Microvariation at the Interfaces
The Subject of Predication of Broad Focus VS Constructions in Turinese and Milanese
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 7903778 |
|---|---|
| Authors | David Bentley (0000-0002-2203-5197, University of Manchester, corresponding author), Francesco Maria Ciconte (University of Chieti-Pescara, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 9 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 37 |
| Publication date | 2024-01-24 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Languages (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2226-471X • E-ISSN: 2226-471X |
| Publisher | MDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT) |
| DOI | 10.3390/languages9020037 |
| OpenAlex | W4391168681 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 28 |
Presentational constructions, i.e., structures which introduce an event into the universe of discourse, raise the question of what it means for a predication to be entirely new in information structural terms. While there is growing consensus that these constructions are not topicless, there is no agreement on how to analyse their topic. The Romance languages of Northern Italy have figured prominently in this debate because the presentational constructions of many such languages exhibit VS order and an etymologically locative clitic in subject clitic position. This clitic has been claimed to be a subject of predication in a syntactic subject position. Adducing primary comparative evidence from Milanese and Turinese, we discuss patterns of microvariation which suggest that the etymologically locative clitic need not be a syntactic subject and can mark an aboutness topic provided by the discourse situation alone. We propose a parallel-architecture, Role and Reference Grammar account whereby the microvariation under scrutiny is captured in terms of the interfaces that are involved in the parsing of utterances. This account considers discourse to be an independent module of grammar, which, alongside the semantic and syntactic modules, is directly involved in linguistic variation and change
Focus (optics · Linguistics · Optics · Physics · Subject (documents · World Wide Web · Computer Science · Linguistic Variation and Morphology · Linguistics and Discourse Analysis · Philosophy · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation
Investigations of the Syntax–Semantics–Pragmatics Interface
The Oxford Guide to the Romance Languages
The Higher Functional Field
From Discourse to Logic
The Null Subject Parameter
Toward a Cartography of Subject Positions
Information Structure and Sentence Form
Italian Syntax
Syntax
Markedness and Subject Choice in Optimality Theory
Core intentional features in the syntactic computation
Grammaticalization of subject agreement on evidence from Italo-Romance
The thetic/categorical distinction revisited
Topic, Pronoun, and Agreement in Chicheŵa
| Highly cited | No |
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