Author Date

2026-07-28

Degree Name

Department

Linguistics

College

Humanities

Defense Date

2026-07-15

Publication Date

2026-08-01

First Faculty Advisor

Dr. Daniel Paul

First Faculty Reader

Dr. Lisa Morgan Johnson

Honors Coordinator

Dr. Holly Baker

Keywords

modern italian, sociolinguistics, secularization, corpus analysis, semantic bleaching, diachronic change

Abstract

This study explores the relationship between religion and language by examining how Catholicism and secularization have shaped modern Italian. While the historical influence of the Catholic Church on Italian is well established, less attention has been given to how recent secularizing trends have transformed the language at lexical, discursive, and sociolinguistic levels. Addressing this gap, the study asks: how have Italy’s deep-rooted Catholic traditions and its more recent shift toward secularization influenced the meanings, frequency, and use of religiously rooted expressions in modern Italian?

Using a mixed-methods approach, this project combines corpus-based linguistic analysis with qualitative analysis. Diachronic data from major Italian corpora (1980s–present) is used to track changes in frequency and semantic change of 30 common religious terms across genres. These findings are complemented by a qualitative analysis of these terms, looking specifically at whether the words are used in a religious context and at the level of semantic change that has occurred. Together, these methods allow for both measurable and interpretive insights into linguistic change.

This study is grounded in two key observations: first, that Catholicism has historically left a lasting imprint on the Italian language, and second, that secularization has contributed to a decline in the visibility and pragmatic use of religious discourse in modern Italy. By bringing these conversations together, the thesis demonstrates how broader cultural and religious transformations are reflected in language use.

Ultimately, this project contributes to sociolinguistics, Italian studies, and the interdisciplinary study of language and religion by showing how shifts in belief systems are not only cultural but also linguistic. In tracing these changes, the thesis offers a lens into evolving Italian identity and highlights the dynamic relationship between language, ideology, and social change.