Degrees of grammaticalization and measure constructions in Italian (original) (raw)
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Whereas a number of works have investigated N1-of-N2 binominal constructions in English (especially of the sort/kind of type), much less attention has been paid to the corresponding constructions in Romance languages, especially Italian. This paper will provide an overview of Italian binominal constructions with the preposition di ‘of’ (N1-di-N2), which are associated with a variety of functions, such as approximation, aspect, evaluation, modification, possession, quantification, subcategorization. Not all constructions, however, behave alike: some of them are special in that the first noun is not fully referential and does not function as a prototypical phrasal head, but rather as a “Light Noun” that carries a grammatical meaning that is applied to the second noun. The various constructions thus identified – named “Light Noun Constructions” – are shown to be part of constructional networks, which go from micro-constructions to macro-constructions, and possibly “metaconstructions”, a maximally general constructional level that licenses all Light Noun patterns.
Europhras 2021 Conference, September 6-9, 2021, Proceedings., 2023
In line with the usage-based constructionist approach (Goldberg 1995, 2006; Bybee 2013), along with the theories about polirematiche (Voghera 2004, Squillante 2016), this research aims to show that in Italian some specific multiword expressions (MWE) express Manner through the use of indefinite items such as niente ('nothing'), qualcosina ('something.DIM.'), certo ('a certain'). These approaches argue that in language use speakers create and recognise as units MWEs characterised by syntactic peculiarities and non-compositional semantics. They can be defined as constructions and as their frequency increases, so does the conventionalisation of a new meaning and of a new conceptual association. In this respect, this research discusses the emerging conceptual association between Indefinite Quantity and Manner sense, along with an analysis of MWEs' syntactic and semantic peculiarities.
Towards a Constructional Account of High and Low Frequency Binominal Quantifiers in Spanish 1
This paper aims to provide a clearer understanding of the widely discussed topic of grammaticalization of constructions. Among the continuing problems figures that of identifying the relevant constructional 'level' of language change, distinguishing between the substantial level of specific occurrences and the schematic level of generalizations 2. Another issue many current analyses struggle with is the degree of schematicity of analogical forces. The present case-study analyses the grammaticalization observed in Spanish binominal quantifiers. In addition to addressing the above-mentioned theoretical questions, this paper highlights the quantifying potential of binominal expressions by positing a 'size/type specification-continuum'. The structure of the paper will be as follows. After briefly introducing the research-topic (section 1), I will discuss the grammaticalization process of individual Size Noun-constructions and illustrate the crucial – though at first sight contradictory – role of frequency and analogy (section 2). The significance of these two driving forces can best be explained by distinguishing several constructional levels (section 3). Drawing on conceptual-semantic grounds, I will adduce arguments for a 'Size/Type specification-continuum' as an alternative to positing a highly-schematic binominal quantifier (section 4). The concluding section rounds off with a reconsideration of the role of frequency and analogy (section 5).
Two "many"-Words in Italian? On Molto-Tanto and Cross-Linguistic Differences in Quantification
Quaderni di Linguistica e Studi Orientali. Working Papers in Linguistics and Oriental Studies, 2023
This article investigates the variability in the meaning of vague quantifiers across different languages, focusing on Italian’s m(any)-words molto and tanto. The aim was to replicate a previous analysis conducted on Slovenian m-words – precej and veliko – examining whether the Italian ones exhibit a similar pragmatic strengthening effect. Using a sentence-picture verification task, we tested 88 Italian monolingual participants on their evaluation of sentences of the form “Quantifier X are Y”. Our results showed that, unlike Slovenian speakers, Italian speakers do not exhibit a difference in the evaluation of molto and tanto, suggesting that the two words have the same numerical bound and are interchangeable as amount modifiers. Our analysis suggests that there are underlying semantic distinctions between molto and tanto that require further investigation. These findings contribute to our understanding of the variability in the use of quantifiers across languages and highlight the importance of examining subtle differences in meaning when studying vague quantifiers.
