Papers by Alessandro Carlucci
Filosofia italiana, 2023
The first part of this article highlights the similarities between Antonio Gramsci’s ideas on lan... more The first part of this article highlights the similarities between Antonio Gramsci’s ideas on language and Ferdinand de Saussure’s Course in General Linguistics, with reference to the distinction between the synchronic and diachronic study of language and to a number of related topics concerning the relationship between linguistic and socio-cultural change. The second part reviews the most plausible historiographic hypotheses which may explain those similarities.
This paper describes a project aimed at creating a new resource family of multilingual and multim... more This paper describes a project aimed at creating a new resource family of multilingual and multimodal resources centered around the concept of a “Linguistics of the self”, i.e. personal reflections on the role of languages in shaping one’s identity. Language portrait silhouettes, drawing bilingualism, and linguistic autobiographies are different types of resources that share this common feature. We describe the resources and the criteria for their metadata annotation, focusing in particular on linguistic autobiographies, where the writer explicitly reflects on the relationship between him/herself and language. These genres are fruitfully used in different educational settings, and research has shown that they help to uncover the social, affective, and psychological dimensions of language learning. The potential of a multilingual and multimodal collection is discussed starting from data collected in Italy and Norway.
À la fin du Moyen Âge et au début de l’époque moderne, les habitants d’Italie parlaient des langu... more À la fin du Moyen Âge et au début de l’époque moderne, les habitants d’Italie parlaient des langues issues du latin, que les spécialistes d’aujourd’hui appellent « variétés italo-romanes » (elles sont aussi appelées « vulgaires » quand on parle de la période courant jusqu’au XVe siècle, et « dialectes » quand on parle des époques plus récentes). L’italien n’était connu que par une partie très faible de la population, sa diffusion étant limitée à l’écrit (surtout de type littéraire). En raison de cette situation linguistique singulière, l’Italie offre un cas particulièrement intéressant pour l’étude historique de la compréhension mutuelle entre des langues apparentées. Cet article revient sur les obstacles à l’intercompréhension (que les experts d’histoire linguistique italienne ont parfois considérés comme majeurs, voire insurmontables) et se concentre ensuite sur la manière dont certains locuteurs parvenaient à les surmonter.
This article contributes to the historical study of intercomprehension between speakers of closel... more This article contributes to the historical study of intercomprehension between speakers of closely related languages by focusing on Italy in the period up to the mid-fifteenth century. After an introduction to the topic, the second section will be devoted to methodological questions, including certain differences between research based on experimental testing and research based on historical evidence. The third section of the article reports opinions by medieval speakers about the intelligibility of different Italo-Romance varieties, and then compares them to opinions about genealogically and/or geographically more distant languages. While the dominant view among experts on Italy’s linguistic history is that speakers were trapped within mutually unintelligible vernaculars, this review of the extant evidence suggests a greater degree of intercomprehension than is usually supposed.
Historians (including historians of oral and written culture, and to some extent also literary hi... more Historians (including historians of oral and written culture, and to some extent also literary historians) have long been aware of the role of Latin as a potential barrier to intelligibility, but they have very rarely considered the possibility that Italy’s vernacular varieties could equally impede communication. Linguists, instead, are for the most part convinced that medieval speakers were trapped in a myriad of mutually unintelligible vernaculars. This conviction is based on the structural differences among Italo-Romance varieties and on the observation that, until the mid-fifteenth century, processes of koineization across Italy were patchy and mostly confined to written communication in particular domains, while a common Italian language would not emerge until the sixteenth century. In this article, those views are tested on a range of late medieval sources which recent scholarship has shown to be especially fit for the purpose. These sources reveal that speakers perceived the lexicon as the structural level that created the main problems of intelligibility. In some cases, phonological and morphological differences were also perceived as sources of misunderstanding and as potential barriers to communication. On the whole, however, these barriers were not as insurmountable as the traditional views of most linguists would lead us to expect.
Much of the existing scholarship on Anglo-American influences in Italian focuses on lexical borro... more Much of the existing scholarship on Anglo-American influences in Italian focuses on lexical borrowing (especially on graphically non-adapted loanwords such as jazz) and on related semantic innovations. This chapter focuses instead on grammatical influences, aiming to establish how and to what extent the phonology, morphology and syntax of Italian are also changing under the influence of English. Drawing on recent discussions of linguistic contact and change, the chapter offers a definition of contact-influenced change, whereby internal development and contact with other languages are not seen as mutually exclusive factors but can in fact combine to lead to change – including changes in the frequency and productivity of an existing feature in the affected language. Through a combination of quantitative and qualitative analyses, this conception of change is applied to two features of Italian grammar: the coordination of prepositions governing the same constituent, and the rise of progressive stare + gerund. Special attention is paid to the role of translation as a source of contact-influenced change, with the inclusion within the analysed texts of both literary and non-literary translations from English.
