Giuseppina Turano

Overt and covert dependencies in albanian

In Albanian a K-word can be used as an interrogative, as a polarity item (PI) and, in combination with certain particles, as a quantifier. I propose an analysis of these elements as variables in the sense of Heim (1982). In order to receive an interrogative reading, a K-word must obligatorily move to a Focus phrase projection. Overt movement is due to the presence of a (strong) Focus feature on the K-word. In the absence of such a feature, a K-word remains in situ and can only be interpreted as a PI. The set of possible binders that license PI includes the negation, question operators, conditional complementizers, modal verbs and modal particles. The properties of PIs are satisfied by covert dependency formation. This dependency does not involve abstract movement but rather a binding relation. More precisely, polarity items and their operators form a head-to-head dependency sensitive to strong and weak islands.

A proposito del sintagma nominale in albanese. Il caso di un dimostrativo seguito da un DP definito

In this paper, we focus on the syntax of Albanian noun phrase. In particular, we consider the distribution of the determiners and the position of the adjectives with respect to the noun. With regard to the determiners, we assume the current generative theory which takes articles, demonstratives and quantifiers to be instances of the same category D (+Q), contrary to the Albanian traditional grammar which splits these elements in three different classes. With regard to the position of adjectives, we assume that they are in SpecNP and that they appear post-nominally because the head noun moves up in D°. However, it is also possible to find the adjective in pre-nominal position. We analyze the pre-nominal position as the result of the movement of the adjective to a Focus position. Finally, we analyze a particular construction which involves the co-occurrence of a demonstrative with a definite article

Modal particles in Albanian subjunctive, infinitive and supine constructions: presence vs absence of clitic climbing

It is a well-known fact that the infinite/subjunctive substitution, attested in Balkan languages, correlates with possibility/impossibility of clitic climbing. Modal particles, which precede subjunctive verbs, have been taken as minimality blockers for clitic movement. Focussing on standard Albanian and Albanian dialects, I will show that the possibility/impossibility of clitic climbing cannot be attributed to the absence/presence of modal particles, since, on the one hand, it is possible to find raising of the clitic in contexts with modal particles, i.e. clitic climbing out of infinitival clauses characterized by the presence of two blocking heads (a preposition and a modal particle) and from supine constructions (preceded by a nominal particle), whereas, on the other hand, clitic climbing is impossible in contexts without modal particles. It seems that, at least in Albanian, the distribution of clitics does not depend on the presence or absence of modal particles, but it is related to the presence or absence of the functional category T. I will assume that clitic movement is the result of two operations: movement to the T head and morphological incorporation (m-merger in Matushansky’s (2006) sense).