Andrea Sansò
Biographic Data
| ID | 218803 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Andrea Sansò |
| GIVEN NAMES | Andrea |
| FAMILY NAME | Sansò |
| SIGNATURE | SANSÒ A |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Insubria |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-6214-4585 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 20 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 36 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 20 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2010 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
When possessor and argument indexes coincide. A cross-linguistic survey
Cross-linguistically, it is not uncommon to find the same person indexes in noun and verb phrases, referring, respectively, to the possessor of the noun and to various (combinations of) arguments (A, S and P). This phenomenon has never been the object of a dedicated typological survey. This article seeks to address this gap by investigating cases in which possessor and argument indexes coincide in a variety sample of 225 languages. The parameters…
Replicability all the way up: Commentary on “Replication and methodological robustness in quantitative typology” by Becker and Guzmán Naranjo
Article Replicability all the way up: commentary on “Replication and methodological robustness in quantitative typology” by Becker and Guzmán Naranjo was published on July 17, 2025 in the journal Linguistic Typology (volume 0, issue 0)
A typology of denominal verb formation strategies
This article aims to fill a gap in the typological literature by discussing the typology of overt denominal verb formation strategies, that is, morphosyntactic strategies other than conversion/zero‐derivation that are used to derive a verb from a nominal base. We analyse the morphological, syntactic and semantic properties of these strategies in a variety sample of 222 languages. These properties include the morphological status, the productivity…
From verbalizer to middle marker: The diachrony of middle voice in Malayic
In Malayic languages, prefixes derived from Proto-Malayic *(mb)AR- are characterized by an unusual multifunctionality pattern. On the one hand, continuators of *(mb)AR- may encode functions that are typical of middle markers across languages. On the other hand, they are used as denominal verb formatives. The aim of this article is to provide a diachronic explanation for such an unusual combination of functions. The denominal verbalizing function …
Introduction: Towards a diachronic typology of the middle voice
Much of the typological research on the middle voice has so far largely focused on the cross-linguistic definition and status of the middle as a voice category and its relationship to other voice operations such as reflexives and passives. Diachronic research on the middle, especially in a cross-linguistic perspective, remains to these days comparatively marginal. Overall, the existing studies have argued that middle markers generally originate f…
Heterogeneous sets: A diachronic typology of associative and similative plurals
This paper provides a diachronic typology of what we call ‘heterogeneous plurals’, an overarching term comprising associative plurals (expressions meaning X [person] & company) and similative plurals (expressions meaning X and similar entities). Based on a 110-language sample, we identify the most recurrent sources of these two types of plurals by means of various types of evidence (homophony/identity, internal reconstruction, comparison with cog…
Towards a diachronic typology of individual person markers
In this introduction we propose an agenda for working towards a diachronic typology of individual person markers. Rather than tracking the development of entire paradigms, our goal is to arrive at a better understanding of the diachronic pathways of those source constructions that end up as a conventionalized means of marking a particular person or person scenario, i.e. the specific (di)transitive person configuration. We discuss how this diachro…
Routes Towards The Irrealis
Irrealis markers are characterized by the rampant heterogeneity of their distributional patterns and by the tendency to appear as portmanteau morphemes encoding other grammatical categories (e.g. person). These and other characteristics may find an explanation in diachronic terms, by taking into account the sources from which irrealis markers derive. In this paper, the most frequent sources of irrealis markers are identified by means of a diachro…
Ad hoc categorization and languaging: The Online Construction of Categories in Discourse
From digressive marker to topic shifter and beyond. The case of Italian tra parentesi (‘in brackets’)
Explaining the diversity of antipassives: Formal grammar vs. (diachronic) typology
Antipassives have different structural and semantic properties and are used under different conditions across languages. They also show a few universal tendencies: For instance, they generally correlate with imperfectivity. Both the diversity and the universal tendencies of antipassives have fostered a variety of analyses of this construction type in the formalist and the functional typological frameworks. In this article, these analyses will be …
