From dialects to a unified language

Monday, March 17 – We are excited to invite you to a very interesting lecture by linguist Cinzia Russi on “From dialects to a unified language: Italy’s complex identity”.
Dr. Cinzia Russi is a Professor of Romance and Italian Linguistics and director of the Graduate Portfolio Program in Romance Linguistics at The University of Texas at Austin. Her research focuses on historical (socio)linguistics with a focus on (morpho)syntax though currently she is also studying the language of contemporary Italian crime fiction, metaphor in narrative and other genres, and the language of medicine in Old Italian.
Here is the outline of the lecture that will be held at Carolina Society Hall on 72 Meeting St, Charleston, SC.

1. Languages, language varieties, and dialects
a. The dialects of Italy
  b. English dialects
2. The dialects of Italy through history
a. Origins of Italo-Romance vernaculars (volgari) and earliest attestations
  b. The Middle Ages
  c. The questione della lingua: from the16 th century to Italy’s political unification
  d. Achieving linguistic unification: Standard Italian
3. The status of dialects in present-day Italy
a. Vitality of the dialects
  b. Dialects in literature and music
4. Conclusion and q&a.