Walter Belardi’s School of Historical Linguistics

Abstract

This paper aims at describing the magisterium and the scientific legacy of Walter Belardi (1923-2008), professor of historical linguistics at Napoli-Orientale first (since 1956) and then at Roma Sapienza (1964-1998). After recalling the scientific relationship between Belardi and his teacher Antonino Pagliaro (1898-1973), the article focuses on Belardi’s research trajectories, from Indo-European to Iranistics, from general linguistics to classical and romance studies. The article reviews the profiles of Belardi’s many pupils across essentially three generations of professors, all of whom focused on themes inherited from their master. These were explored primarily in light of the common philological-textual approach that is typical, more generally, of the so-called “Roman school of linguistics”