Towards a constructional account of high and low frequency binominal quantifiers in Spanish
This paper aims to provide a clearer understanding of the widely discussed topic of grammaticalization of constructions. One unresolved problem concerns the identification of the relevant constructional level of language change, i.e. either the substantial level of specific occurrences or the schematic level of generalizations 1. Another issue addressed in many current analyses is the degree of schematicity of analogical forces. The present case study addresses these questions in the context of Spanish binominal quantifiers, basing its claims on synchronic and diachronic corpus analysis. The synchronic layering of uses in Present-Day Spanish, – which encompasses quantifying and premodifying uses in addition to literal head uses – will be argued to reflect the outcome of grammaticalization. The synchronic as well as diachronic semantic clustering of binominal quantifiers and the prototype function of high-frequency montón de 'heap of' are hypothesized to result from the close interaction between analogical thinking and conceptual persistence. In line with the usage-based approach to language change, the dramatic increase in frequency observed for quantifying montón de will lead me to distinguish several constructional levels of change and to establish a schematic 'N1 de N2' pattern linked to quantity as a driving force. The strong collocational preferences characterizing the individual binominal constructions, the systematicity of the premodifying use and the tendency to reinforce conceptual elements of the original head use will be accounted for by considering the quantity assessment of the (schematic) binominal string as just one possible realization of co-extensiveness, in addition to quality assessment.
Specificity and Countability in Old Italian
von Heusinger, Klaus / Kaiser, Georg A. (eds.), Proceedings of the Workshop “Semantic and Syntactic Aspects of Specificity in Romance Languages”, Konstanz, Universität Konstanz (= Konstanzer Arbeitspapiere zur Sprachwissenschaft, 113), 133-152, 2003
The semantic-pragmatic category specificity is a very recent category -it was introduced in the late sixties. Since then it has been used in many descriptive grammars for describing a great variety of grammatical phenomena, such as different articles, cases markings (e.g., differentiated object marking or DOM), the modality in relative clauses, word order and information structure, clitic doubling, to list only a few. Thus specificity seems to be a category that is realized in very different grammatical areas. Romance languages provide an interesting field for investigating specificity since they show some common realizations of specificity (such as the interaction of modality in the relative clause with the specificity of the head noun), but they also show language particular grammatical reflexes of specificity, such as Spanish a or Romanian pe, or clitic doubling in various Romance languages. For more information on specificity and other referential categories see the internet presentation of the Research Network for Referential Categories in Spanish and other Romance Languages or Nereus in short:
Studia Linguistica, 2021
This contribution focuses on indefinite arguments in object position. We address this topic from the point of view of the crosslinguistic variation within the Romance continuum, especially looking at Northern Italian Dialects (NIDs). The target is to describe the distribution of the different possible realizations of this kind of arguments in this area by means of an in-depth analysis of the data coming from the ASIt database and from three new fieldwork sessions. We show that the microvariation attested in this area reflects and refines the "macro" variation attested among the major Romance languages. The finegrained picture that can be drawn from a closer look to a set of minimally varying languages helps crosslinguistic comparison and, consequently, the modeling of more precise analyses.
Since the 1980s, many authors have pointed out a series of phenomena involving linguistic traits that represent a somewhat new trend in the development of contemporary Italian. Most of these phenomena, which usually imply a larger amount of variation, are interpretable as a change in the sociolinguistic value of the trait itself. Forms and structures already existing in substandard Italian lost their markedness as elements of low, spoken social and situational varieties, becoming common in the usage of educated people and to a certain extent in written language, particularly in newspapers, nowadays an important vehicle of standardization. A few further phenomena represent cases of true innovation, mainly influenced by contact with English. On the whole, a partially renewed norm of Italian, a neo-standard Italian, has emerged. This chapter aims at discussing some aspects of this restandardization on the background of the present sociolinguistic situation of Italy, and giving an overall picture of their main morpho-syntactic phenomena. A commented list of features involved in that dynamics will be provided, serving as a frame of reference for other chapters of the volume. The list includes amongst other things: left and right dislocation; restructuration in pronominal system; various dynamics in the use of verb forms; overextension of the complementizer che ['that']; formation of new syntactic patterns (as an interrogative wh-clause with a double focus or an ordinal relative superlative); diffusion of prefixation with formatives such as super-, iper-, mega-, euro- ,-poli. Some phenomena pertaining to the " linguistic custom " will also be considered, e.g. the grammaticalization of tipo ['like'] as an adverb.
On the development of binominal quantifiers in Spanish: the notion of lexical persistence revisited
CogniTextes, 2013
On the development of binominal quantifiers in Spanish: the notion of lexical persistence revisited https://cognitextes.revues.org/838#text 1/35 CogniTextes Revue de l'Association française de linguistique cognitive Volume 13 | 2015 : Conceptual persistence in grammaticalization phenomena in Spanish On the development of binominal quantifiers in Spanish: the notion of lexical persistence revisited https://cognitextes.revues.org/838#text 2/35 On the development of binominal quantifiers in Spanish: the notion of lexical persistence revisited https://cognitextes.revues.org/838#text 4/35