Carlo Cecchetto
Biographic Data
| ID | 809573 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Carlo Cecchetto |
| GIVEN NAMES | Carlo |
| FAMILY NAME | Cecchetto |
| SIGNATURE | CECCHETTO C |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Milano-Bicocca |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-9985-7087 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 27 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 91 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 27 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2004 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 7 |
Are languages context-sensitive in their syntax or in their morphology? Revisiting the case of Bambara
A central research question in the history of generative grammar has been whether natural languages fall within the class of context-free languages or occupy a higher position in Chomsky’s hierarchy for formal grammars. This research regained attention in recent years because grammatical abilities of non-human species have been investigated to evaluate the (alleged) uniqueness of human language. In this context, identifying the locus of complex g…
A quest for a unitary explanation of the object disadvantage in incremental processing: Evidence from a modified maze task with Italian relative clauses
This study investigates incremental processing of subject and object relatives in Italian by comparing two experimental paradigms. Previous research has shown that object relatives are more difficult to process than subject relatives, but the source and timing of this object disadvantage remain debated. Two experiments were conducted using the same linguistic stimuli. Experiment 1 employed a novel mixed design: a lexical maze task for the relativ…
Assessing Lexical and Syntactic Comprehension in Deaf Signing Adults
Among the existing sign language assessment tools, only a small number can be used in clinical settings. This contribution aims at presenting three comprehension assessment tests (two lexical and one syntactic) that offer a solid basis to build tools to assess language impairments in deaf signing adults. We provide the material and guidelines, based on psychometric analyses of the items, to make these tests suitable for clinical assessment. They …
On the nature of role shift: Insights from a comprehension study in different populations of LIS, LSC and LSF signers
Attitude role shift is a sign language strategy to report someone else’s utterance or thought. It has been analyzed either as a kind of demonstration or, alternatively, as a complex construction involving subordination plus a context-shifting operator. The present work reports the results of a sentence-to-picture matching task developed in three different sign languages (Italian Sign Language, French Sign Language and Catalan Sign Language) with …
Labeling (Reduced) Structures: When VPs Are Sentences
In this article, we analyze five reduced structures in Italian that display morphological agreement between their past participle and their internal argument. Three of the five structures have full illocutionary force despite lacking the middle field and the left periphery. We explain this fact (and the differences with the two remaining participial structures) by extending to object agreement cases Chomsky's (2019) hypothesis that clauses are ex…
Age of exposure and subject/object asymmetries when wh -movement goes rightward: The case of LIS interrogatives
We report an experiment addressing the comprehension of LIS interrogatives in three adult populations with different times of exposure to sign language: native signers, early signers, and late signers. We investigate whether delayed exposure to language affects comprehension of interrogatives and whether there is an advantage for subject dependencies over object dependencies, as systematically reported for spoken languages. The answer to the firs…
Asymmetries in relative clause comprehension in three European sign languages
Relativization is a robust subordinating type across languages, displaying important typological variability concerning the position of the nominal head that the relative clause modifies, and sign languages are no exception. It has been widely assumed since Keenan & Comrie (1977) that the subject position is more accessible to relativization than object and oblique positions. The main aim of this paper is to investigate the extension of this famo…
The Impact of Aging on Spatial Abilities in Deaf Users of a Sign Language
Research involving the general population of people who use a spoken language to communicate has demonstrated that older adults experience cognitive and physical changes associated with aging. Notwithstanding the differences in the cognitive processes involved in sign and spoken languages, it is possible that aging can also affect cognitive processing in deaf signers. This research aims to explore the impact of aging on spatial abilities among si…
Avoiding Gaps in Romance: Evidence from Italian and French for a Structural Parsing Principle
Existing evidence suggests that the parser avoids positing a movement dependency if the grammar does not require doing so. By investigating the processing of two syntactic ambiguities that have not been the subject of processing studies before, we provide more conclusive evidence for this parsing bias in two Romance languages: French and Italian. In two acceptability-judgment experiments and two self-paced-reading studies, we found that sentences…
Mind the stimulation site: Enhancing and diminishing sentence comprehension with anodal tDCS
Whatever His Arguments, Whatever -Relatives Are Not Free Relatives: A Reply to Caponigro’s Reply
This is a reply to Caponigro 2019, which argues that the phrase structure theory proposed in Donati and Cecchetto 2011 and Cecchetto and Donati 2015 falls short of accounting for the attested patterns of free relative clauses. Caponigro questions the reliability of the data supporting D&C’s hypothesis that ever-relatives introduced by a phrase (ever+NP relatives) should not be assimilated to free relatives. This reply reports the findings of four…
