1,721,167 research outputs found
Auxiliaries and Verb Classes: The Complexity of Predicates in the L1 Acquisition of Italian
No full textIn this paper we will propose a syntactic analysis of the distribution of
auxiliaries in the first stages of acquisition of Italian. The lexical- syntactic
structure of verb classes is acquired early on (Lorusso et al. 2005,
Friedman 2007): children distinguish between unaccusatives and
transitives. The first auxiliary that appears in children’s spontaneous
speech is essere (= to be) which selects unaccusative or defective
predicates, while avere (= to have), which selects a full sentence with an
external argument (namely, transitive predicates), appears later and is not
produced and comprehended in an adult-like way. Our hypothesis is that
the complexity of verbs affects the production and comprehension of
auxiliaries in child Italian. For complexity we refer to the argument
structure projected by each verbal head. The verbs which project internal
arguments (unaccusatives and transitives) are less complex for their
aspectual entailment than the verbs which project only external arguments
(unergatives). The sentences involving auxiliaries are aspectually marked:
the passato prossimo (=present perfect) tensed constructions, in fact, entail
a perfective reading. The aspectual reading of the auxiliary interacts with
the aspectual interpretation of each verb class
Early Auxiliaries in Italian L1: a Syntactic analysis
No full textIn this paper we will analyse the production and interpretation of the forms of the present perfect (passato prossimo) in children’s Italian. Crosslinguistic research on the production of tense morphology in child language has shown that young children use past or perfective forms mainly to refer to telic predicates and present or imperfective forms mainly to refer to atelic predicates. However, this pattern, which has come to be known as the Aspect First Hypothesis (Antonucci & Miller, 1976), has been challenged in a number of comprehension studies. We will focus on the distribution of auxiliaries in the first forms of the present perfect. First, since in Italian there are two auxiliaries, be for unaccusatives and have for transitives, we will show that be is mastered earlier than have: children distinguish between verb classes and properly assign be to unaccusatives which are inherently telic predicates and have to transitives and unergatives which are atelic. Second, we will test the validity of the Aspect First Hypothesis by presenting the results of two experimental tasks: the production and the comprehension of the perfective forms of have with telic and atelic predicates. The results will show that the aktionsart of verbs is relevant to account for the production of early auxiliaries till the age of 5. Furthermore, the perfective reading is not interpreted properly with atelic unergatives till later stages (7 years). We propose that telicity is not matched with the perfective morphology, but the presence of an overt direct object, that measures out the event denoted by the verb, triggers the production of the present perfect in child Italian. The syntax of verb classes influences the early aspectual interpretation. When an internal argument is selected within the VP (unaccusatives and transitives), children are more likely to produce and analyze perfective auxiliaries in an adultlike way: the internal arguments give a natural endpoint to the events denoted by the verbs and are overt syntactic cues of telicity that influence the pattern of distribution of early aspectual auxiliaries
The Acquisition of Verbs at the Syntax-Semantics Interface Early Predicates
No full textThis book presents theoretical and experimental analyses of the nature of early verbs. At around the age of two years old, children start to combine words and produce their first verbs. Verbal items appear later than nouns in a childs speech and refer to the relational concepts in the world that are represented in syntax through the argument structure.
The central set of data investigated here is based on the analysis of the features of first verbal productions in Italian. Since the appearance of verbs implies the mastery of a mapping procedure between syntactic positions and semantic roles, the syntactic regularities found for each lexical verb class suggest that the relation at the syntax-semantics interface is well-established early on. The non-adult-like sentences are those which involve the mastery of the scope-discourse semantic interface or higher functional syntactic categories. The analysis of the delay in the production and comprehension of some constructions here uncovers some general characteristics of language acquisition devices
The aspectual-distribution of gerunds in Apulian varieties
Full text linkIn this paper we describe and analyze the distribution of embedded gerunds in the Apulian varieties, namely the Romance varieties spoken in the area of Bari. In these varieties gerunds are not found embedded un der the be/stay auxiliary to express the progressive aspect as in the Italian/English periphrases or progressives (). f Gerunds are only found embedded under the verb go in periphrases to express a reiterative meaning or embedded under the negated forms of be to express prohibition (the negative ). The different distribution of gerunds between standard Italian and Apulian varieties is then analyzed as a difference of the aspectual entailment encoded through the gerund morphology: while standard Italian encodes a general imperfective reading, Apulian varieties encode a more specific aspectual entailment, namely continuative aspect. Since Gerunds imply the syntactic embedding of the verb under a preposition, we propose that standard Italian and Apulian varieties differ on the covert preposition incorporated in the gerund inflectional morphology that imply a different aspectual reading.
