Italian dialects at the phonology-syntax interface: The case of propagination (original) (raw)
Related papers
Syntactic variation and the dialects of Italy: an overview
Excerpt More information volume, but rather as a strength, insofar as it illustrates how clear and systematic descriptions of the dialect data can consistently be exploited to yield and test empirically robust generalizations, as well as profitably inform and challenge a rich and diverse set of theoretical assumptions. By way of an introduction to the volume, we sketch below a general overview of the state of the art in Italian dialect syntax according to the three thematic areas identified above, outlining the principal aspects of diatopic, diachronic and typological variation, as well as a critical assessment of the role of Italian dialect data in informing and shaping recent developments in linguistic theory. 2. The pronominal domain: DP-NP structure, clitics and null subjects 2.1. 'You must get dressed' (Fas., Benincà 1994c: 134) 2 The latter republished as Rizzi (1982: ch. 1) and Rizzi (2000a).
Approaches to Metaphony in the Languages of Italy
'(they) it(f.) chase' c. [u katˈtʃaeβəsə] '(you) it chased' Cerchiara In Stigliano in (7)-(9) (Savoia 1987), harmonic spreading affects all stressed vowels and also pre-tonic /a/. The presence of [ə] between the trigger of the harmony and the stressed nucleus does not block spreading, as in (9d). The outcomes of the harmony for stressed /a/ are [ɔ:] and [wɔ:] following a velar consonant in open syllable, and [wa] in closed syllable, cf. (7)-(9)(a). For pre-tonic /a/ the outcomes are [wɔ] after velar consonant and [ɔ] in other contexts, cf. (7)-(9)(c). For other stressed vowels we find the simple insertion of a [w] segment; outcomes of metaphony may also be affected. Word-internal contexts are illustrated in (7). In (8) and (9) we display the phonosyntactic contexts D-N and Cl-V, respectively. The relevant harmonic process is triggered by the masculine singular D in (8) and by the masculine singular accusative Cl in (9). While in dialects like Saracena and Cerchiara the vowel that triggers the harmony is overtly realized, specifically as u in the masculine singular determiner and in the accusative clitic, in Stigliano the original *u in unstressed position is neutralized to [ə]. 'the tripod' c'. [traˈpe:ðə] 'tripod' Q: Please check the shortened running head placed here. '(I) it do' Aux-V − [ˈl addƷə maɲˈdƷa:tə] '(I) it have eaten' Copula-A − [so vvaˈkantə] '(they) are empty' Caus-V − [tə lə fɔˈtʃejmə fa] '(we) you it make do' i.e. 'we make you do it'
Folia Linguistica, 1991
In the overwhelming majority of t he languages of the world there exist only tense and no lax high vowels. Natural Phonology accounts for this observational data by postulating a process of tensing which h äs in its structural description a condition [ihigher]. This process remains active und er the form of a prelexical paradigmatic constraint in all languages lacking [-tense] high vowels, and, conversely, must be suppressed during language acquisition by any child in whose mother tongue vocalic segments such äs /I U/ and the like do occur. 11alian, äs is well knovvn, belongs to the former, and most widespread, class. However, this paper argues t hat, while this holds t nie for Standard 11 ali an (= SI) and for the dialects spoken in northern and central Italy, (at least some) southern 11 ali an dialects actually have to be classed within the latter group. This postulated difference between SI and southern Italian dialects, in terms of retention vs. suppression of the tensing process, is confirmed by some pieces of evidence resulting from a comparison of bot h the paradigmatic and syntagmatic structures of the t wo varieties. In SI the Operation of the process under discussion disallows: (a) [±tense] Opposition between high vowels, and (b) the occurrence of sequences of glide + homorganic high vowel. Our starting assumption about southern Italian dialects predicts t hat they behave in just the opposite way: nainely, bot h (a) and (b) should be allowed. And this is in fact what is observed, when these dialects are carefully examined. This paper was read at the 17th Jahrestagung Österreichischer Linguisten (Workshop Natürliche Phonologie), Vienna December 8-10, 1989. I am indebted to Wolfgang U. Dressler and Bernard Hurch for hei pfui comments and suggestions. I am of course the sole person responsible for any errors the paper contains.
