1,721,217 research outputs found
SOME NEW OBSERVATIONS ON THE CARTOGRAPHY OF TOPIC AND FOCUS
Full text linkThe goal of this paper is to discuss the cartography of Topic and Focus in Italian left periphery, to show that Topics can occur on either side of Focus, as in Rizzi’s (1997) original proposal. The data provided by Benincà and Poletto (2004) to argue against this possibility are shown to raise both empirical and theoretical questions. Additional evidence is provided to support the view that Foci can be followed by Familiar Topics, as in Frascarelli and Hinterhölzl’s (2007) typology of Topics. The discourse contribution of left- and right-dislocated Familiar Topics is also discusse
La particella discorsiva guarda: aspetti pragmatici e sintattici
Full text linkThis paper discusses the pragmatic and syntactic properties of the Italian discourse marker guarda, with comparative observations with its equivalents in other Romance languages and in English. In addition to an overview of its discourse function(s), the syntactic analysis of guarda is provided, based on its distribution (initial, medial, final position), the type of sentence in which it may occur (declarative, interrogative, imperative), and its morphological form (inflected, uninflected). Two different particles guarda should be assumed, one occurring in sentence-initial and the other in sentence-internal position. Sentence–final guarda is subsumed under the latter case by syntactic derivation, i.e., the proposition moves to the left of guarda as it does with right-dislocated constituents. Crosslinguistic evidence suggests that discourse markers are sensitive to the sentence type on a par with modal particles, pace Waltereit and Detges (2007). Sentence-internal (including sentence-final) guarda is indeed sensitive to the type of sentence in which it occurs. It is also suggested that the pragmaticalisation of guarda from verb to discourse marker may be considered to be a synchronic process and not necessarily a diachronic process
I pronomi deboli nel sistema pronominale dell’italiano
Full text linkThis work illustrates the Italian pronominal system and focuses on weak pronouns, which are not present in traditional grammatical descriptions. In both Old Italian and Modern Italian, three classes of personal pronouns should be assumed: strong, weak, and clitic. In both varieties, strong pronouns have the same distribution as noun phrases. Clitic pronouns have a special syntax, with wellknown differences between the two varieties with respect to the lexical forms and syntactic distribution. As for weak pronouns, more forms were present in Old Italian than in Modern Italian, where they are a residual option. They are nowadays limited to the subject pronouns tu and egli/esso and to the object dative form loro found in high registers. Focusing on the textual conditions in which the overt weak forms egli/esso are preferred over the null weak form, an ongoing language change can be observed. The weak forms egli/esso are substituted by lui/lei, which are in the process of becoming weak. Among other properties, they may have a non-human antecedent. Finally, weak forms are found in the paradigms of possessive, relative, interrogative, demostrative, and adverbial proforms, showing that the tripartition into clitic, weak, and strong forms is pervasive in grammar and not limited to the paradigm of personal pronouns
SpeCP in verb-second languages: Expletives, null subjects, and nominative case assignment
No full textOn accessible language testing for students with disabilities
Full text linkThe aim of the paper is to discuss the accessibility of language tests, in particular for students who have sensory (deaf) and learning disabilities (LD). The term accessibility refers to the design of products, devices, services, or environments so that they ensure equal access for all individuals. Test accessibility is “the extent to which a test and its constituent item set permits the test-taker to demonstrate knowledge of the target construct” (Beddow 2009). Two individuals may have the same language competence, but accessibility issues may preclude one from demonstrating his/her competence.
I present some results of a pilot study funded by the Italian Ministry of Education and Research (MIUR), entitled “Interventi per studenti sordi e con DSA all’Università: valutazione delle competenze linguistiche in italiano e in inglese” (Measures for deaf students and students with LD at University: Assessment of language competence in Italian and English), which involved the collaboration of scholars from the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice and the University of Bologna. Our research questions are the following: Do the tests which aim to assess language competence in L1 and L2 really do so in the case of deaf students and students with LD? Or can the negative results be attributed to the format of the tests? Is a common reasonable accommodation such as extended time sufficient to make language proficiency tests accessible
Le costruzioni di "Linksversetzung", "Freies Thema" e "Mixed Left Dislocation" in tedesco
No full textRecensione a G. Fanselow/S. Felix, Sprachtheorie. Bd.1: Grundlagen und Zielsetzungen; Bd.2: Die Rektions- und Bindungstheorie, Francke Verlag, Tuebingen, 1987
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