Abstract The present study investigates the development of the expression of the locative paradigm in the L2 Spanish of Italian-speaking learners. We investigate (i) whether the developmental stages proposed for English-speaking learners (VanPatten 1987; Perpiñán, Marín & Moreno Villamar 2020) hold for Italian-speaking learners; and (ii) whether Italian, a language that partially overlaps with the distribution of the Spanish copulas has a facilitative role in the process. 33 Italian-speaking learners of Spanish and 21 monolingual Spanish speakers completed a short proficiency test, an acceptability judgement task, and a picture matching task targeting these constructions. Results indicate that unlike what VanPatten (1987, 2010) has proposed for English-speaking learners of Spanish, Italian speakers do not present a delay in the acquisition of estar, but instead, it is overproduced in locative contexts from very early on. We argue that this overproduction of estar is due to the readily available mapping of ‘temporal boundedness’ with estar in the grammar of these L2 learners, whereas the presence of the feature ‘dynamicity’, even though it is relevant in the distribution of copulas in Italian, comes later in L2 development.
Abstract This chapter presents a novel analysis for Romanian ditransitives. Based on empirical findings, we develop a derivational account building on the internal make-up of the two internal arguments. The account departs from the observation that clitic doubling (CD) of indirect objects (IO) and Differential Object Marking (DOM) of direct objects (DO) interact in an interesting and unexpected way: while unmarked DOs bind IOs irrespective of Clitic Doubling of IOs, counterparts where DOM-ed DOs bind CD-ed IOs are degraded; however, CD-ed+DOM-ed DOs fare much better. These facts seem to arise as a consequence of the interaction between DOM-ed DOs and CD-ed IOs which have similar internal make-up (they both carry a [Person] feature) and compete for the same probe, with the closer blocking agreement of the other. When DO cliticizes, these intervention effects no longer arise.
The Romanian perfect exhibits a form of directional paradigm uniformity: verbal perfect forms adopt the stress and segmental characteristics of the perfect participle. An analysis of this pattern of paradigmatic identity is proposed, which has broader implications for the theory of the phonological cycle.
Abstract This chapter undertakes an overview of the structural conditions regulating the distribution of a phonological fortition process, raddoppiamento fonosintattico “phonosyntactic doubling”, in the Calabrian dialect of Cosenza, focusing on some particularly striking cases which also reveal the role of phases in constraining the application of RF. On the one hand, the data highlight the advantages of interpreting locality not just narrowly in terms of the three core structural configurations Spec-Head, Head-Head and Head-Comp, but also more broadly in terms of phasal domains, showing how different phonological realizations represent the spell-out of deep syntactic differences mapped at the interface between narrow syntax and PF (Phonological Form). On the other, the theoretical assumptions assumed here provide us with the key to understanding some intriguing empirical generalizations about the role of RF in signalling, among other things, informational structure content and binding relations, which, in turn, throw new light on current theoretical assumptions about clause structure and the nature of phases.
This paper proposes a new approach to Romance demonstrative-reinforcer constructions.The account is based on a binary valued feature system for deictic person and is embedded in the Distributed Morphology framework.Looking at data from Romance varieties, some (implicit) shortcomings of previous accounts are repaired via a morphological operation: Fission.Specifically, those accounts do not provide formal means to make sense of the deictic compatibility constraint between the demonstrative and its reinforcer, nor do they discuss categorisation issues relative to reinforcers.Via Fission, instead, a featural reason is given to ensure deictic compatibility, and I put forward a new approach to the category of reinforcers, aiming to overcome their problematic categorisation as DP-internal adverbs.
In this paper we consider cases of extraction of the degree word molto “very, much” from its modifier position within an AdjP (Giusti 2010a; b; Poletto 2014) in Old Italian. Such cases are reminiscent of Left Branch Extractions (LBE; Ross 1967), but, differently from what happens with adverb extraction in Slavic (Talić 2017), the conditions under which molto-extraction is possible are very restricted: molto can be extracted only when the AdjP is (or modifies a nominal expression) in post-copular predicative position but not outside a fully-fledged DP. We propose that the reason why the structure is so restricted has to do with the presence/absence of a phase boundary, while the reason why this has been lost in modern Italian is the loss of the target position in the CP layer. This allows us to show that the loss of the Verb Second property (V2) in Italian has fine-grained consequences in unexpected domains like quantifier extraction.
Abstract In this chapter, I investigate the cartography of focus using novel data from non-standard Italian (non-StandIT) and Trevigiano, a Venetan dialect. I argue that focus is less constrained in indirect wh-questions in these varieties than in Standard Italian (StandIT). Indeed, in Trevigiano both focalised objects and adverbials are felicitous in constructions with a lower wh-phrase. Using Featural Relativized Minimality, I argue that in the case of direct objects, the problem of crossing chains is circumvented using an IP-internal clitic that absorbs the [+N] feature of the direct object. Then, I explain the behaviour of focalised adverbials in these varieties claiming that they are externally-merged directly in the Left Periphery, hence create a high focus-chain that does not interfere with the creation of the lower wh-chain.
