Prepositionless genitive and N+N compounding in (Old) French and Italian
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Denis Delfitto
Abstract
In this contribution, we examine four cases of prepositionless genitive assignment: (a) certain alleged cases of N+N composition in Modern Italian that respond positively to important diagnostics for syntactic behavior; (b) the so-called Juxtaposition Genitive widely attested in Old French; (c) the relatively less appreciated presence of some peculiar forms of Juxtaposition Genitive in Old Italian, attested until the end of the 14th century and partially still surviving in certain Central and Southern Italian dialects; (d) the so-called genitive compounds in West-Frisian. By exploiting Kayne’s insights on the syntax of possessive constructions, we challenge the traditional view that the loss of synthetic genitive morphology necessarily leads to modalities of prepositional genitive assignment in the transition from (Late) Latin to Romance. The hypotheses formulated here are potentially relevant for a general theory of genitive assignment and for the study of the interface between syntax and morphology.
Abstract
In this contribution, we examine four cases of prepositionless genitive assignment: (a) certain alleged cases of N+N composition in Modern Italian that respond positively to important diagnostics for syntactic behavior; (b) the so-called Juxtaposition Genitive widely attested in Old French; (c) the relatively less appreciated presence of some peculiar forms of Juxtaposition Genitive in Old Italian, attested until the end of the 14th century and partially still surviving in certain Central and Southern Italian dialects; (d) the so-called genitive compounds in West-Frisian. By exploiting Kayne’s insights on the syntax of possessive constructions, we challenge the traditional view that the loss of synthetic genitive morphology necessarily leads to modalities of prepositional genitive assignment in the transition from (Late) Latin to Romance. The hypotheses formulated here are potentially relevant for a general theory of genitive assignment and for the study of the interface between syntax and morphology.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Foreword v
- Table of contents vii
- Unpronounced MUCH and the distribution of degree expressions in Spanish 1
- The status of the (supposed) expletive in Brazilian Portuguese existential clauses 17
- On the linearization of adjectives in Romanian 33
- Prepositionless genitive and N+N compounding in (Old) French and Italian 53
- Vowel elision in spoken Italian 73
- Acoustic correlates of phonological microvariations 89
- Romance lenition 111
- Main stress in Italian nonce nouns 127
- Negative concord as feature sharing 143
- Appositive sentences and the structure(s) of coordination 159
- Cleaving the interactions between sluicing and P-stranding 175
- Another look at wh-questions in Romance 199
- Index of subjects and terms 259
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Foreword v
- Table of contents vii
- Unpronounced MUCH and the distribution of degree expressions in Spanish 1
- The status of the (supposed) expletive in Brazilian Portuguese existential clauses 17
- On the linearization of adjectives in Romanian 33
- Prepositionless genitive and N+N compounding in (Old) French and Italian 53
- Vowel elision in spoken Italian 73
- Acoustic correlates of phonological microvariations 89
- Romance lenition 111
- Main stress in Italian nonce nouns 127
- Negative concord as feature sharing 143
- Appositive sentences and the structure(s) of coordination 159
- Cleaving the interactions between sluicing and P-stranding 175
- Another look at wh-questions in Romance 199
- Index of subjects and terms 259
