The Higher Functional Field Evidence from Northern Italian Dialects

by Poletto, Cecilia

• ISBN13: 9780195133561
• ISBN10: 0195133560
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-03-09
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

This work investigates the syntax of the higher portion of the functional structure of the clause using comparative data from hundreds of Northern Italian dialects. The area contains dialects that are different in most ways yet homogenous syntactically, making it an ideal ground for analyzing micro-variations in syntax. The book sheds new light on debated problems such as subject-clitic inversion, verb movement and subject positions, and the structure of the higher functional phrases.

Table of Contents

Introduction	3	(11)
Aim of this Work	3	(1)
The Theoretical Framework	4	(2)
The Varieties Examined and Survey Methods Employed	6	(3)
Previous Analysis of Subject Clitics	9	(2)
Preverbal Subject Clitics in Declarative Contexts	11	(30)
Introduction	11	(7)
Two Tests for SCL Positions	18	(4)
More SCL Positions	22	(8)
One More Positions	30	(2)
Subject Clitic Climbing Inside the Agreement Field	32	(3)
The Agreement Field	35	(6)
Interrogative Sentences	41	(47)
Introduction	41	(1)
Subject Clitic Inversion	42	(13)
Variation in Main Interrogatives	55	(25)
Theoretical Implications of Split Interrogative CP	80	(3)
Embedded Contexts	83	(3)
Conclusion	86	(2)
Rhaetoromance Verb Second: A Split-CP Perspective	88	(20)
Introduction	88	(1)
Rhaetoromance V2: Data	89	(2)
Left Dislocation: The Declarative-Interrogative Asymmetry	91	(4)
Different Degrees of Focalization	95	(3)
Embedded V2	98	(4)
Subject Positions	102	(4)
A Brief Comparison with Germanic V2	106	(2)
Subjunctive Clauses: The Modal Field	108	(31)
Introduction	108	(2)
Disjunctive Clauses	110	(5)
Optative and Counterfactual Clauses	115	(3)
Complementizer Deletion and Verb Movement in Italian	118	(13)
Complementizer Deletion in the Northern Varieties	131	(2)
Suppletive Imperatives	133	(4)
Conclusion	137	(2)
Subject Positions	139	(29)
Introduction	139	(1)
Subject Positions and Case Checking	140	(13)
Subject Positions in Nondeclarative Contexts	153	(11)
The Subject in CD Contexts	164	(2)
Conclusion	166	(2)
A Brief Summary	168	(9)
Introduction	168	(5)
Some General Properties of Functional Structure	173	(4)
Notes	177	(16)
Bibliography	193	(12)
Index	205