Abstract We focus on North Lombard -a and -n feminine plurals, for which we provide a morphological analysis. At the syntactic level, the relevant varieties are characterized by the phenomenon of Differential Plural Marking, whereby phasal domains have different realizations of plural morphology on the head of the phase and on the complement of the phase. We provide an account of DPM based on the assumption that under the PIC the complement of the phase and its head are externalized separately. We draw consequences concerning clitics as phasal heads as well as object agreement with participles and with finite verbs.
Against the common-sense notion that bilinguals have two grammatical systems I argue that the linguistic system of a bilingual should be integrated, following ideas developed in more detail in López (2020). In particular, I argue that both the lexicon and the post-syntactic operations that lead to the externalization systems are integrated. I further argue that the distinction between code-switching and borrowing is spurious and I extend the integrated hypothesis to syntactic transfer. I use Distributed Morphology to formally describe how an integrated system may work.
Abstract This paper explores the temporal construals of perfective vs. imperfective aspect in Sequence of Tense contexts in Spanish and French, in particular, under ellipsis. The distribution of past-shifted vs. simultaneous, as well as sloppy vs. strict, temporal construals is taken to support extending to viewpoint aspect a referential approach to tense, as Demirdache & Uribe-Etxebarria (2014) contend. I derive the distribution of simultaneous vs. past-shifted readings by extending their analysis of imperfective vs. perfective to embedded contexts. The intricate distribution of strict vs. sloppy (simultaneous, as well as past-shifted) readings is explained by extending the LF-parallelism constraint on ellipsis (Fox 2000) – specifically, the assumption that structural parallelism yields sloppy readings, while referential parallelism yields strict readings – to temporal anaphora under ellipsis.
Abstract The goal of this paper is to analyze the properties of (a special type of) ‘split interrogative’ (SI) constructions in Spanish. SIs are wh-questions followed by a phrase that constitutes a possible answer, the ‘tag’. The overall structure is interpreted as a yes/no question (as in what did John bring, a book?). In standard cases, the tag matches the (case and thematic) features of the wh-element. Nevertheless, in (spoken Peninsular) Spanish what I will call ‘Non-matching Split Interrogatives’ (NMSI) are also possible. In these cases, the wh-element and the XP in the tag may not match; instead, it is the dummy (neuter) qué “what” that heads the wh-clause. I investigate these cases and propose a (biclausal) analysis involving an ellipsis process similar to the one taking place in fragments (Merchant 2004). To support this hypothesis, I focus on a the fact that: in NMSI there is a form-meaning mismatch that, to my knowledge, has gone unnoticed both in theoretical and descriptive studies.
Abstract Against recent claims that Romance languages lack a genuine dative alternation since they lack a genuine Prepositional Dative Construction (e.g., Pineda 2012), we bring evidence that, in Romanian, even in Recipient ditransitive constructions, datives manifest either DP or PP properties. In order to establish this result, we examine both the (internal) structure of the Romanian inflectional dative, and the prepositional dative, marked by the preposition la “at”/“to” and show that both forms require a ‘dual categorial analysis’, in order to allow licensing of their case and person features. While the default interpretation of datives in Recipient ditransitive constructions is that of DPs (whence the possibility of clitic doubling (CD)), there is a class of contexts (e.g., double datives, featuring a possessive dative and a Goal/Recipient dative), where the Recipient must be projected as a PP, since otherwise it cannot be licensed. The dual categorization of the Recipient as a DP/PP proves the existence of a genuine dative alternation in Romanian.
Kristang and Makista are two related Portuguese-lexified creoles of southeast Asia. While they are generally mutually intelligible, there are differences between them. A look at the contact languages found in Malacca and Macau can give us ideas as to where these differences come from. Building on Ansaldo’s notion of language ecology, this study will look at the histories of Kristang and Makista, and the features that exhibit these differences. These histories will be taken into account when looking at the differences, and evidence suggesting the connection between language ecology and morphosyntactic structures will be presented. The two features discussed are genitive patterns, and cleft constructions.
Abstract This contribution challenges the claim that internal arguments are stable/constant arguments in the causative-inchoative alternation. It presents evidence that a third (external-argument-only) variant, produced by the standard combinatorial system, is possible (and systematic) in Romance and Greek. Free composition with a null causative v 0 independent of the internal-argument-licensing head: explains all the hallmarks of monadic (intransitive) variants; correctly preserves event/argument structure correlation (no internal-argument-introducing head, no change-of-state event); uncovers crosslanguage contrasts concerning ±availability of cause(r) interpretation of sole arguments in equipollent derivations. My argument is supported by a parallel with non-Romance languages with comparable morphology (Greek). Such symmetries show a transparent morpho-semantic-syntactic correlation in the choice of argument frame, extending to other verb classes with transitivity alternation. Greek and Romance data support a (a) wider causative alternation with expected semantic/syntactic/morphological implications; (b) (missing) structural distinction among (in)transitivity alternations. Arguably, languages may differ in the availability of this option, showing at least two patterns of variation.
