The course aims to provide students the theoretical basis of linguistics, early elements of language acquisition, tools and methods of human phonetic analysis and description of the relevant sounds of a language (phonology), in particular of standard Italian and varieties.
- To define, from a theoretical-technical perspective, the anatomical and functional structures deputed to the language and swallowing
- To identify, within the normal stages of psychomotor development, the characteristics of communication in the first years of life
- To know the theories on learning and the physiological development of language and its different aspects
- To know the development stages of metaphonological, pragmatic, and narrative competence
- To know the development stages of reading and writing
The module "Philosophy of Language" aims to provide students with the theoretical basis for a philosophical study of the relationships between language and languages, language and thought, language and body. The basic elements of the most recent theories and experimental research investigating the relationships between language and cognition will be discussed: the embodied theories; the pragmatics of communication; the theory of mirror neurons; the theory of extended mind; the relationship between concepts and meanings.
Lectures, active learning. Workshop about phonetic transcription.
- Frontal interactive lessons, with slides, videos, and tutorials
- Possible seminars and conferences
Frontal lessons, brainstorming and participatory lessons.
Natural languages and human language. The acquisition of language in newborn babies and infants. Suprasegmental articulatory phonetics and "musicality" of languages. Segmental articulatory phonetics: the vowel and the consonants. Italian phonetics: standard, regional pronunciation and neostandard, dialects. Phonology. The phonetic spelling (IPA).
1) Anatomy and physiology of the voice, speech, language, and swallowing: voice and vocal behavior, phonatory breath and pharyngo-buccal district, regulation and dynamics of speech
2) Stages of normal neuro-psycho-motor development.
3) Characteristics and development of communication in the first years of life.
4) Theories on learning and normal language development: articulatory, phonological, semantic-lexical, and morpho-syntactic aspects.
5) Development stages of the meta-phonological, pragmatic, and narrative competence.
6) Development stages of reading and writing.
Body, word, action: from pragmatics to embodied theories. Language and simulation: problems of embodiement in language theory. Languages and cognition. Language and extended mind. Theories of concept vs. theories of meaning: from semantic universalism to the return of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis. Languages, body, context.
Text 1. G. Gagliardi, Linguistica per le professioni sanitarie, Pàtron, 2019 (cap. I. “Il linguaggio e le lingue storico-naturali”; cap. II. “Farsi e disfarsi del linguaggio: metodi e prospettive per l’analisi delle funzioni linguistiche”; cap. III. “Fonetica”; cap. IV. “Fonologia”, pp. 1-160).
Text 2. M. Nespor, D. J. Napoli, L’animale parlante, Carocci, 2004 (cap. 9 “Lo sviluppo del sistema linguistico nei primi mesi di vita”, pp. 131-143).
Text 3. L. Brandi, Tra musica e linguaggio: alle origini della parola, «Quaderni del Dipartimento di Linguistica» - Università di Firenze 13 (2003), pp. 31-53.
Text 4. F. Albano Leoni, P. Maturi, Manuale di fonetica, Carocci, 2018, terza edizione con materiali on line (cap. 1. Introduzione; cap. 2. “Fonetica articolatoria e trascrizione fonetica”, pp. 11-83).
Text 5. F. Albano Leoni, Il ruolo dell’udito nella comunicazione linguistica. Il caso della prosodia, «Rivista di Linguistica», 13.1 (2001), pp. 45-68.
Text 6. P. Maturi, I suoni delle lingue, i suoni dell’italiano, Il Mulino 2006 (cap. II. “Fonetica italiana: standard, pronunce regionali e neostandard, dialetti”, pp. 101-124).
- Oskar Schindler, Antonio Schindler. Fisiologia della comunucazione. Omega Edizioni. 2001
- Anna Emilia Berti, Anna Silvia Bombi. Corso di psicologia dello sviluppo. Il Mulino Strumenti (4° Edizione). 2018
1) Liuzza, Marco Tullio, Cimatti, Felice, Borghi, Anna Maria (2010). Lingue, corpo, pensiero: le ricerche contemporanee, Carocci, Roma, pp. 125.