Comparing Italian And English. An Introduction

This textbook is designed to meet the needs of degree courses in “Lingue e culture moderne” and “Scienze della mediazione linguistica”. Based on current trends in contrastive linguistics, it compares Italian and English in selected areas at all linguistic levels. Comparison concerns both language system and language use, while also taking into account socio–cultural aspects. The twelve units include exercises, topics for discussion and activities designed to guide students in undertaking their own contrastive investigations. Unique in Italy, the book combines descriptive thoroughness, clarity of style and pedagogical effectiveness, providing an indispensable resource for anyone interested in the English language.Contents: Introduction.Part One: The Basics of Contrastive Analysis – 1 What is Contrastive Analysis? – 2 The Relevance of Contrastive Analysis – 3 Comparability – 4 Steps of Contrastive Analysis – 5 Methods of Contrastive Analysis – 6 What to compare: languages, cultures or both?Part Two: Italian and English in Contrast – 7 Comparing sounds – 8 Comparing the structure of words – 9 Comparing the structure of sentences – 10 Comparing lexemes – 11 Comparing utterances – 12 Comparing texts – BibliographyPatrizia Pierini is associate professor of English Language and Translation at the Faculty of Letters, “Roma Tre” University. She has published extensively in the fields of contrastive linguistics, translation studies and discourse analysis. Recently she has edited two volumes on translation: L’atto del tradurre. Aspetti teorici e pratici della traduzione (Rome, 1999) and Lo sviluppo della competenza traduttiva. Orientamenti, problemi e proposte (Rome, 2001).