fourth-year honours in Italian for fourth year. European studies students wishing to enrol in this subject would normally have completed 37.5 points of European studies at second/third year, see Prerequisites.

This subject begins with a study of the history of the language, which describes the development of the Italian language since its Indo-European origins; the linguistic situation in Roman Italy; the fragmentation of Latin; and the genesis of present day Italian dialects. The subject will also focus on the questione della lingua and the ascendancy of Tuscan/Roman. The 'dialectology' section of the subject involves an introduction to the study of one regional dialect. On completion of this subject, students should have acquired a basic knowledge of the structures of Latin to the extent that they are reflected in present day Italian; a knowledge of the development of Italian from post-classical Latin to the language spoken in contemporary Italy, and the reasons for that development; and a basic knowledge of the structures of one major Italian dialect.