Italian Language and Linguistics

Specialisation of: Linguistics
Degree: Master of Arts in Linguistics
Mode of Study: Full-time
Duration: 1 year
Start date: September, February
Language of instruction: Italian
Location: Leiden
Croho/isat code: 60815
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In the Italian Language and Linguistics specialisation of the MA in Linguistics, you will study the Italian language from a typological perspective, as well as from a historical and sociolinguistic point of view. You will gain insight into the dialectal and regional variations and uses of Italian through our courses on both theoretical and applied linguistics, covering topics that include the use of Italian and of Italian dialects. While studying with our young and active staff, you will improve your command of the language, as the specialisation is Italian-spoken.

Staff

Lecturers:

Prof. Roberta d'Alessandro

Roberta d'Alessandro

“Even today nobody is born as a native speaker of Standard Italian.”

“My field of specialisation as a researcher is dialectology and formal linguistics, and in Leiden I will be heading a research group focusing on Italian dialects and linguistic variation.

The Italian linguistic scenario is extremely rich. This is partly because of the central location of Italy within the Mediterranean and partly because of the late Italian linguistic unification. In fact, Italian only became the official language at a relatively late stage with respect to other European official languages. As a result, linguistic fragmentation in Italy is the most significant among European countries, and even today nobody is born as a native speaker of Standard Italian. We are all speakers of a regional variety of Italian that can show different degrees of similarity with the local dialect (which is, like all dialects, a sister language of Italian, not derived from it).

Dialects, that encode our culture and tradition, are fast disappearing, particularly under the influence of television. Note that dialects are generally not written and that the last-remaining speakers are dying because of old age. Therefore, if we don’t document these dialects immediately, they will soon disappear, and with them a piece of European culture. Observe furthermore that, as I said, these dialects are sister languages of Italian, and they derive directly from Latin. Hence, they are fully-fledged Romance languages, and constitute a vast set of additional data that offer an important testing ground for linguistic theories on Romance.

I have studied and worked in many different countries, such as Finland, Germany, Canada, the U.S.A. and England. Leiden is a very good university for a linguist because there are linguists here working on many languages and with different approaches, which I find both stimulating and enriching. The University Library also has a truly impressive collection of works.”