Iride VALENTI

Short Curriculum Note of Iride Valenti

ORCID: 0000-0003-1225-7148

I am Associate Professor of “Glottology and Linguistics” (GLOT-01/A, formerly L-LIN/01). Since 2023, I have held the National Scientific Qualification as Full Professor in the same field, “Glottology and Linguistics”.

I obtained a degree in Classical Studies from the University of Catania (2000) and a PhD in Modern Philology (linguistic curriculum) from the University of Catania (2004). I was a postdoctoral research fellow (2005–2007) and subsequently a tenured researcher from 2007 to 2015. Since 2015, I have been Associate Professor.

I currently teach General Linguistics with laboratory (9 ECTS credits) in the BA programme in Humanities (L10), Advanced General Linguistics (6 ECTS credits) in the degree programme in Classical Philology, and Advanced General Linguistics in the MA programme in Modern Philology (LM14, also shared with LM37).

From the academic year 2004–2005 to the present, within the degree programmes of the Department of Humanities (formerly the Faculty of Arts and Philosophy), I have taught courses in:

• General Linguistics (9 ECTS credits), BA programmes in European, Euro-American and Oriental Languages and Cultures (L11) and Humanities (L10);
• Linguistics and Communication (9 ECTS credits), BA programme in Sciences and Languages for Communication (L20);
• Applied Linguistics (8 ECTS credits), BA programme in Communication Sciences (L20);
• Linguistics and Glottology (6 ECTS credits), MA programmes in Modern Philology (LM14 and LM15).

To date, I have served as supervisor for more than one hundred theses, including old-system degree theses, Master’s theses, and final Bachelor’s degree projects.

1.Research Interests

My research activity is articulated in:

• studies in historical linguistics and etymology, also in relation to the issue of interference between languages and dialects. The specific attention paid to the linguistic situation of late medieval Sicily enabled me to compile the first significant collection of Sicilian lexemes of Gallo-Romance, Old French, Norman and Provençal origin (distinguishing ancient Gallicisms from recent French loanwords and reconstructing, for the first time, the etymologies of approximately one thousand lexemes), to recognize the presence of Tuscan in Sicily well before the 16th century, and to underline the “female” matrix of certain medieval northernisms (of Gallo-Italian origin) in relation to the socio-historical interpretation of the data. My recent monograph refers to the contact between Sicilian and medieval Gallo-Romance varieties: IRIDE VALENTI (2022). Vocabolario storico-etimologico dei gallicismi nel siciliano, Palermo, Centro Studi Filologici e Linguistici Siciliani, pp. 1–605 [ISBN: 979-12-80182-13-5].
• studies related to the linguistic history of Italian emigration worldwide and to the multilingualism detectable among descendants of Italians, with particular reference to the presence of Italians in Tunisia. In this field, I have produced, among others, the following contributions: Italiano residuale e resiliente tra discendenti dell’emigrazione italiana postunitaria in Tunisia. Un primo approccio, “Studi Emigrazione” (Class A journal), (2022); Testimonianze di italiano regional(-popolare) nei primi romanzi di Marinette Pendola (Tunisi, 1948), in M. Dhouib, A. Campisi, Mediterraneo, Tunisi 2017–2019, Tunis, Éditions universitaires Sotepagraphic, 2021, pp. 529–545; L’italiano regional-popolare di matrice siciliana ne L’Erba di vento della scrittrice italotunisina Marinette Pendola (1948–), in C. Rizzo (ed.), Migrazioni. Storie, lingue, scritture, Quaderni del CIRVI – Centro Interuniversitario di Ricerche sul Viaggio in Italia, 2020, pp. 165–222.
• studies related to interference between Italian and dialect, also in the literary field: in addition to the language of Italian writers (Pirandello, De Simone, Camilleri, Maraini), I have devoted my attention to the language of writers born in Tunisia who nevertheless chose to write their works in Italian in relation to their ancient Italian origins (Pendola), drawing extensively even on the regional component. In this field are also included studies in translation studies (the Spanish version of Pirandello’s Il Vecchio Dio).
• studies related to sixteenth-century (Scobar 1519) and eighteenth-century (Del Bono 1751–54) Sicilian lexicography. In these areas, I have published, among others, the following contributions: Il repertorio linguistico della Sicilia rinascimentale nell’opera lessicografica di L. C. Scobar, RILD, pp. 169–190 (Class A journal), (2021) and The “humanistic flowering” of Sicily and the Sicilian–Latin bilingual dictionary of L. C. Scobar, in: www.polyphonie.at, Vol. 10 (2/2021), pp. 1–24 (2021).

For the detailed list of my publications, I refer directly to the IRIS platform (https://www.iris.unict.it/).

