Fare storia della lingua. Scritti per Treccani sull’italiano e la scuola

This book is a collection of essays on the Italian language by Luca Serianni, published by the Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana (Institute of the Italian Encyclopedia). What emerges is the wealth and depth of a reflection which, over the course of about 50 years, allowed the author to become one of the most influential scholars in the field. It starts with the comprehensive essay ‘Fare storia della lingua’ (Telling the history of language), which traces the origins and redefines the status of the discipline that is now known as ‘Storia della lingua italiana’ (History of the Italian Language). It is followed by ‘Lingua e dialetti italiani’ (The Italian language and its dialects), which provides a dynamic overview of contemporary Italian language and its many regional variations, and ‘Lingua scritta’ (Written language), which sets the benchmark – not only for scholars – and demonstrates the author’s extraordinary ability to draw general conclusions from peculiar linguistic facts. To conclude, three essays on the topic ‘Language and school’, which the author focused on passionately and extensively: Not only does it explain the role that schools have played in disseminating the Italian language since the Unification of Italy, but it also provides an outstanding insight into the linguistic history of 19th century Italian. ‘Il liceo’ (secondary shool) captures the author’s attentiveness to teachers and students, while ‘L’eredità di Tullio De Mauro’ (The legacy of Tullio de Mauro) acknowledges the vital contribution that his friend and colleague made to teaching the Italian language.