Anna Cardinaletti

Clitic Positions and Restructuring in Italian

Verbs can be introduced (merged) in either a lexical VP or a functional head, the latter position giving rise to restructuring contexts. We argue that there are two clitic positions in Italian restructured clauses: one associated with the (restructured) lexical verb and the other a clausal clitic position located in the functional domain. While restructuring can be recursive, clitics appear either on the restructured infinitive (no clitic climbing) or in the functional domain of the highest verb (full clitic climbing). There is no clitic climbing to an intermediate restructuring verb. We argue that only the lowest restructured verb makes a position for clitics available and that this position is the same as that of infinitive-final [e]. Finally, we show that the functional lexical dichotomy is too sharp and that a variety of verb classes must be admitted, whose properties correlate with the point in the structure in which they are merged.

The Phonology and Syntax of Preverbal and Postverbal Subject Clitics in Northern Italian Dialects

We argue that preverbal and postverbal subject clitics in northern Italian dialects are the same lexical items. The different forms of proclitics and enclitics can be explained phonologically (i.e., by phonological constraints ranked in a particular order) and by the hypothesis that morphologically neutral vowels may be inserted in final position (what we call morphological epenthesis). The distributional differences in the paradigm derive from a competition between overt clitics and null subjects that is resolved in an intricate way across sentence types and across dialects and that depends on the interaction of clitic and verb movement and on Minimize Structure.

German and Italian Modal Particles and Clause Structure

Abstract In this paper, I analyse German and Italian modal particles and argue that they are deficient (i.e., weak) adverbs merged with dedicated functional constituents of the Mood/Mod field. I also show that sentence-initial and sentence-final particles are not one and the same element. In particular, sentence-final particles are not (functional) heads in the left-periphery of the clause and cannot be derived by movement of their complement to their specifier. They are instead merged with functional constituents of the IP-internal Mood/Mod field, like sentence-internal particles, and their final position is derived by remnant movement of what follows the particle to a specifier higher than the particle, similarly to what happens with right-dislocated constituents. Verb-based particles are also briefly discussed. In their sentence-final use, they are shown to have the same syntax as adverb-based particles; in their sentence-initial use, they are instead merged in the CP layer.

Variation in Italian Sign Language (LIS): The Case of Wh-signs

Abstract The position of wh-items is one of the most striking features of the syntax of sign languages (SLs). In contrast to spoken languages, where wh-words are generally found either clause-initially or in situ, SLs allow wh-signs in situ, in clause-final position (preferred for many SLs), or repeated in two different positions of the clause. Moreover, in many cases all these options coexist in the same language (and even within a single signer). Several proposals in the theoretical literature showed how grammars are able to generate such constructions; however, none of the proposals addresses the issue of what factors determine the choice of these options. We present corpus evidence showing that both linguistic and social factors constrain the distribution of wh-signs in LIS (Lingua dei Segni Italiana, Italian Sign Language). The result of multivariate analysis suggests that LIS is undergoing a grammatical change and becoming less like spoken Italian with respect to the position of wh-signs.

The comprehension and production of verbal passives by Italian preschool-age children

This paper investigates the comprehension and the production of passive sentences in Italian-speaking children (aged 3 years, 4 months to 6 years, 2 months) analyzing both the variables observed in previous studies on other languages (verb type and presence of the by-phrase) versus an Italian-specific variable: the use of auxiliary venire “to come.” Because Italian venire is only possible in verbal passives, this property is crucial to determine whether children have full competence of the (verbal) passive structure. The high percentage of accuracy in the comprehension of sentences containing venire suggests that the eventive passive interpretation is fully available in child language, even in 3- to 4-year-old children. Moreover, young children produce passive sentences with either auxiliary venire or essere “to be,” also adding the by-phrase, thus proving unambiguously that children control verbal passive sentences from very early on.