2.Participation in Research Projects

I currently participate in the following research projects:

• NATIONAL PROJECT – PRIN 20228A5WPZ “Oral Toponymy in Sicily, Between History and Local Areas. A Digital, Lexicographical and Atlas Model” / “Toponimia orale in Sicilia, tra storia e spazi vissuti. Un modello digitale, lessicografico e atlantistico”: ROLE: HEAD OF THE RESEARCH UNIT (p.i.: Marina Castiglione).
• PNRR – Extended Partnership PE 5, Spoke 3, WP5 “Languages and their legacies in oral digital archives: synchronic interdisciplinary perspectives on multilingualism, language minorities, dialects and cultural contact in Italy” (Coordinator Prof. Barbara Turchetta, University of Bergamo, leader; Participants: UniTO, UniMI, UniBO, UniCT, UniVE). ROLE: HEAD of the programme of a postdoctoral research grant for the indexing of archival materials of the Opera del Vocabolario Siciliano.
• NATIONAL PROJECT – PRIN 2017 [2017K79S7T_004] “Italian Language, Global Language Market, Italian Enterprise Worldwide: New Linguistic, Sociocultural, Institutional, Economic-Productive Dynamics” (national coordinator Prof. Massimo Vedovelli, University for Foreigners of Siena). ROLE: Member of the Research Unit coordinated by Laura Mori (International University of Rome).
• DEPARTMENTAL PROJECT “Piaceri” 2020–2024 “Migrations and Belonging: Analysis of Strategies and Methods of Construction of New Identity Concepts and Restructuring of Linguistic Repertoires” (coordinator Prof. Concettina Rizzo). ROLE: HEAD of the Research Unit “Migration phenomena and restructuring of linguistic repertoires between past and present”.

I have already taken part in numerous other research programmes of significant national interest (PRIN), aimed at the realization of the Linguistic Atlas of Sicily (ALS) (https://www.csfls.it/res/ricerche/als/). Among the research related to these PRIN projects, I recall here the monograph Gallicismi nella cultura alimentare della Sicilia (Centro di Studi Filologici e Linguistici Siciliani, Palermo 2011). Since 2011, this publication has been made available to researchers of the Office Universitaire d’Études Normandes (OUEN) and, since 2012, has been included in “Tabularia” – Sources écrites de la Normandie médiévale [ISSN: 1630-7364], a French electronic journal of the University of Caen in Normandy (accessible on the website of the CRAHAM – Centre de recherches archéologiques et historiques anciennes et médiévales: http://www.unicaen.fr/mrsh/craham/revue/tabularia/index.html), as a source to be used by those wishing to deepen the themes treated within the objectives of the journal itself, aimed at encouraging studies relating to Normandy.

3.Publications

The scientific activity of Iride Valenti is documented by 45 full publications (including 5 monographs, 15 journal articles, and 29 book chapters).

For the detailed list of my publications, I refer directly to the IRIS platform (https://www.iris.unict.it/).

4.Visiting

In 2018 and 2021, I was Visiting Professor at the University of Manouba in Tunisia. With the same University, I initiated a framework agreement and a series of exchanges both in the field of research (concerning post-Unification Italian emigration to Tunisia) and in the field of teaching (Erasmus mobility).

In March 2024, I was Visiting Researcher at the University of Caen in France, where I delivered a lecture on the topic “L’héritage normand en Sicile entre langue et culture : le premier vocabulaire historico-éthimologique des gallicismes”, publicized on the University website (https://ufr-hss.unicaen.fr/evenement/lheritage-normand-en-sicile-entre-langue-et-culture-le-premier-vocabulaire-historico-etymologique-des-gallicismes/) and on the website of the Region of Normandy (https://www.normandie.fr/conference-lheritage-normand-en-sicile-entre-langue-et-culture-le-premier-vocabulaire-historico).

5.Third Mission

Among third mission activities, I have privileged those related to:

• the dissemination of the linguistic history of late medieval Sicily: in March 2024, I delivered a lecture for the Association Normandie–Sicile of Ouistreham Riva-Bella on the topic “L'héritage linguistique et culturel des Normands sur la plus grande île de la Méditerranée : un patrimoine à découvrir en Sicile” (https://www.flipbookpdf.net/web/site/498f64da80b9dae363dfaeba135e4b3a324456fe202406.pdf.html#page/2); in February 2021, I worked together with a TF1 television crew, a French generalist TV channel, to speak, around the city of Catania, about the linguistic traces left by the Normans in Sicily; in November 2023, I gave a long interview on the linguistic contributions left by the Normans in Sicily to a French director for a documentary promoted by France 3;
• the safeguarding and promotion of the Gallo-Italian varieties of Sicily, promoted by me in synergy with the other members of the “PROGETTO GALLOITALICI – Association for the Knowledge and Safeguarding of the Gallo-Italian Dialects of Sicily” (of which I am a member as Vice President), and my commitment in teacher training courses (e.g. within the University project Mat-Ita, aimed at strengthening linguistic and mathematical competences of upper secondary school students and preventing Additional Educational Requirements (O.F.A.) in the first year of university studies);
• making known the history of Italian emigration to Tunisia, also by participating in the editions of the cultural event “Matabbìa” held in Marsala (19–21 August 2022), Tunis (29 September–1 October 2023), and Marseille (11–13 September 2025), particularly dedicated to the memory of Sicilian emigration to Tunisia.

Catania, 16 February 2026

The scientific activity of Iride Valenti is documented by 45 full publications (including 5 monographs, 15 journal articles, and 29 book chapters).