Where do antipassive constructions come from: A study in diachronic typology
The aim of this article is to provide an overview of the main sources of antipassive constructions based on a 120-language sample. The sample includes the 48 languages with an antipassive in the WALS ( Polinsky 2013 ) + 72 further languages in which an antipassive or a functionally equivalent construction is attested (e.g., deobjective constructions, unspecified object constructions, etc.). The diachronic sources of antipassives are identified dr…
Reformulation markers and their functions: Two case studies from Italian
Agent-defocusing constructions from nominalized VPs: A cross-linguistic type
Nominalized verb phrases have been identified as a possible source of passive and impersonal constructions by Langacker & Munro (1975), Langacker (1976), and Givón (1981), with exemplification drawn almost exclusively from Uto-Aztecan languages, but have received relatively less attention than other sources (reflexive markers, generalized subject constructions, 3rd person plural constructions, inactive auxiliaries + resultative participles, etc.)…
The reality status of directives and its coding across languages
What do languages encode when they encode reality status
Grammaticalization and prototype effects: A history of the agentive reflexive passive in Italian
The grammaticalization path reflexive > middle > anticausative > passive (> impersonal) has long been recognized as a well-attested pattern in grammar evolution (Kemmer, The middle voice, John Benjamins, 1993, Cennamo, The reanalysis of reflexives: A diachronic perspective, Liguori, 1993, Wehr, SE-Diathese im Italienischen, Günter Narr, 1995, Parry, Transactions of the Philological Society 96: 63–116, 1998, among many others). Yet, the history of…
How directive constructions emerge: Grammaticalization, constructionalization, cooptation
Commentary on Waelchi - The Dynamic Potential of Probabilistic Semantic Maps
Commentary on W?lchi
How Conceptual Are Semantic Maps
The question addressed in this paper is whether (and to what extent) a semantic map aimed at representing the multifunctionality of a given construction (or set of constructions) in discourse can be thought of as endowed with conceptual reality. To be considered as a mental representation that is essentially similar in all human brains, such a map should meet two requirements: (i) its nodes should be bundles of semantic and pragmatic properties t…
Commentary on Waelchi - The Dynamic Potential of Probabilistic Semantic Maps
Commentary on W?lchi
How Conceptual Are Semantic Maps
The question addressed in this paper is whether (and to what extent) a semantic map aimed at representing the multifunctionality of a given construction (or set of constructions) in discourse can be thought of as endowed with conceptual reality. To be considered as a mental representation that is essentially similar in all human brains, such a map should meet two requirements: (i) its nodes should be bundles of semantic and pragmatic properties t…
Grammaticalization and prototype effects: A history of the agentive reflexive passive in Italian
The grammaticalization path reflexive > middle > anticausative > passive (> impersonal) has long been recognized as a well-attested pattern in grammar evolution (Kemmer, The middle voice, John Benjamins, 1993, Cennamo, The reanalysis of reflexives: A diachronic perspective, Liguori, 1993, Wehr, SE-Diathese im Italienischen, Günter Narr, 1995, Parry, Transactions of the Philological Society 96: 63–116, 1998, among many others). Yet, the history of…
How directive constructions emerge: Grammaticalization, constructionalization, cooptation
The reality status of directives and its coding across languages
What do languages encode when they encode reality status
Agent-defocusing constructions from nominalized VPs: A cross-linguistic type
Nominalized verb phrases have been identified as a possible source of passive and impersonal constructions by Langacker & Munro (1975), Langacker (1976), and Givón (1981), with exemplification drawn almost exclusively from Uto-Aztecan languages, but have received relatively less attention than other sources (reflexive markers, generalized subject constructions, 3rd person plural constructions, inactive auxiliaries + resultative participles, etc.)…
Where do antipassive constructions come from: A study in diachronic typology
The aim of this article is to provide an overview of the main sources of antipassive constructions based on a 120-language sample. The sample includes the 48 languages with an antipassive in the WALS ( Polinsky 2013 ) + 72 further languages in which an antipassive or a functionally equivalent construction is attested (e.g., deobjective constructions, unspecified object constructions, etc.). The diachronic sources of antipassives are identified dr…
