1,721,161 research outputs found
Per una teoria dell’interpretazione temporale delle frasi subordinate
Full text linkIn questo lavoro verrà presa in considerazione l’interpretazione temporale di alcuni contesti subordinati dell’italiano. In particolare, si analizzeranno le forme dell’indicativo nelle frasi completive. Si sosterrà che, per determinare l’interpretazione temporale della frase subordinata, devono venire presi in considerazione vari fattori. Da una parte, le proprietà del predicato della frase principale sono cruciali nel determinare la distribuzione e l’interpretazione della forma incassata. Dall’altra, le caratteristiche morfosintattiche del verbo incassato limitano la varietà dei contesti possibili in cui può apparire e le interpretazioni cui può dar luogo. Si dedicherà speciale attenzione all’imperfetto, poiché può trovarsi in vari contesti che manifestano caratteristiche semantiche e morfosintattiche di particolare interesse.In this work I consider the temporal interpretation of some subordinate contexts in Italian. In particular, I analyze the indicative verbal forms appearing in complement clauses. I will argue that in order to determine the temporal interpretation of the subordinate clause, several factors must be taken into account. On one hand, the properties of the predicate appearing in the superordinate clause are crucial in determining the distribution and the interpretation of the embedded form. On the other, the morphosyntactic characteristics of the embedded verb constrain the possible range of contexts in which it can appear and the interpretations it can deliver. Special attention is devoted to the imperfect, given that it can occur in a variety of contexts exhibiting interesting semantic and morphosyntactic properties
On the temporal interpretation of certain surprise questions
Full text linkThis article considers a special kind of surprise questions, i.e. those introduced by the adversative particle ma (but), and compares it with surprise exclamations. The main issue addressed here concerns the obligatory presence in the questions of the imperfect verbal form, versus the obligatory presence in exclamations of a non-imperfect indicative. It will be shown that the special semantics associated with these structures determines the presence of a certain verbal form. Some syntactic issues will be addressed in the final section, having to do with the representation in the syntax of properties connected to the context
Integrated parentheticals in quotations and free indirect discourse
Full text linkIn this chapter I consider the syntactic properties of a particular kind of parentheticals, those introducing Quotations – henceforth, QU – and Free Indirect Discourse – henceforth, FID.
Consider the following examples: (1) I will leave tomorrow, said John (2) The new ration did not start till tomorrow and he had only four cigarettes left, thought Winston (adapted, from Orwell 1984). Example (1) is a QU structure and the parenthetical in question is said John.
Example (2) is a FID construction and the parenthetical is thought Winston. As already well known, they have special properties from an interpretive, syntactic and phonological point of view. QU and FID parentheticals are alike under many points of view, even if the two constructions must be kept separate, especially with respect to the interpretation of pronouns and verbal forms. For the purposes of this work, I will in general consider them alike.
Observe now the following paradigm: (3) John said that Mary left (4) John said: “Mary left” (5) Maria, said John, left.
It seems to me that the most important goal for a syntactic analysis is to provide a coherent analysis of the similarities and differences among the constructions in (3)- (5). At first sight, these structures seem very much alike, both from the point of view of their meaning and their syntax – to the extent that some scholars have proposed a direct syntactic derivation (Emonds 1973; Ross 1973), for instance of (5) starting from (3). I will show here that the situation is indeed much more complex than that. In particular, in this paper I show that example (5) is closer to (4) than to (3). The approach I will develop here is an integrated view of parentheticals, complying with Kayne’s (1994) Linear Correspondence Axiom (LCA)
On the Nature of Long-Distance Anaphors
No full textI consider two interpretive properties of long-distance anaphors: (a) they have only a pure-reflexive reading, in the sense that they fail to refer to portrayals of their antecedent, and (b) whenever possible, they must be interpreted as de se, or to put it better, as first-personal. Long-distance anaphors seem to be interpretively parallel to local reflexive construals such as those seen with inherent reflexivity and constructions of inalienable possession. Moreover, in some languages, such as Chinese and Italian, long-distance anaphors can also be locally bound, and in such cases, they pattern with self anaphors rather than with inherent reflexives. To account for this pattern, I propose that long-distance anaphors, together with the local construals mentioned above, are the spell-out of an unsaturated position, saturated in the course of the derivation via θ-identification with the antecedent
About the Speaker:Towards a Syntax of Indexicality
Full text linkIn this monograph I investigate the relationship between syntax and context. In particular, I propose that in the syntactic representation of the sentence a syntactic layer – i.e., a sequence of positions functionally related – is especially devoted to play such a role at the interface. I identify this set of positions with the Complementizer- layer and argue that the temporal – and arguably spatial as well – coordinates of the speaker are represented in its left-most projection, which I dub here C-speaker
Toward a syntax of the subjunctive mood
No full textIn this paper I discuss the syntactic properties of the Italian subjunctive and their relevance at the syntax/semantics interface. The
subjunctive mood plays a typical role in sequence of tense phenomena: languages that show the double access reading with the
indicative, do not show it with the subjunctive, with some interesting exceptions. The double access reading is a peculiar interpretive
effect having to do with the temporal location of the embedded event. I analyze the syntax associated with subjunctive clauses, and
in particular the properties of the complementizer layer. I show that such properties systematically correlate with the interpretation
assigned to the embedded clause, i.e., with the presence or absence of the double access reading. I argue that when the embedded
clause has a double access interpretation, it contains a projection that is read off at the interface as pointing to the speaker’s temporal
coordinate. In the other, non-double access cases, such a projection is absent and therefore the speaker’s coordinate does not
intervene in the temporal interpretation of the embedded clause
From Temporal anchoring to long distance anaphors
No full textThis paper investigates the distribution of long distance anaphors in two typologically unrelated languages, Italian and Chinese, and shows that in spite of the superficial differences they are ruled by the same grammatical principles. It is proposed that the properties determining the temporal location of events at the interface level, i.e., Sequence of Tense, also allow the identification of the antecedent of long distance anaphors. The paper focuses on so-called blocking effects, namely, the impossibility for a long distance anaphor to extend its binding domain beyond certain elements, such as an indicative verbal form in Italian or an indexical or context-related item in Chinese. I also consider backward binding phenomena, and show how
they might follow from the same generalizations. The paper investigates the role of the speaker and the bearer of attitude in the sentence, and capitalizing on the proposals by Giorgi and Pianesi (1997, 2001a, 2001b,2004a, 2004b) on Sequence of Tense, argues that they are syntactically realized and might act as binders and blockers both for temporal anchoring and for binding
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