Transnational 900, 2019
This essay proposes a theoretical frame capable of addressing questions of cultural change across... more This essay proposes a theoretical frame capable of addressing questions of cultural change across disciplines. The cultural relations between Italy and the USA provide the empirical context to our theoretical work. These relations are considered as a two-way process based both on the migration of Italians to the USA, and on the influence of U.S. culture on Italy. Our model has been developed around the idea of tracing the "journey" of a cultural object from one community to another. In order to avoid oversimplification , we have developed the flexible concept of culture zone which allows us to transcend rigid definitions imposed by national borders. A culture zone is an area, however big or small, defined by a relatively cohesive presence of shared practices and values. The theoretical framework we have developed derives from different fields such as cultural anthropology, linguistics, human geography, migration studies and semiotics. In the essay we produce three particular case studies addressing three different fields-food culture, film history and language-in order to test and exemplify our model. We offer a visualization of the components and processes of cultural change and aim to provide a stimulating multidisciplinary platform for the discussion of cultural change concerning Italy-USA relations.
In the last few decades, the relationship between linguistics and Marxism has given rise to an im... more In the last few decades, the relationship between linguistics and Marxism has given rise to an important debate among experts on the Italian political thinker and leader Antonio Gramsci (1891–1937). The paper summarises this debate in connection with recent research on Gramsci's intellectual biography, starting from his university training in historical linguistics as well as other sources for his early views on language (Section 2). Section 3 focuses on his subsequent encounter with sociological and applied linguistics in revolutionary Russia, where Marx was an oft-cited author. This historical review sets the ground for a reappraisal of Gramsci's Prison Notebooks, written during the last part of his life (Section 4), and of their contribution to the language sciences – which, I argue, is better understood if we reject the idea of a contrast between Gramsci's Marxism and his linguistic ideas (Section 5). Finally, a brief concluding section recapitulates the various aspects discussed, especially the role of Marxist and non-Marxist sources in shaping Gramsci's views and relevance to today's linguists.
The paper reviews recent language-oriented scholarship on Gramsci, mostly publications in English... more The paper reviews recent language-oriented scholarship on Gramsci, mostly publications in English or Italian which have appeared since 2007. It considers three main areas: 1) the sociology and politics of language, especially the use of the notion of hegemony in debates about English as a global language; 2) the role of Gramsci’s linguistic interests in shaping his intellectual biography, from his university years to his encounter with Soviet Russia’s cultural and political life in the early 1920s; and, finally, 3) Gramsci’s own use of the Italian language in his writings. With regard to the second area of study, new evidence is presented of Gramsci’s interest in proletarian culture and of his contacts with the Proletkult movement. By surveying a wide range of different topics (including Esperanto and language planning), the paper aims to identify the shortcomings of the existing scholarship, and to define certain gaps in our knowledge of Gramsci’s life and work as questions for future research.
The first part of this chapter outlines the basic elements of a Gramscian framework for studying ... more The first part of this chapter outlines the basic elements of a Gramscian framework for studying the political economy of languages, focusing especially on English as a global language. It draws on Gramsci’s views on diversity and unification, on passive revolution, and on linguistic insecurity. These views are discussed as part of Gramsci’s critique of the abstract nature of liberal, Enlightenment concepts of universal progress and cosmopolitan civilization, as well as in terms of their application to the present, with particular reference to the language policy of the European Union. The second part of the chapter uses Italy as a case study. In this country, as in much of the EU, knowledge of foreign languages – of English, in particular – is perceived as a tool to gain access to material and non-material resources. The available evidence, however, shows that a confident command of English is typically achieved by those Italians who already had better access to those resources, including relevant forms of geographic mobility. Cultural barriers and social inequality limit the beneficial aspects of global languages, even when favourable educational policies are in place. In conclusion, this chapter suggests that abstract claims about the possibility and benefits of fully mastering foreign languages may increase the risk of individual insecurity and frustration, further reducing popular support for European integration and paving the way for populist nationalism.
This article fills a gap in the existing descriptions of Italo-Romance diachronic phonology. It d... more This article fills a gap in the existing descriptions of Italo-Romance diachronic phonology. It does so by offering a geographical and historical account of the emergence of voiceless stops replacing etymological voiced stops in the final syllable of proparoxytones, as in the widespread Tuscan variant stùpito ‘stupid’. Within a broadly-defined Labovian framework, this development is discussed according to two main options: as due to finely-conditioned articulatory processes, typical of the initial stages of regular sound change, or as a case of lexically sporadic, substitutive change. The second option is tentatively favoured, also on the basis of the possible links to another change – the much debated, irregular voicing of intervocalic /p/, /t/ and /k/.
