Research

16 pages, 1328 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Note on Parameter Setting in Contact Situations

by Ricardo Etxepare and Ángel J. Gallego

Languages 2022, 7(1), 34; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/languages7010034 - 14 Feb 2022

Viewed by 1778

This paper revisits the study of linguistic variation within the Government and Binding approach to parameters, pointing out some limitations of parameter schemata in language contact scenarios. Discussion is focused on the possibility that clustering effects (the schemata themselves) are more complex than [...] Read more.

This paper revisits the study of linguistic variation within the Government and Binding approach to parameters, pointing out some limitations of parameter schemata in language contact scenarios. Discussion is focused on the possibility that clustering effects (the schemata themselves) are more complex than conventional approaches suggest. We outline an alternative approach, directly connected to Uriagereka’s typology or parameters, which is itself based on Chomsky’s Theory of Formal Languages. Empirically, we focus on language contact situations, as they provide cases where variation by contact operates under what we call an Excess of Stimulus, whereby access to the relevant data is overwhelming, but somehow ignored by learners. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Syntactic Variation in Language Contact Situations.The view from an I-Language Perspective)

20 pages, 958 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Romance and Croatian in Contact: Non-Clitic Auxiliaries in Istro-Romanian

by Adina Dragomirescu and Alexandru Nicolae

Languages 2021, 6(4), 187; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/languages6040187 - 13 Nov 2021

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3122

Abstract

This paper focuses on Istro-Romanian and argues that the TAM auxiliaries of this variety are not morphophonological clitics. This analysis is supported by the existence of several empirical phenomena (auxiliary-licensed VP-ellipsis, scrambling, and interpolation), some not found in modern Romance, others very rare [...] Read more.

This paper focuses on Istro-Romanian and argues that the TAM auxiliaries of this variety are not morphophonological clitics. This analysis is supported by the existence of several empirical phenomena (auxiliary-licensed VP-ellipsis, scrambling, and interpolation), some not found in modern Romance, others very rare in modern Romance. This property of Istro-Romanian auxiliary verbs accounts, in conjunction with other features of this variety (e.g., the availability of C-oriented and I-oriented pronominal clitics), for the massive variation in the word order of pronominal clitics, auxiliaries, and the lexical verb found in the Istro-Romanian sentential core. An endangered Romance variety spoken in Istria and in the diaspora, historically related to (Daco-)Romanian, Istro-Romanian has been in contact with Croatian since the settlement of Istro-Romanians in the Istrian peninsula. As some of the Istro-Romanian features and phenomena are found both in Croatian and in old Romanian, it appears that contact with Croatian acts as a catalyst of structural convergence engendering the retention of an archaic property of Istro-Romanian auxiliaries: a lower position on the grammaticalization cline, closer to the full word status of their etyma. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Syntactic Variation in Language Contact Situations.The view from an I-Language Perspective)

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13 pages, 367 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Resilient Subject Agreement Morpho-Syntax in the Germanic Romance Contact Area

by Cecilia Poletto and Alessandra Tomaselli

Languages 2021, 6(3), 119; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/languages6030119 - 12 Jul 2021

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1919

Abstract

In this work, we intend to investigate one fundamental aspect of language contact by comparing the distribution of subjects in German, Northern Italian dialects and Cimbrian. Here, we show that purely syntactic order phenomena are more prone to convergence, i.e., less resilient, while [...] Read more.

In this work, we intend to investigate one fundamental aspect of language contact by comparing the distribution of subjects in German, Northern Italian dialects and Cimbrian. Here, we show that purely syntactic order phenomena are more prone to convergence, i.e., less resilient, while phenomena that have a clearly identifiable morphological counterpart are more resilient. The empirical domain of investigation for our analysis is the morphosyntax of both nominal and pronominal subjects, the agreement pattern and their position in Cimbrian grammar. While agreement patterns display a highly conservative paradigm, the syntax of nominal (vP-peripheral and topicalized) subjects is innovative and mimics the Italian linear word order. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Syntactic Variation in Language Contact Situations.The view from an I-Language Perspective)

13 pages, 671 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Circumventing the ‘That-Trace’ Effect: Different Strategies between Germanic and Romance

by Andrea Padovan, Ermenegildo Bidese and Alessandra Tomaselli

Languages 2021, 6(2), 84; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages6020084 - 11 May 2021

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2184

Abstract

In our paper, we deal with the Germanic–Romance language contact, focusing on Cimbrian, a Germanic minority language spoken in Northern Italy. Specifically, we focus on the violation of the well-known that-trace filter, as it appears to be an interesting case of the superficial [...] Read more.

In our paper, we deal with the Germanic–Romance language contact, focusing on Cimbrian, a Germanic minority language spoken in Northern Italy. Specifically, we focus on the violation of the well-known that-trace filter, as it appears to be an interesting case of the superficial convergence that we ascribe to the status of T, which is either too rich (model language) or too weak (replica language) to represent a viable landing site for subject extraction. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Syntactic Variation in Language Contact Situations.The view from an I-Language Perspective)

21 pages, 1347 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Intraclade Contact from an I-Language Perspective. The Noun Phrase in the Ligurian/Occitan amphizone

by Diego Pescarini

Languages 2021, 6(2), 77; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/languages6020077 - 21 Apr 2021

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2097

Abstract

This article aims to compare some traits that characterise the syntax of the noun phrase in the Occitan/Ligurian amphizone (i.e., contact area) that lies at the border between southern France and northwestern Italy. The dialects spoken in this area differ in several syntactic [...] Read more.

