Marcello Barbato

Marcello Barbato is Professor of Romance Philology and Linguistics at the University of Naples "L'Orientale" with an extensive international academic career spanning institutions including Université Libre de Bruxelles and University of Zurich. His scholarly profile encompasses deep expertise in historical linguistics, philology, and medieval Romance languages with particular focus on Italian, Spanish, and Catalan linguistic traditions.

• Full Professor since 2019
• Associate Professor 2013-2019
• Chair of Romance Linguistics at Université Libre de Bruxelles (2007-2013)
• Researcher at University of Zurich (2003-2007)

Barbato's research centers on historical linguistics, philological analysis of medieval texts, and linguistic evolution across Romance languages. His work demonstrates particular strength in analyzing multilingual medieval manuscripts, phonological evolution, and the relationship between Latin and emerging Romance languages. He has made significant contributions to understanding Italian dialectology, particularly Northern Italian varieties, as well as the linguistic features of medieval Iberian texts.

His recent publications reveal a consistent focus on linguistic phenomena across historical Romance languages, with particular attention to morphological and phonological evolution. Barbato's work bridges traditional philological methods with contemporary linguistic analysis, creating a rich interdisciplinary approach to historical language study.

Scientific Recognition:

• Membro dell'Advisory Board di "Romance Philology" (2020-)
• Associato con incarico di ricerca all'Opera del Vocabolario Italiano (2019-)
• Codirettore della collana "Transizioni. Stratigrafie linguistiche tra latino e romanzo" (2017-)
• Multiple research grants from Swiss National Fund, Italian PRIN projects, and Belgian FNRS

Barbato has directed significant research initiatives including "Mappatura dell'italo-romanzo antico (MIRA)" as project partner and served as responsible for a research unit in the "Corpus del vocabolario italiano delle origini" project. He has organized numerous international conferences including "La stratigrafia linguistica dei manoscritti medievali" (2017) and "Documentazione e ricostruzione in linguistica romanza" (2021), establishing himself as a key figure in the international Romance linguistics community.

His editorial work includes directing multiple academic series and serving on the scientific committees of prestigious journals including "Medioevo Romanzo" and "Bollettino del Centro di studi filologici e linguistici siciliani". Barbato's academic leadership extends to his role as Vice President of the SiBA (University Library System) Committee at the University of Naples "L'Orientale".