The Acquisition of Aspect in Italian
Full text linkIn this paper the acquisition of perfective morphology is investigated. The effect of the (a)telicity of verbs in the development of perfective morphology is examined in Child
Italian. The hypothesis is that compositional telicity is acquired earlier than the lexical aspect as it results by the semantics of the lexical items that enter into the derivation,
since the syntactic generalizations are easier to acquire than the semantic idiosyncratic properties. Perfective morphology should show particular properties in interaction with verbs whose lexical aspect is not given. The second section is devoted to the analysis of the characteristics of aspect in Italian, while the third section is dedicated to the background theories on the acquisition of aspect. In the fourth section the data are presented: an analysis of the appearance of perfective morphology in spontaneous speech, and two experimental tasks on the production and comprehension of the perfective morphology with different verb classes. In the last paragraph the data are discussed and a developmental analysis of the acquisition of aspect is given
On the interpretation of inflected subject clitics
No full textThis paper discusses the distribution of subject clitics in nominal copular constructions in the variety of Este (PD) which is a partial pro-drop language where null subjects alternate with subject proclitics: when a postverbal subject NP is present, no subject clitic is allowed with lexical verbs. However, subject proclitics are allowed with postverbal subjects in inverse copular sentences where the postverbal NP agrees with both the copula and the subject proclitic. This paper explores the available discourse semantic interpretations of inverse copular sentences resulting by this inflectional pattern: while the preverbal predicative NP is a topicalized intensional element that instantiates a description, the postverbal NP represents new information. The preverbal predicative NP does not refer to an entity, but to a property representing the subset that includes the postverbal subject NP which a focal element introduced, just in this configuration, by a subject proclitic
Double wall bayonet tube steam generator investigation in hero experimental campaign
No full textThe large LBE (Lead-Bismuth Eutectic) pool integral effect CIRCE (CIRcolazione Eutettico) facility at CR ENEA Brasimone, implementing the HERO (Heavy liquid mEtal pRessurized water cOoled tubes) Test Section (TS), has been involved in an experimental campaign investigating the thermal-hydraulic behavior of a new concept of Steam Generator (SG) based on double wall bayonet tubes concept. The R&D activities aim at improving the knowledge and the experience in terms of design and operations for Lead-cooled Fast Reactor (LFR) and Accelerator Driven System (ADS), and providing a database for STH codes validation. The HERO SG represents a mock-up (1:1 in length) of the ALFRED (Advanced Lead Fast Reactor European Demonstrator) Steam Generator. An experimental campaign has been carried out in the framework of the HORIZON2020 SESAME (Simulations and Experiments for the Safety Assessment of MEtal cooled reactors) European project, in order to support the development of the ALFRED SG with a set of high secondary side pressure tests (~172 bar). In the same configuration, an experimental campaign has been carried out with low pressure secondary side (~16 bar) in the framework of the HORIZON2020 MYRTE (MYRRHA Research and Transmutation Endeavour) European project providing support to the development of MYRRHA (Multi-purpose hYbrid Research Reactor for High-tech Applications) and acquiring thermo-dynamic feedbacks of the Primary Heat Exchanger (PHX) behavior. For these purposes, the HERO TS has been implemented in the CIRCE facility and a dedicated instrumentation has been installed. The aim of this work is to present the experimental tests performed and the main results achieved in steady-state conditions, characterizing the system behavior in terms of primary LBE mass flow rate, temperatures and pressure, both at low and high pressure on the secondary side
Double wall bayonet tube steam generator investigation in hero experimental campaign
No full textThe large LBE (Lead-Bismuth Eutectic) pool integral effect CIRCE (CIRcolazione Eutettico) facility at CR ENEA Brasimone, implementing the HERO (Heavy liquid mEtal pRessurized water cOoled tubes) Test Section (TS), has been involved in an experimental campaign investigating the thermal-hydraulic behavior of a new concept of Steam Generator (SG) based on double wall bayonet tubes concept. The R&D activities aim at improving the knowledge and the experience in terms of design and operations for Lead-cooled Fast Reactor (LFR) and Accelerator Driven System (ADS), and providing a database for STH codes validation. The HERO SG represents a mock-up (1:1 in length) of the ALFRED (Advanced Lead Fast Reactor European Demonstrator) Steam Generator. An experimental campaign has been carried out in the framework of the HORIZON2020 SESAME (Simulations and Experiments for the Safety Assessment of MEtal cooled reactors) European project, in order to support the development of the ALFRED SG with a set of high secondary side pressure tests (~172 bar). In the same configuration, an experimental campaign has been carried out with low pressure secondary side (~16 bar) in the framework of the HORIZON2020 MYRTE (MYRRHA Research and Transmutation Endeavour) European project providing support to the development of MYRRHA (Multi-purpose hYbrid Research Reactor for High-tech Applications) and acquiring thermo-dynamic feedbacks of the Primary Heat Exchanger (PHX) behavior. For these purposes, the HERO TS has been implemented in the CIRCE facility and a dedicated instrumentation has been installed. The aim of this work is to present the experimental tests performed and the main results achieved in steady-state conditions, characterizing the system behavior in terms of primary LBE mass flow rate, temperatures and pressure, both at low and high pressure on the secondary side
- …
