The course consists in an introduction to the Arabic language in its historical, linguistic, and sociolinguistic aspects. Therefore the course will include the following topics
a) An introduction to the history of the Arabic language within the classification of the Semitic languages.
b) Hints on the history of the language: the birth of the Arabic diglossia.
c) Quick descriptive grammar excursus in which the basic elements of phonetics, verbal and nominal morphology, syntax will be outlined.
- A. Manca, Grammatica teorico-pratica dell’arabo letterario moderno, Roma 1999.
- O. Durand, A. D. Langone, G. Mion, Corso di arabo contemporaneo, Milano 2010.
- C. Tresso, Lingua Araba Contemporanea, Milano, Hoepli, 2019.
- M. Diez, Introduzione alla lingua araba. Origini, storia, attualità, Milano 2018.
Learning Objectives
The course aims to provide students with the basic rudiments of the Arabic language, allowing them to reach an A2 level of the European Framework. In this case, concerning the 4 main skills, the student at the end of the course will be able:
1. to make a brief presentation of himself,
2. to read short verbal and nominal sentences of modern standard Arabic, knowing how to analyze the main morphological and syntactic elements.
3. to write sentences about daily life.
4. to understand a dialogue between people about daily life.
Prerequisites
The course is adredssed to beginners, so no prerequisite is required, except a good theoretical knowledge of the fundamental grammatical elements of each natural inflected language, starting with the mather tongue.
Teaching Methods
The course consists of two parts: the first part is represented by the course held by Professor La Spisa, which provides 30 hours of theoretical-expository in interactive frontal lessons. Course attendance is mandatory; who attends less than 2/3 of the course (20 hours; which means to miss more than 10 lessons), will not be able to take the exam within the present academic year, but will have to re-attend the course the following year. The second part consists of the course of Arabic language held by the mather tongue teacher Samar Hiba. This course consists of 75 hours and being an annual course, covers both semesters. During the course of language, the main linguistic aspects will be studied at level A1: alphabet, verbal and nominal morphology, oral and written communication. The course includes exercises in class of dictation, reading, writing, and oral expression. Reference will be made mainly to the following text O. Durand, A. D. Langone, G. Mion, Course in Contemporary Arabic, and to its first 10 units. Eventually, interactive material will be proposed.
Further information
The Prof. La Spisa's lessons, which will take place in the first semester, will be joined by the annual course of Arabic Language by Samar Hiba for a total of 75 hours. The total course attendance includes 30 + 75 = 105 hours
Type of Assessment
To take the exam it is necessary to present yourself with the didactic material: books in adoption, including the Arabic texts translated and commented during the course. Those who present themselves without material cannot take the exam.
The exam will be oral and written in three ways:
1. Oral exam about the course of Prof. La Spisa: this exam can be done only after two writing exams. The first session will be in June-July 2023. It will involve the verification of the theoretical contents, where the following skills will be taken into account:
- oral presentation, summary, knowledge of specific terminology.
- Short oral dialogue.
- Reading, translation and linguistic commentary of the texts analyzed during the course. Particular importance will be given to the following skills: pronunciation, knowledge of verbal and nominal morphology.
- The vote will be expressed in thirtieths.
- In addition to attendance, in order to take this exam it is necessary to book online.
2. Written exams: There will be two written exams with Samar Hiba, one in the middle of the academic year, one at the end of the course (June). The year-end exam can be taken only from the summer session (June).
The final grade will be defined by the teacher during the year-end exam, and will be the average of the three exams taken (one oral and two written)
Course program
The course held by Prof. La Spisa will provide the basic historical-linguistic and grammatical knowledge as follows:
- History of the Arabic language and its placement within the classification of Semitic languages: phonetic, morphological and syntactic aspects studied in a comparative perspective with other Semitic languages (north-western and southern).
- Alphabet, spelling and elements of Arabic phonetics.
- Morphology: the root system, a triconsonant and quadriconsonant structure of the roots. The verb and the ten verbal schemes: use and meaning of each form; the verbal conjugation (completed and unfinished). Nominal and maṣdar schemes, external regular and internal fracts plurals. The main prepositions.
- Syntax: structure of the Arabic phrase in contrastive optics with the syntax of Italian, parataxis vs. hypotaxis; the nominal sentence and the verbal sentence, the genitive connection.