Roberto Gusmani e la linguistica del secondo dopoguerra in Italia

This paper deals with the scientific profile of Roberto Gusmani; in particular, an attempt is made to frame Gusmani’s figure as a historical linguist and scholar of language contact within the framework of the second generation of Italian linguists in the twentieth century. These scholars were pupils of linguists such as Pagliaro, Devoto, and Pisani. Gusmani’s position is fully consistent with that of other linguists of his own generation; they tried to integrate traditional Italian historical linguistics, sensitive to issues of the concreteness of phenomena and the consciousness of speakers, with the new trends of structural linguistics; their attempt, not always successful, was to reconcile historicism and structuralism. Gusmani’s numerous scholarly interests confirm his adherence to the three methodological pillars of historical linguistics as practiced in Italy: the vastness of expertise in the sphere of Indo-European, both Western and Eastern languages; the absolute pre-eminence of philological-textual data; and the overtly inductive approach toward general issues. In light of these considerations, the stature and value of the scientific figure of Roberto Gusmani within Italian historical linguistics stand out very clearly.