Abstract Previous cross-linguistic research showed that verbal passives are delayed in child grammar. Moreover, Maratsos et al. (1985) found that actional passives elicit more adult-like results than non-actional passives in child English. Hirsch & Wexler (2006) proposed that the adult-like results children achieved with actional passives are due to a resultative adjectival passive analysis, unavailable for non-actional verbs. Alternatively, Snyder & Hyams (2015) proposed that this delay is due to the need of semantic coercion to passivize non-actional verbs. Here we present an experiment testing children’s comprehension of short and long passives of actional and perception verbs in European Portuguese, a language with different auxiliaries for adjectival and verbal passives. The results replicate previous findings for English, despite the difference in auxiliary.
Abstract This contribution focuses on the place of plus (“no more”) in the system of negation in French. Is it merely the presuppositional counterpart of pas (“not”), or does it belong to the class of n-words, such as personne (“nobody”) and rien (“nothing”), which can combine with each other and give rise to negative concord readings? We show that when plus co-occurs with an n-word, it brings different semantic contributions depending on the place it occupies. This leads us to assume that two instances of plus have to be distinguished: one that incorporates a sentential negation and the other which has only a presuppositional contribution. These two instances differ in assertive content, but convey the same presuppositional content. The chapter shows how to derive the observed interpretations in each kind of configuration.
Abstract This paper investigates the distribution of expletive negation in the complement clause of craindre (“fear”) in French. Building on Anand & Hacquard’s (2013) proposal that fear verbs are hybrid attitude verbs, featuring both a doxastic and a (dis)preferential component, this paper argues that these two components are conveyed by different layers of meaning (in line with Giannakidou & Mari (2020)). More precisely, I argue that, in actual discourse context, craindre may receive two main interpretations: a volitive (dispreference-related) or a psychological (belief-related) interpretation, depending on whether the verb asserts or presupposes dispreference. Based on a diachronic corpus study of the distribution of expletive negation, I show that expletive negation, in the earliest stages of French, places semantic restrictions on the main verb, which are met when the interpretation of craindre is volitive.
Recent descriptions have argued that what seem to be past tense markers in Capeverdean, a Portuguese-related language spoken in Cabo Verde, are instead allomorphs of a temporal agreement morpheme (Pratas 2018a). The rationale for this goes as follows. It is true that both -ba, from the variety of Santiago, and the related (and more complex) form tava, from São Vicente, are sometimes associated with a past tense in the terms of Klein (1994): the Topic Time is located before the Time of Utterance (Pratas 2014). This is the case in (i) past progressives and past habituals. But they also appear in (ii) subordinate clauses where no past interpretation is certain, such as some conditionals and other modal contexts. Since this subordinate lexical item is often licensed in the context of past situations denoted by their respective main clauses, it seems indeed better accounted for by this recent agreement proposal. That analysis, however, still leaves open the question of what this morpheme agrees with, and this is even more intriguing when it occurs fully separated from past situations. Alternatively, the approach taken in Pratas (2021) identifies a common point between (i) and (ii): all these structures denote situations with a low degree of accessibility from the speaker’s perspective. This (in)accessibility is perceived in terms of time: in the first case, we cannot go back to the past; in the second case, external factors may (have) provide(d) an (in)accessible time location. The main goal of this paper then is to further defend this novel insight on that apparent mismatch, which can bring clues to similar problems crosslinguistically.
Abstract Assuming the Feature Reassembly Hypothesis (FRH) (Lardiere 2008, 2009), we argue that the acquisition of Exceptional Case Marking (ECM), Inflected Infinitive Structures (IIS) and Prepositional Infinitival Structures (PIC) by Spanish learners of European Portuguese (EP) presents different challenges. Two Acceptability Judgment Tasks show that identifying and reconfiguring the specific features associated with the PIC is a difficult task and that Spanish native speakers perform better in the case of ECM, whose properties can, for the most part, be transferred from the L1. However, the absence of an overt morphosyntactic counterpart for features related to Differential Object Marking (DOM) in EP represents a challenge. Finally, the results for the IIS present an interesting case study, since they force us to question the usual descriptions of the native grammar.
Abstract This paper focuses on some problematic aspects of the diachrony of differential object marking in Old Catalan and Old Romanian (11th to 17th centuries). Corpus data from both languages reveal two unexpected facts: (i) there is a prominence of 3rd person to the exclusion of 1st and 2nd person, contrary to what the Animacy/Person scale would predict; (ii) differential marking appears to be present on nominals (especially proper names), to the exclusion of pronouns, this time contrary to the Specificity/Definiteness Scale. The account we propose for these types of scale reversals builds on the idea that languages can have more than one differential object marking strategy, as well as more than one type of structure for pronouns and animate nominals. Moreover, the co-existence of various mechanisms for nominal licensing can explain why, in some instances, classes lower down the hierarchies can get signaled to the exclusion of higher ones.