Reformulation markers and their functions: Two case studies from Italian
Explaining the diversity of antipassives: Formal grammar vs. (diachronic) typology
Antipassives have different structural and semantic properties and are used under different conditions across languages. They also show a few universal tendencies: For instance, they generally correlate with imperfectivity. Both the diversity and the universal tendencies of antipassives have fostered a variety of analyses of this construction type in the formalist and the functional typological frameworks. In this article, these analyses will be …
From digressive marker to topic shifter and beyond. The case of Italian tra parentesi (‘in brackets’)
Routes Towards The Irrealis
Irrealis markers are characterized by the rampant heterogeneity of their distributional patterns and by the tendency to appear as portmanteau morphemes encoding other grammatical categories (e.g. person). These and other characteristics may find an explanation in diachronic terms, by taking into account the sources from which irrealis markers derive. In this paper, the most frequent sources of irrealis markers are identified by means of a diachro…
Ad hoc categorization and languaging: The Online Construction of Categories in Discourse
Towards a diachronic typology of individual person markers
In this introduction we propose an agenda for working towards a diachronic typology of individual person markers. Rather than tracking the development of entire paradigms, our goal is to arrive at a better understanding of the diachronic pathways of those source constructions that end up as a conventionalized means of marking a particular person or person scenario, i.e. the specific (di)transitive person configuration. We discuss how this diachro…
From verbalizer to middle marker: The diachrony of middle voice in Malayic
In Malayic languages, prefixes derived from Proto-Malayic *(mb)AR- are characterized by an unusual multifunctionality pattern. On the one hand, continuators of *(mb)AR- may encode functions that are typical of middle markers across languages. On the other hand, they are used as denominal verb formatives. The aim of this article is to provide a diachronic explanation for such an unusual combination of functions. The denominal verbalizing function …
Introduction: Towards a diachronic typology of the middle voice
Much of the typological research on the middle voice has so far largely focused on the cross-linguistic definition and status of the middle as a voice category and its relationship to other voice operations such as reflexives and passives. Diachronic research on the middle, especially in a cross-linguistic perspective, remains to these days comparatively marginal. Overall, the existing studies have argued that middle markers generally originate f…
Heterogeneous sets: A diachronic typology of associative and similative plurals
This paper provides a diachronic typology of what we call ‘heterogeneous plurals’, an overarching term comprising associative plurals (expressions meaning X [person] & company) and similative plurals (expressions meaning X and similar entities). Based on a 110-language sample, we identify the most recurrent sources of these two types of plurals by means of various types of evidence (homophony/identity, internal reconstruction, comparison with cog…
A typology of denominal verb formation strategies
This article aims to fill a gap in the typological literature by discussing the typology of overt denominal verb formation strategies, that is, morphosyntactic strategies other than conversion/zero‐derivation that are used to derive a verb from a nominal base. We analyse the morphological, syntactic and semantic properties of these strategies in a variety sample of 222 languages. These properties include the morphological status, the productivity…
Replicability all the way up: Commentary on “Replication and methodological robustness in quantitative typology” by Becker and Guzmán Naranjo
Article Replicability all the way up: commentary on “Replication and methodological robustness in quantitative typology” by Becker and Guzmán Naranjo was published on July 17, 2025 in the journal Linguistic Typology (volume 0, issue 0)
When possessor and argument indexes coincide. A cross-linguistic survey
Cross-linguistically, it is not uncommon to find the same person indexes in noun and verb phrases, referring, respectively, to the possessor of the noun and to various (combinations of) arguments (A, S and P). This phenomenon has never been the object of a dedicated typological survey. This article seeks to address this gap by investigating cases in which possessor and argument indexes coincide in a variety sample of 225 languages. The parameters…
Philosophy (17 works) · Linguistics (16 works) · Computer Science (11 works) · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation (11 works) · Sociology (9 works) · History (7 works) · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies (7 works) · Psychology (7 works) · Typology (6 works) · Linguistic Variation and Morphology (5 works)