Oriental languages and civilizations

General goals: introduction to the history of the Iranian languages in the Indo-Iranian and Indo-European framework and to the texts written in Old and East Middle Iranian languages. Specific goals: at the end of the course, the student, as far as Avesta, Old Persian, Parthian, and the most significant East Middle Iranian languages are concerned, (1) knows their general development trends and their most important documentation; 2) is able to situate the most evident phenomena within the general framework of Iranian linguistic history; 3) is able to deal with simple texts and the problems they pose also on the basis of an appropriate training; 4) knows the relevant secondary literature on the basis of what one has learnt in class; 5) is able to continue one’s studies under appropriate guidance.