Antonio Sciarretta

Hi, I'm Antonio Sciarretta. I am from Ortona, a small city laying on the central Adriatic coast of Italy, in the region Abruzzi (italian Abruzzo). My job is to do research in the field of mechanical engineering. I deal with thermal machines and, in particular, with engine and vehicle control. I have a doctoral title (Ph.D.) from the Università dell'Aquila, where I got also my Laurea degree (Master). Currently, I am a post-doc researcher at the "Laboratory of Measurements and Control" of ETH-Zürich, in the Switzerland.

Apart from my research in the since years I have been fond of historical linguistics and in particular of toponymy, the study of place-names and their origin. I began with reading books and glossaries. In 1994 I launched my personal campaign of massive research on the Abruzzese Appennine toponymy (see my first section). I explored town after town, interviewing local people used to the mountain, asking them for place-names in the local, dialectal form. Most of the thousands of place-names collected do not appear in any publication, nor in the official italian maps. In some cases, the place-names had been previously recorded only in some "italianized" form, very different from the original, that does not allow for the reconstruction of the name etymology. I published some material in two books, one on the massif of Maiella (you can buy it here) and the other on the natural reserve of Pettorano sul Gizio, plus some articles in a regional journal. Other minor material is contained in one guide-books I wrote as a co-author. But the largest part of the data collected is still unpublished. That's why I decided to put it on this site. I hope I will be able to do this. It's a very huge amount of stuff! Moreover, I have put in this section some material concerning dialects of Abruzzi and central Italy in general. This material delas mainly with phonetic changes, and was recorded by myself or taken from publications (linguistic atlases, books, etc.)

The second section is devoted to another exciting research field. The ancient toponymy. I mean the place-names of Europe in the 1st millennium b.C. and before, as recorded in Greek and Roman sources. The aim of such thing is to reconstruct, for what is possible, the linguistic conditions in the Old Europe (and not only). So, this research is strictly correlated to linguistics and, in particular, to indo-european studies.

My resume

Birth:

• July 13, 1970
• in Ortona, Italy
• from Marcello son of Angelantonio and Lucia Massari. See my genealogy here

Address: via Caraceni 52, 66026 Ortona (CH), Italy
Status: single
Education:

• 1989 graduated from the Liceo Scientifico of Francavilla al Mare
• 1995 Laurea degree in mechanical engineering from the University of L'Aquila
• 1999 PhD in thermal machines from the University of L'Aquila

Positions:

• 1998 teacher of mechanical technology at the Istituto Tecnico Nautico of Ortona
• 1999 consultant at Centro Ricerche Fiat (Fiat Research Center) of Orbassano
• 1999 reseacrh grant at University of L'Aquila
• 2001 post-doc researcher at Swiss Institute of Tecnology-ETHZ

Publications about toponymy:

• 1997 Toponomastica della Maiella orientale, Edizioni Menabò, Ortona
• 1995-1999 Toponomastica del versante aquilano del Gran Sasso: la montagna di San Franco, la montagna della Ienca ed il Pizzo di Camarda, la montagna di Assergi, la montagna di Filetto, in Bollettino del CAI dell'Aquila, L'Aquila
• 2000 Toponomastica della riserva naturale Monte Genzana ed Alto Gizio, Pettorano sul Gizio
• 2000 La toponomastica, in Guida turistica della Comunità montana Campo Imperatore e Altopiano di Navelli, Edizioni Menabò, Ortona

Last modified: May 17, 2002
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