Against the parallelism between the NP and the clause: Evidence from idioms
We argue that the counterpart of Marantz’s generalization does not hold in the nominal domain, because there are idioms in which the determiner and the noun receive an idiomatic meaning while the PP that modifies the noun is not part of the idiom (we call these “PP-less idioms”). We show that PP-less idioms are fully expected if the hypothesis of parallelism between nominal structure and clausal structure is dropped and it is assumed that the fir…
A new case for structural intervention: Evidence from Wenzhounese relative clauses
The language instinct in extreme circumstances: The transition to tactile Italian Sign Language (LISt) by Deafblind signers
Tactile sign languages used by Deafblind signers are most often acquired by signers competent in a visual sign language who can no longer rely on the grammatical system of the visual language as it is, since some of its features are lost due to the loss of vision. A natural question is which repair strategies are adopted to compensate for the loss of the grammatical features of the visual language that can no longer be perceived. We argue that th…
Phonological blending or code mixing? Why mouthing is not a core component of sign language grammar
Experimental syntax and the variation of island effects in English and Italian
Variation in Italian Sign Language (LIS): The case of wh-signs
The position of
The syntax of predicate ellipsis in Italian Sign Language (LIS)
Making Sense of an Unexpected Detrimental Effect of Sign Language Use in a Visual Task
What supports deaf signers advantage over nonsigners on visuospatial short-term memory (STM) tasks is still a matter of debate. We compared the performance of 18 deaf Italian Sign Language (LIS) users with that of a matched group of Italian hearing nonsigners in three different tasks: two versions of the Corsi Block test, namely span forward and span backward, and the Visual Pattern Test (VPT). Although the Corsi forward and backward are dynamic …
Looking for an Explanation for the Low Sign Span. Is Order Involved
Although signed and speech-based languages have a similar internal organization of verbal short-term memory, sign span is lower than word span. We investigated whether this is due to the fact that signs are not suited for serial recall, as proposed by Bavelier, Newport, Hall, Supalla, and Boutla (2008. Ordered short-term memory differs in signers and speakers: Implications for models of short-term memory. Cognition, 107, 433-459). We administered…
Relabeling Heads: A Unified Account for Relativization Structures
A tenet of any version of phrase structure theory is that a lexical item can transmit its label when merged with another category. We assume that if it is internally merged, a lexical item can turn a clause into a nominal phrase. If the relabeling lexical item is a wh-word, a free relative results; if it is an N, a full relative results; if it is a non-wh D, a pseudorelative results. It follows that the head of a relative construction cannot be m…
On Labeling: Principle C and Head Movement
In this paper, we critically re-examine the two algorithms that govern phrase structure building according to Chomsky (2005).We replace them with a unique algorithm, the Probing Algorithm, which states that the probe of any kind of Merge always provides the label.In addition to capturing core cases of phrase structure building, this algorithm sheds light on Principle C effects and on the syntax of wh constructions, which we analyze as cases of co…
Another Way to Mark Syntactic Dependencies: The Case for Right-Peripheral Specifiers in Sign Languages
The occurrence of WH -items at the right edge of the sentence, while extremely rare in spoken languages, is quite common in sign languages. In particular, in sign languages like LIS (Italian Sign Language) WH -items cannot be positioned at the left edge. We argue that existing accounts of right-peripheral occurrences of WH -items are empirically inadequate and provide no clue as to why sign languages and spoken languages differ in this respect. W…
Strategies of relativization in Italian Sign Language
Reconstruction in relative clauses and the copy theory of traces
In this paper, after discussing the status of the copy theory of traces in the current formulation of the minimalist program and the evidence for the “No-Tampering” Condition from which the copy theory of traces follows, I focus on a specific case study, namely reconstruction effects concerning the head of a relative clause. The common wisdom in the literature is that reconstruction of the relative clause head can be observed by using variable bi…
Experimental syntax and the variation of island effects in English and Italian
Explaining the locality conditions of QR: Consequences for the theory of phases
Relabeling Heads: A Unified Account for Relativization Structures
A tenet of any version of phrase structure theory is that a lexical item can transmit its label when merged with another category. We assume that if it is internally merged, a lexical item can turn a clause into a nominal phrase. If the relabeling lexical item is a wh-word, a free relative results; if it is an N, a full relative results; if it is a non-wh D, a pseudorelative results. It follows that the head of a relative construction cannot be m…
A Challenge to Null Case Theory
January 01 2004 A Challenge to Null Case Theory In Special Collection: CogNet Carlo Cecchetto, Carlo Cecchetto University of Milano-Bicocca Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Renato Oniga Renato Oniga University of Udine Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Author and Article Information Carlo Cecchetto University of Milano-Bicocca Renato Oniga University of Udine Online ISSN: 1530-915…
