Vito Bongiorno

 

Degree in Linguistics (2000, Naples, Italy: University for Oriental studies).

Doctor in Theory of Language and Languages (2005, Naples, Italy: University for Oriental Studies).

 

o      Main interests: General linguistics. Ethno-linguistics and linguistic field research. American indian languages (in particular andean languages). Folk-linguistics. Ideology of language. Text linguistics. Renaissance linguistics (missionary linguistics in particular). Dialectology (italian dialects in particular). German philology. European laguages (germanic in particular). Place and person names.

 

o      I was born in Naples in 1972. Since I was a child I liked hearing very different languages and, growing up, I liked studying them. At the age of seven I was fascinated by the languages I could hear in the songs of a group from Chile, Inti Illimani. The names of these languages are Quechua and Aymara, two languages spoken throughout the mountains of Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina. During the same period I started studying English. At 10 I received lessons of Russian by television. At 12 I had private lessons of Latin and at 14 I began learning the fundaments of ancient Greek at a neapolitan classical high school. I studied German and Swedish at the University and practiced such languages working outside Italy as a volunteer with some O.N.G. Since 1993 I’m trying to become a fluent speaker of Quechua and of Aymara. For these reasons I travelled various times to Peru (1999-2003); here, with the help of patient peasants, I was almost able to obtain my aim, hearing, speaking and making interviews every day about speakers’ traditions and life. I wrote my degree and doctoral thesis about Quechua and about early documents of other andean languages. In this page I offer some of the results I reached studying and making field researches in Peru during the years 2002-2003.

 

o      Publications

 

o      Offprints of articles:

Andean person names  (.pdf in Spanish)

Linguistic ideology in andean colonial sources        (.pdf in Spanish)

Linguistic ideology and culture: quechua words for linguistic activity       (.pdf in Italian)

     Colonial sources: friar Blas Valera        (.pdf in Italian)

         Quechua place names  (.pdf in Spanish)

Quechua language and textiles      (.pdf in Italian)

         Quechua semantic domains: animals     (.pdf in Spanish)

 

o      Doctoral thesis’ index (in English)

 

o      Field recordings:

Brief sample of quechua story-telling (recorded in Chinchero, Cuzco, Perù in October 2002): “The tramp, the wedding and the woman” (MP3 file)

Free italian translation of the story  (.pdf in Italian)

        

“Wayno” (andean musical type in rythm of 4/4) played by an orchestra in Puno’s square during celebrations of independence day (Perù, july 2003) (MP3 file)

 

o      Other interests:

1.    History of colonization and de-colonization. Animal behaviour (in particular primates).

2.    Hard rock (all the Seventies). Folk music (from all over the world).

 

o      Hobby: Singing (classical music). Playing acustic instruments (andean: charango, siku, quena; european: accordeon).

 

o      Photo of a peruvian textile (Patakancha, Urubamba, Perù)

 

o      Email: vitobong@libero.it