On the basis of detailed textual evidence from Gramsci’s writings, this chapter aims at fully est... more On the basis of detailed textual evidence from Gramsci’s writings, this chapter aims at fully establishing the importance of Gramsci’s interest in Kipling, and at putting forward a new interpretation of this interest. Existing secondary literature only includes a few contributions on this topic, mainly focusing on Gramsci’s explicit references to Kipling’s prose. This chapter shows a more pervasive presence – including echoes of Kipling’s poetry – in diverse and significant writings of Gramsci, and goes beyond the explanations that Gramsci himself provided of his interest in the work of the Anglo-Indian writer. A particular sense of proximity emerges to certain episodes and themes in Kipling’s literary work which revolve around questions of personal identity, more or less directly related to the historical context of colonialism. This proximity is a subtle indicator of Gramsci’s perception of his own life and socio-cultural background, and – as suggested in the final part of the chapter – may also provide useful elements to further our understanding of Gramsci’s intellectual trajectory and of the biographical roots of his reflections on recent Italian history.
This article explores the outcomes of contact with English in the history of the Italian language... more This article explores the outcomes of contact with English in the history of the Italian language. Recent developments in the study of language contact and change are discussed, and a list of the most probable non-lexical Anglicisms is offered, based on authoritative surveys of contemporary Italian. These phonological and morphosyntactic features are then discussed, with reference also to the reinforcing effects of borrowing from other languages (notably French). It emerges that, far from introducing radical innovations into core grammatical structures, English influences have mainly led to the extension of minority patterns, or have in other ways exploited pre-existing possibilities.
This chapter deals with the long-debated topic of how and to what extent Gramsci’s work can be re... more This chapter deals with the long-debated topic of how and to what extent Gramsci’s work can be related to certain strands of liberal-democratic thought. It investigates his interest in linguistics, as well as his relationship with Crocean idealism, focusing on questions of linguistic diversity and unification. It shows that Gramsci’s attention to cultural and linguistic diversity was encouraged by Marxist sources and debates as much as by non-Marxist ones. On the whole, this attention introduced highly original features in his Marxism, but did not push him towards social-democracy or liberalism. Proposals to place his thought outside the Marxist tradition – put forward by some of those involved in debates on Gramsci and pluralism, especially through linguistic interpretations of his notion of hegemony – are therefore rejected.
By surveying the earliest Italian responses to the Cours de linguistique generale, and the presen... more By surveying the earliest Italian responses to the Cours de linguistique generale, and the presence of Saussurean notions especially in debates of the 1930s, this article questions conventional views about the isolation of Italian culture and linguistics at the time. It shows how some of Saussure’s innovative concepts began to circulate and increasingly also reached readers who were not professional linguists. Meanwhile, the article confirms that in interwar Italy the Cours was received without full recognition of its outstanding significance and originality. This was due to diverse and interesting reasons, which are briefly discussed.
Since the second half of the nineteenth century, voicing of Latin intervocalic stops in old Tusca... more Since the second half of the nineteenth century, voicing of Latin intervocalic stops in old Tuscan (and therefore in Italian) has been the focus of extensive scholarly debate. Latin -P-, -T- and -C- became voiced in western Romance varieties, while they have remained voiceless phonemes in eastern Romance. In Tuscany, voiced and voiceless outcomes sometimes puzzlingly co-exist, as in the case of LOCU(M) > luogo ‘place’, but FOCU(M) > fuoco ‘fire’. In order to explain, at least in part, this irregularity, scholars of different persuasions have posited a resistance to partial allophonic voicing (or lenition), as well as a reaction against phonemic voicing. It is generally agreed that crucial evidence for this assumption would be provided by cases of hypercorrection, in which voiceless consonants appeared instead of original voiced consonants in intervocalic position. Many of the scholars involved in this debate have sought for non-etymological voiceless consonants, and have indeed found several examples in central and southern Italy; however, the evidence which has so far emerged for Tuscan varieties is extremely small, and it has even been claimed that there are no Tuscan examples clearly interpretable as cases of hypercorrection. Thanks to the recent expansion of dialectological and lexicographical research on Tuscany and adjacent areas, this conclusion can now be challenged. In this article, this is done mainly by using modern material from the database of the Atlante Lessicale Toscano, but also through comparisons with medieval, and early-modern, written evidence.
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Papers by Alessandro Carlucci