This article aims to compare some traits that characterise the syntax of the noun phrase in the Occitan/Ligurian amphizone (i.e., contact area) that lies at the border between southern France and northwestern Italy. The dialects spoken in this area differ in several syntactic traits that emerged in a situation of contact between dialects of different subgroups (Ligurian and Occitan), two roofing languages (Italian and French), and regional contact languages such as Genoese. In particular, I will elaborate on the syntax of mass and indefinite plural nouns, on the co-occurrence of determiners and possessives, and on the syntax of kinship terms. From an I-language perspective, the fine variation observed at the Occitan/Ligurian border raises two types of research questions: (a) which comparative concepts best capture the observed variation; (b) whether intraclade contact (i.e., contact between languages of the same branch) can contribute relevant evidence and arguments to the debate concerning the biological endowment of the language faculty. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Syntactic Variation in Language Contact Situations.The view from an I-Language Perspective)

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21 pages, 434 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Balkan View on the Left Periphery: Modal and Discourse Particles

by Anna Roussou

Languages 2021, 6(2), 75; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/languages6020075 - 15 Apr 2021

Viewed by 1789

Abstract

The present paper discusses two sets of so-called particles in the Balkan languages, arguing that the correspondences attested in the E-languages reveal abstract properties at the level of the I-language. The first set involves modal particles which participate in the analytic expressions of [...] Read more.

The present paper discusses two sets of so-called particles in the Balkan languages, arguing that the correspondences attested in the E-languages reveal abstract properties at the level of the I-language. The first set involves modal particles which participate in the analytic expressions of the “future” and the “subjunctive”. Future markers are construed as V-related elements externalizing a scope position of the verb, while the subjunctive markers take their features from the nominal set. The second set of data involves the discourse marker “haide” which is argued to externalize features associated with the force of the sentence and its anchoring to the discourse participants. In the case of modal particles, the languages under consideration retain their own lexica, while in the case of the discourse marker, they share the same lexical item (lexical borrowing). Analysis of these phenomena supports an articulated left periphery which also accounts for the similar distribution of the discourse marker “haide”. At the same time, the different externalizations leave room for further microparametric variation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Syntactic Variation in Language Contact Situations.The view from an I-Language Perspective)

21 pages, 2996 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Modeling Syntactic Change under Contact: The Case of Italiot Greek

by Cristina Guardiano and Melita Stavrou

Languages 2021, 6(2), 74; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/languages6020074 - 13 Apr 2021

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2236

Abstract

In this paper, we investigate patterns of persistence and change affecting the syntax of nominal structures in Italiot Greek in comparison to Modern (and Ancient) Greek, and we explore the role of Southern Italo-Romance as a potential source of interference. Our aim is [...] Read more.

In this paper, we investigate patterns of persistence and change affecting the syntax of nominal structures in Italiot Greek in comparison to Modern (and Ancient) Greek, and we explore the role of Southern Italo-Romance as a potential source of interference. Our aim is to highlight the dynamics that favor syntactic contact in this domain: we provide an overview of the social context where these dynamics have taken place and of the linguistic structures involved. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Syntactic Variation in Language Contact Situations.The view from an I-Language Perspective)

28 pages, 1516 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Possessives, from Franco-Provençal and Occitan Systems to Contact Dialects in Apulia and Calabria

by Benedetta Baldi and Leonardo Maria Savoia

Languages 2021, 6(2), 63; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/languages6020063 - 27 Mar 2021

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2797

Abstract

This article investigates the contact-induced reorganization of the possessive system in the Gallo-Romance dialects spoken from around the 12th century in the villages of Celle and Faeto in North Apulia and Guardia Piemontese in North-West Calabria. Gallo-Romance possessives exclude the article in the [...] Read more.

This article investigates the contact-induced reorganization of the possessive system in the Gallo-Romance dialects spoken from around the 12th century in the villages of Celle and Faeto in North Apulia and Guardia Piemontese in North-West Calabria. Gallo-Romance possessives exclude the article in the prenominal position, whereas in the Southern Italian dialects, possessives follow the noun preceded by the definite article. This original contrast is no longer visible in the varieties of Celle, Faeto and Guardia which changed the original prenominal position to the postnominal position combining with the article, except with kinship terms, preserving the original prenominal position. At the heart of contact phenomena, there are bilingualism and transfer mechanisms between the languages included in the complex knowledge of the speaker, suggesting a test bed for the treatment of language variation and parameterization. We propose an account of morpho-syntactic and interpretive properties of possessives, making use of the insights from the comparison of contact systems with prenominal (Franco-Provençal and Occitan varieties) and postnominal (Southern Italian dialects) possessives. The final part examines the distribution of possessives, tracing it back to the definiteness properties of DP and proposes a phasal treatment based on syntactic and interpretive constraints. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Syntactic Variation in Language Contact Situations.The view from an I-Language Perspective)

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