31082 - Persian Language and Linguistics 1

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, the student possesses basic knowledge of Persian grammar (alphabet and elementary morphology of parts of speech) and is able to sustain simple dialogues about the most common everyday life situations. At the level of written skills, he/she is able to read passages of limited syntactic complexity and produce sentences using previously assimilated lexical materials.
The goal of the course is to achieve knowledge that is at least between the A1 and A2 levels of the Common European Framework of Reference.

Course contents

WHY STUDY PERSIAN?


Many people mistakenly think that it is a minor language; in fact, nowadays it is the official language of at least three countries (Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan) and is also spoken by substantial minorities in Pakistan, India, Uzbekistan, Turkey, the former Soviet Union, as well as by numerous emigrants scattered around the world, particularly in the United States. In contrast to languages such as Arabic, Persian is a language of great morphological simplicity, whose basic grammar can be learned willingly in a few days; in the Middle Ages it was the “lingua franca” of merchants and travelers on the “Silk Road” leading from the Mediterranean to China via Central Asia. Anything important (scientific, religious, philosophical, literary texts in general, etc.) that was written in Arabic was always readily translated into the easier Persian. So that Persian is a kind of extraordinary “via brevis” to enter through the front door into the Islamic world and its vast and varied culture that has lasted for 14 centuries and has been expressed not only in Arabic and Persian but also in Malaysian Urdu Turkish, etc.

 

COURSE SYLLABUS

The course consists of two parts: exercises, taught by native speakers, and a semester-long main course taught by the course's titular teacher, Prof. Nahid Norozi.


Schedule of “Persian Language and Linguistics Exercices 1” (September 27 - end of April)

The course is conducted in three weekly classes, and the first part is devoted to learning the alphabet and basic phonetic and morphological aspects of the Persian language. The second part will be devoted to the elementary notions of grammar, with the performance of numerous exercises in class. A constant part of the Exercises course will be devoted to conversation (self-presentation, simple sentences related to everyday life, etc.) and reading and written formulation of simple sentences.

Semester main Course Program - Semester II: February 10 - March 13 (Prof. Nahid Norozi)

The course in Persian Language and Linguistics 1, after an introduction to the historical evolution of the Persian language (Old-, Middle- and Neo-Persian), aims to illustrate various basic grammatical and syntactic aspects of Neopersian, with emphasis on: nouns, plural formation, indeterminative article, indefinite possessive demonstrative interrogative adjectives and pronouns, comparative-superlative formation, cardinal and ordinal numbers, adverbs, prepositions, coordinating and subordinating conjunctions, simple verb tenses and their uses, state construct (ezafé), particle rā. Although the language studied will be Neopersian spoken in Iran, nevertheless, nods will be made to the other language varieties of Persian spoken in Tajikistan and Afghanistan, from a comparative linguistics perspective.

IMPORTANT NOTE:

This course is dedicated to students of the Department of Modern Languages Literature and Cultures (LILEC) who have chosen to study Persian as a first or second language.

However, the course is also always open to students of Persiano 1 (12 cfu, ARCO), Lingua e Letteratura Persiana 1 (12 cfu, Master Degree), Lingua e Cultura Persiana (10 cfu, SVIC), who are particularly interested in the language or in a thesis on Persian or in continuing their study of Persian.

Readings/Bibliography

The Reference Text-book (to be taken to class at all times): N. Norozi e N. Abbasi Boroujeni, Lezioni di Persiano per Principianti, Centro Essad Bey – Amazon IP, Seattle, 2024

- Any additional material will be sent, during the course, in the form of telematic handouts.

- Highly recommended for students who wish to continue with the study of Persian Language and Literature]: Coletti A. - Gruenbaum H., Dizionario Persiano-Italiano, Centro Culturale Italo-Iraniano, Roma 1978 (edizione aggiornata 2021)

- Highly recommended for NON-attending students:

Lambton A. K. S., Persian grammar, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1984


For further study (optional):

- Dizionario persiano. Italiano-persiano, persiano-italiano, a cura di F. Mardani, Vallardi

- D. Meneghini e P. Orsatti, Corso di lingua persiana (con 2 CD audio), Hoepli, Milano 2012

- Lambton A. K. S., Persian grammar, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1984

- Coletti A., Grammatica della lingua persiana, Nuova Cultura, Roma 2007

- D’Erme G. M, Grammatica del neopersiano, Istituto Universitario Orientale, Napoli 1979

- Piemontese A. M., Grammatica persiana in nuce, Istituti Editoriali e Poligrafici Internazionali, Pisa-Roma 2004.

Teaching methods

Lectures, seminars, listening to musical texts, possible lectures by invitation of specialists

Assessment methods

A student who attends at least 75% of the lectures is considered to be attending.

The examination of 'Lingua e Linguistica Persiana 1' is conducted in two tests: a written and an oral test that could also take place, if desired, on the same day.

1. The written test consists of: grammar exercises, translation, verb conjugation + a theoretical and historical-linguistic question);

2. The oral test consisting of the correct reading of simple sentences and a short basic conversation learned during the Persian Language and Linguistics Exercise course.

The final grade is given by the arithmetic mean of the marks given in the written test of Persian language and the oral test of Persian language.

Teaching tools

Books, handouts, audio-visual media, magazine websites and other useful materials.

Students who require specific services and adaptations to teaching activities due to a disability or specific learning disorders (SLD), must first contact the appropriate office: https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students.

Office hours

See the website of Nahid Norozi