2019
and recostruction of Proto-Sovramontino's plural morphology prior the loss of word-finals. The masculine noun is 'dog' and the feminine noun is 'chair'. 2.2 Tonic and atonic pronouns in Fornese. 2.3 Tonic and atonic pronouns in Sovramontino. 2.4 Renzi and Vanelli's (1983) NID categories on the basis of the distribution of obligatory SCLs across the different persons of the verb. 2.5 Negation and SCLs in Sovramontino and Fornese. 2.6 Atonic pronouns in Sovramontino. 2.7 Atonic pronouns in Fornese. 2.8 Present indicative conjugation of the verb 'to eat' in Friulian. 2.9 SCL forms vs. verb inflection forms in the relevant grammatical persons in Sovramontino and Fornese. 3.1 Affirmative and interrogative SCLs in Lamonat and Sovramontino. 3.2 The internal makeup of the tonic wh-word aonde in Lamonat and Sovramontino according to Munaro and Poletto (2014). 3.3 Tonic and clitic wh-elements in Lamonat and Sovramontino. 5.1 The typology of contrastive elements in Lamonat and Sovramontino with respect to Molnár's (2002, 2006) revised discourse-functions of contrastiveness. 5.2 Revised Hierarchy of Contrast for Lamonat and Sovramontino. List of Figures 2.1 Geographical distribution of the four NEIDs under investigation and their neighbouring Romance varieties. 41 4.1 Pitch contour of the root interrogative in (58) featuring an apparently in-situ wh-element 189 4.2 First, I would like to thank my supervisors Prof. Delia Bentley and Dr. Julio Villa-García for their help, guidance and feedback in the construction of this thesis. In the last two years of my Ph.D. programme, Dr. Julio Villa-García has been an excellent mentor: he taught me how to 'think syntactically' within generative syntax and made a perfect 'captive audience' for my moments of syntactic euphoria. I have no words to express the sense of gratitude that I feel towards Prof. Delia Bentley. In the past eight years, she has been a role model and solid reference point in my life. I also want to thank my former co-supervisor Dr. Laurel MacKenzie, particularly for her guidance and help with data management. I am also very grateful to Prof. Eva Schultze-Berndt for her constructive criticism and frank feedback throughout my Ph.D. programme. Second, I would like to thank the speech communities of Forni di Sopra, Lamon and Sovramonte. Informants literally welcomed me in their homes and put up with my time-consuming interviews. In the community of Forni di Sopra, I am especially grateful to Alfio Anziutti for his help with the recruitment of informants, and Rossella Fachin for sharing her unpublished materials on Fornese. I also want to thank all the Fornese speakers that I interviewed, in particular Danilo, Reli and Cami. Special thanks go to Genni Sacchetti for her help in my pilot investigation of Fornese. In the community of Lamon, I want to thank the former council member Stefano Facchin for his irreplaceable help with the recruitment of informants. A big thank you goes to the local folk association 'Drio le peche' and its president Emma Gaio Maillard. I would like to thank all the Lamonat speakers who took part in the interviews, especially Maleta, Bacan, and Molina. In the community of Sovramonte, I would like to thank the Mayor Federico Dalla Torre for his help in setting my fieldwork in motion. I would also like to thank Luciano Reato and the Pro-Loco Sovramonte for their help with the recruitment of informants. I am especially grateful to the family Morosoche for actively taking part in the interviews, namely Lorenzo, Giuliano, Luigino, Antonietta and Cirio. A huge thank you goes to my very own grandmother Elsa Facchin for being a particularly patient speaker of Sovramontino. I am also grateful to Pierin and Giamba who impeccably represented the tiny village of Aune. Finally, many thanks to the Friulian speakers in my hometown who gladly accepted to be interviewed, above all
In many parts of Europe, the well-known social changes which have taken place in late modernity, mainly related to the transition from agrarian to industrial and post-industrial societies, as well as the acceleration of globalization from the end of the twentieth century, have had a great impact on the pre-existing relationships between traditional dialects and the national standard language. In most areas, these changes have led to the emergence of a range of intermediate varieties between the most ancient (and rural) dialects and the standard variety of the national language, and have resulted in the development of new standard norms. Against this backdrop, a number of features which were previously limited to traditional dialects have extended their reach to higher varieties, such as koines and regional standard varieties, while others have been confined to the dialect of origin and, in some cases, have fallen into disuse. Such dynamics reflect a complex selection process, which is steered by a manifold array of factors. This paper deals with the selection of morphosyntactic features in Italo-Romance. In § 2, a brief overview will be provided of the relationship between Italo-Romance dialects and Italian. Special attention will be paid to the language space between traditional dialects and the standard variety of Italian, with particular focus on how this space is shaped differently across the Italo-Romance domain, and mention will be made of the main dynamics underlying the inclusion of dialect features within the standard. The latter issue will be considered in more depth in § 3, through the analysis of a representative case. Drawing on both previous literature and corpus-based data, the focus will fall on the behavior of the Italian negative particle mica (< Latin MICAM "crumb") in declarative clauses as a case in point for the interplay of factors underlying the selection of morphosyntactic features in Italo-Romance. In particular, some facilitating and constraining factors will be explored by referring to the notion of salience, which "seems to lie at the cusp of language internal, external and extra-linguistic motivation" (Kerswill & Williams 2002: 81).