For the detailed list of my publications, I refer directly to the IRIS platform (https://www.iris.unict.it/).

I currently participate in the following research projects:

• NATIONAL PROJECT – PRIN 20228A5WPZ “Oral Toponymy in Sicily, Between History and Local Areas. A Digital, Lexicographical and Atlas Model” / “Toponimia orale in Sicilia, tra storia e spazi vissuti. Un modello digitale, lessicografico e atlantistico”: ROLE: HEAD OF THE RESEARCH UNIT (p.i.: Marina Castiglione).
• PNRR – Extended Partnership PE 5, Spoke 3, WP5 “Languages and their legacies in oral digital archives: synchronic interdisciplinary perspectives on multilingualism, language minorities, dialects and cultural contact in Italy” (Coordinator Prof. Barbara Turchetta, University of Bergamo, leader; Participants: UniTO, UniMI, UniBO, UniCT, UniVE). ROLE: HEAD of the programme of a postdoctoral research grant for the indexing of archival materials of the Opera del Vocabolario Siciliano.
• NATIONAL PROJECT – PRIN 2017 [2017K79S7T_004] “Italian Language, Global Language Market, Italian Enterprise Worldwide: New Linguistic, Sociocultural, Institutional, Economic-Productive Dynamics” (national coordinator Prof. Massimo Vedovelli, University for Foreigners of Siena). ROLE: Member of the Research Unit coordinated by Laura Mori (International University of Rome).
• DEPARTMENTAL PROJECT “Piaceri” 2020–2024 “Migrations and Belonging: Analysis of Strategies and Methods of Construction of New Identity Concepts and Restructuring of Linguistic Repertoires” (coordinator Prof. Concettina Rizzo). ROLE: HEAD of the Research Unit “Migration phenomena and restructuring of linguistic repertoires between past and present”.

I have already taken part in numerous other research programmes of significant national interest (PRIN), aimed at the realization of the Linguistic Atlas of Sicily (ALS) (https://www.csfls.it/res/ricerche/als/). Among the research related to these PRIN projects, I recall here the monograph Gallicismi nella cultura alimentare della Sicilia (Centro di Studi Filologici e Linguistici Siciliani, Palermo 2011). Since 2011, this publication has been made available to researchers of the Office Universitaire d’Études Normandes (OUEN) and, since 2012, has been included in “Tabularia” – Sources écrites de la Normandie médiévale [ISSN: 1630-7364], a French electronic journal of the University of Caen in Normandy (accessible on the website of the CRAHAM – Centre de recherches archéologiques et historiques anciennes et médiévales: http://www.unicaen.fr/mrsh/craham/revue/tabularia/index.html), as a source to be used by those wishing to deepen the themes treated within the objectives of the journal itself, aimed at encouraging studies relating to Normandy.

In 2018 and 2021, I was Visiting Professor at the University of Manouba in Tunisia. With the same University, I initiated a framework agreement and a series of exchanges both in the field of research (concerning post-Unification Italian emigration to Tunisia) and in the field of teaching (Erasmus mobility).

In March 2024, I was Visiting Researcher at the University of Caen in France, where I delivered a lecture on the topic “L’héritage normand en Sicile entre langue et culture : le premier vocabulaire historico-éthimologique des gallicismes”, publicized on the University website (https://ufr-hss.unicaen.fr/evenement/lheritage-normand-en-sicile-entre-langue-et-culture-le-premier-vocabulaire-historico-etymologique-des-gallicismes/) and on the website of the Region of Normandy (https://www.normandie.fr/conference-lheritage-normand-en-sicile-entre-langue-et-culture-le-premier-vocabulaire-historico).

Among third mission activities, I have privileged those related to:

• the dissemination of the linguistic history of late medieval Sicily: in March 2024, I delivered a lecture for the Association Normandie–Sicile of Ouistreham Riva-Bella on the topic “L'héritage linguistique et culturel des Normands sur la plus grande île de la Méditerranée : un patrimoine à découvrir en Sicile” (https://www.flipbookpdf.net/web/site/498f64da80b9dae363dfaeba135e4b3a324456fe202406.pdf.html#page/2); in February 2021, I worked together with a TF1 television crew, a French generalist TV channel, to speak, around the city of Catania, about the linguistic traces left by the Normans in Sicily; in November 2023, I gave a long interview on the linguistic contributions left by the Normans in Sicily to a French director for a documentary promoted by France 3;
• the safeguarding and promotion of the Gallo-Italian varieties of Sicily, promoted by me in synergy with the other members of the “PROGETTO GALLOITALICI – Association for the Knowledge and Safeguarding of the Gallo-Italian Dialects of Sicily” (of which I am a member as Vice President), and my commitment in teacher training courses (e.g. within the University project Mat-Ita, aimed at strengthening linguistic and mathematical competences of upper secondary school students and preventing Additional Educational Requirements (O.F.A.) in the first year of university studies);
• making known the history of Italian emigration to Tunisia, also by participating in the editions of the cultural event “Matabbìa” held in Marsala (19–21 August 2022), Tunis (29 September–1 October 2023), and Marseille (11–13 September 2025), particularly dedicated to the memory of Sicilian emigration to Tunisia.