On Labeling: Principle C and Head Movement
In this paper, we critically re-examine the two algorithms that govern phrase structure building according to Chomsky (2005).We replace them with a unique algorithm, the Probing Algorithm, which states that the probe of any kind of Merge always provides the label.In addition to capturing core cases of phrase structure building, this algorithm sheds light on Principle C effects and on the syntax of wh constructions, which we analyze as cases of co…
Another Way to Mark Syntactic Dependencies: The Case for Right-Peripheral Specifiers in Sign Languages
The occurrence of WH -items at the right edge of the sentence, while extremely rare in spoken languages, is quite common in sign languages. In particular, in sign languages like LIS (Italian Sign Language) WH -items cannot be positioned at the left edge. We argue that existing accounts of right-peripheral occurrences of WH -items are empirically inadequate and provide no clue as to why sign languages and spoken languages differ in this respect. W…
Strategies of relativization in Italian Sign Language
Labeling (Reduced) Structures: When VPs Are Sentences
In this article, we analyze five reduced structures in Italian that display morphological agreement between their past participle and their internal argument. Three of the five structures have full illocutionary force despite lacking the middle field and the left periphery. We explain this fact (and the differences with the two remaining participial structures) by extending to object agreement cases Chomsky's (2019) hypothesis that clauses are ex…
Phonological blending or code mixing? Why mouthing is not a core component of sign language grammar
The syntax of predicate ellipsis in Italian Sign Language (LIS)
Variation in Italian Sign Language (LIS): The case of wh-signs
The position of
Explaining the locality conditions of QR: Consequences for the theory of phases
A Challenge to Null Case Theory
January 01 2004 A Challenge to Null Case Theory In Special Collection: CogNet Carlo Cecchetto, Carlo Cecchetto University of Milano-Bicocca Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Renato Oniga Renato Oniga University of Udine Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Author and Article Information Carlo Cecchetto University of Milano-Bicocca Renato Oniga University of Udine Online ISSN: 1530-915…
Reconstruction in relative clauses and the copy theory of traces
In this paper, after discussing the status of the copy theory of traces in the current formulation of the minimalist program and the evidence for the “No-Tampering” Condition from which the copy theory of traces follows, I focus on a specific case study, namely reconstruction effects concerning the head of a relative clause. The common wisdom in the literature is that reconstruction of the relative clause head can be observed by using variable bi…
Strategies of relativization in Italian Sign Language
Another Way to Mark Syntactic Dependencies: The Case for Right-Peripheral Specifiers in Sign Languages
The occurrence of WH -items at the right edge of the sentence, while extremely rare in spoken languages, is quite common in sign languages. In particular, in sign languages like LIS (Italian Sign Language) WH -items cannot be positioned at the left edge. We argue that existing accounts of right-peripheral occurrences of WH -items are empirically inadequate and provide no clue as to why sign languages and spoken languages differ in this respect. W…
On Labeling: Principle C and Head Movement
In this paper, we critically re-examine the two algorithms that govern phrase structure building according to Chomsky (2005).We replace them with a unique algorithm, the Probing Algorithm, which states that the probe of any kind of Merge always provides the label.In addition to capturing core cases of phrase structure building, this algorithm sheds light on Principle C effects and on the syntax of wh constructions, which we analyze as cases of co…
Looking for an Explanation for the Low Sign Span. Is Order Involved
Although signed and speech-based languages have a similar internal organization of verbal short-term memory, sign span is lower than word span. We investigated whether this is due to the fact that signs are not suited for serial recall, as proposed by Bavelier, Newport, Hall, Supalla, and Boutla (2008. Ordered short-term memory differs in signers and speakers: Implications for models of short-term memory. Cognition, 107, 433-459). We administered…
Relabeling Heads: A Unified Account for Relativization Structures
A tenet of any version of phrase structure theory is that a lexical item can transmit its label when merged with another category. We assume that if it is internally merged, a lexical item can turn a clause into a nominal phrase. If the relabeling lexical item is a wh-word, a free relative results; if it is an N, a full relative results; if it is a non-wh D, a pseudorelative results. It follows that the head of a relative construction cannot be m…
Making Sense of an Unexpected Detrimental Effect of Sign Language Use in a Visual Task
What supports deaf signers advantage over nonsigners on visuospatial short-term memory (STM) tasks is still a matter of debate. We compared the performance of 18 deaf Italian Sign Language (LIS) users with that of a matched group of Italian hearing nonsigners in three different tasks: two versions of the Corsi Block test, namely span forward and span backward, and the Visual Pattern Test (VPT). Although the Corsi forward and backward are dynamic …
Variation in Italian Sign Language (LIS): The case of wh-signs
The position of
The syntax of predicate ellipsis in Italian Sign Language (LIS)
Experimental syntax and the variation of island effects in English and Italian
Phonological blending or code mixing? Why mouthing is not a core component of sign language grammar
