Marcello Aprile is Full Professor at the University of Salento, where he teaches Italian Linguistics; he earned his Ph.D at the University of Saarland (D) under the supervision of Max Pfister. His research interest lies in the history of the Italian language and its dialects, the prehistory and medieval phase of language in the southern regions of Italy, the language of mass media, and the history of linguistic minorities in Italy (Greeks, Jews). He is section director of the Italian Etymological Lexicon (LEI) at the University of Saarland, director of the doctoral program in “Lingue, letterature e culture e loro applicazioni”, and deputy director of the Department of Humanities, University of Salento.