The Acquisition of Adjectival Ordering in Italian

In this chapter, we analyze the syntax of nominal expressions in a corpus of early child speech collected at the University Ca’ Foscari of Venice. We focalize on the distribution of quantifiers, determiner-like adjectives, possessive adjectives, and descriptive adjectives. In adult Italian, these elements display a great degree of variation as regards word order. Comparing child production with both the input attested in our corpus and the data found in an electronic corpus of spoken Italian (Lessico di frequenza dell’italiano parlato, LIP, De Mauro et al. 1993), we show that child competence mirrors the adult competence of the spoken register in both syntax and pragmatics and is expectedly deviant from more formal varieties which are usually also taken into account by linguistic literature. From a methodological point of view, we ground our analysis on a well-developed theoretical approach to nominal structure which enables us to make a qualitative analysis in the absence of a large amount of data, as is in fact the case of adjectival modification in child production.

Ancora sull’italiano delle traduzioni

This article discusses and exemplifies the ways in which Italian as a product of translation differs from spontaneous Italian. In particular, the translated language would seem to be characterised by more options than native Italian, due to free variation with the options influenced by the language of the original text. Though somehow a physiological byproduct of the translation activity, interference should be monitored, as it may give rise to different interpretations from those of the original text and/or to stylistic choices not appropriate to the context.

Indefinite Determiners: Variation and Optionality in Italo-Romance

The expression of indefiniteness presents a wide degree of variation across languages. In addition to indefinite quantifiers such as alcuni ‘some’ or pseudopartitive constructions such as un po’ di ‘a bit of ’, Italo-Romance varieties present at least five types of indefinite determiners that can combine with mass or plural nouns. Interestingly,more than one of these determinersmay be available in one and the same variety, producing a certain degree of optionality and / or a fine-grained distinction in the semantics of indefiniteness. In this paper, we concentrate on the most wide-spread forms of indefinite determiners, claiming that they are variants of one and the same syntactic structure. Assuming with Abney (1987) that the highest portion of the nominal structure (DP) includes two positions, a specifier (SpecDP) and a head (D), we take the indefinite operator, which provides the indefinite semantics, to occur in SpecDP, while the head D is specified for the gender and number features of the nominal projection. Both positions may be overt or covert. The indefinite operator can be realized by the uninflected form di, while the head D can be realized by the same form as the definite article. The option of filling either position with an overt or covert element gives rise to four different forms: the zero determiner, indefinite bare di, the so-called “partitive determiner” di+article, or the use of the definite article as indefinite determiner. We first show that in Italian, optionality is in some cases apparent, giving rise to subtle semantic differences. In particular, we show that in Italian, overt

Linguistic assessment tools for the Digisonic® Dual electric-acoustic speech processor

Introduction. It is well known that cochlear implants enable profoundly deaf patients to reach high levels of speech intelligibility. They are, however, suboptimal for the perception of melody in music and speech. The reason for this is that implants are conceived to code for the mid and high frequencies of sound, where phonemic information is contained. Low frequencies contain information related to tonality, timbre, etc. ,but cochlear implants do not code low frequencies well. In new hearing rehabilitation strategies, such as electric-acoustic stimulation (henceforth EAS), standard amplification via hearing-aid technology is combined with electric stimulation via cochlear implant technology. This strategy aims at exploiting the complementary benefits of acoustic and electric stimulation of the low and high frequency auditory cues, respectively. Potential candidates for EAS are hearing impaired individuals with residual hearing at low frequencies and a severe hearing loss at high frequencies, who do not benefit from classical hearing aids. Low frequency auditory cues are essential in pitch perception, the primary acoustic cue to speech prosody. Prosody covers the properties of speech that cannot be explained by the intrinsic properties of the speech sounds that were uttered. It includes acoustic variation in e.g., fundamental frequency, duration, and intensity. Such variation can carry meaning, and therefore is crucial for spoken communication. In this report, we describe the development and use of a new module of the Auditory Speech Sound Evaluation test (A§E ®, Govaerts e.a. 2009), as part of the FP7 European research project “DUAL PRO”, which aims at assessing the perception of speech prosody across languages by means of discrimination and identification tasks. By means of this prosody test battery the use of current generation of cochlear implants and classical hearing aids can be assessed, as well as that of new, hybrid EAS strategies.