A new case for structural intervention: Evidence from Wenzhounese relative clauses
The language instinct in extreme circumstances: The transition to tactile Italian Sign Language (LISt) by Deafblind signers
Tactile sign languages used by Deafblind signers are most often acquired by signers competent in a visual sign language who can no longer rely on the grammatical system of the visual language as it is, since some of its features are lost due to the loss of vision. A natural question is which repair strategies are adopted to compensate for the loss of the grammatical features of the visual language that can no longer be perceived. We argue that th…
Against the parallelism between the NP and the clause: Evidence from idioms
We argue that the counterpart of Marantz’s generalization does not hold in the nominal domain, because there are idioms in which the determiner and the noun receive an idiomatic meaning while the PP that modifies the noun is not part of the idiom (we call these “PP-less idioms”). We show that PP-less idioms are fully expected if the hypothesis of parallelism between nominal structure and clausal structure is dropped and it is assumed that the fir…
Mind the stimulation site: Enhancing and diminishing sentence comprehension with anodal tDCS
Whatever His Arguments, Whatever -Relatives Are Not Free Relatives: A Reply to Caponigro’s Reply
This is a reply to Caponigro 2019, which argues that the phrase structure theory proposed in Donati and Cecchetto 2011 and Cecchetto and Donati 2015 falls short of accounting for the attested patterns of free relative clauses. Caponigro questions the reliability of the data supporting D&C’s hypothesis that ever-relatives introduced by a phrase (ever+NP relatives) should not be assimilated to free relatives. This reply reports the findings of four…
Asymmetries in relative clause comprehension in three European sign languages
Relativization is a robust subordinating type across languages, displaying important typological variability concerning the position of the nominal head that the relative clause modifies, and sign languages are no exception. It has been widely assumed since Keenan & Comrie (1977) that the subject position is more accessible to relativization than object and oblique positions. The main aim of this paper is to investigate the extension of this famo…
The Impact of Aging on Spatial Abilities in Deaf Users of a Sign Language
Research involving the general population of people who use a spoken language to communicate has demonstrated that older adults experience cognitive and physical changes associated with aging. Notwithstanding the differences in the cognitive processes involved in sign and spoken languages, it is possible that aging can also affect cognitive processing in deaf signers. This research aims to explore the impact of aging on spatial abilities among si…
Avoiding Gaps in Romance: Evidence from Italian and French for a Structural Parsing Principle
Existing evidence suggests that the parser avoids positing a movement dependency if the grammar does not require doing so. By investigating the processing of two syntactic ambiguities that have not been the subject of processing studies before, we provide more conclusive evidence for this parsing bias in two Romance languages: French and Italian. In two acceptability-judgment experiments and two self-paced-reading studies, we found that sentences…
Age of exposure and subject/object asymmetries when wh -movement goes rightward: The case of LIS interrogatives
We report an experiment addressing the comprehension of LIS interrogatives in three adult populations with different times of exposure to sign language: native signers, early signers, and late signers. We investigate whether delayed exposure to language affects comprehension of interrogatives and whether there is an advantage for subject dependencies over object dependencies, as systematically reported for spoken languages. The answer to the firs…
Assessing Lexical and Syntactic Comprehension in Deaf Signing Adults
Among the existing sign language assessment tools, only a small number can be used in clinical settings. This contribution aims at presenting three comprehension assessment tests (two lexical and one syntactic) that offer a solid basis to build tools to assess language impairments in deaf signing adults. We provide the material and guidelines, based on psychometric analyses of the items, to make these tests suitable for clinical assessment. They …
On the nature of role shift: Insights from a comprehension study in different populations of LIS, LSC and LSF signers
Attitude role shift is a sign language strategy to report someone else’s utterance or thought. It has been analyzed either as a kind of demonstration or, alternatively, as a complex construction involving subordination plus a context-shifting operator. The present work reports the results of a sentence-to-picture matching task developed in three different sign languages (Italian Sign Language, French Sign Language and Catalan Sign Language) with …
Labeling (Reduced) Structures: When VPs Are Sentences
In this article, we analyze five reduced structures in Italian that display morphological agreement between their past participle and their internal argument. Three of the five structures have full illocutionary force despite lacking the middle field and the left periphery. We explain this fact (and the differences with the two remaining participial structures) by extending to object agreement cases Chomsky's (2019) hypothesis that clauses are ex…
Linguistics (21 works) · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation (16 works) · Computer Science (13 works) · Psychology (12 works) · Hearing Impairment and Communication (11 works) · Philosophy (11 works) · Mathematics (10 works) · Sign language (9 works) · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies (8 works) · Natural language processing (7 works)