Germanic and Romance onset clusters – how to account for microvariation
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Birgit Alber
Abstract
In this paper the restrictions imposed on onset clusters in Standard German and Standard Italian are compared to the – minimally different – restrictions in the Germanic dialects of Tyrolean, Mòcheno and Lusern Cimbrian, and the Romance dialects of Trentino. Both standard varieties allow onset clusters with a sonority distance (SD, computed according to the sonority indexes proposed in Parker 2011) of 4, marginally 3 intervals, while the corresponding dialects allow for SD = 2. The observed pattern of microvariation can be understood as minimal variation between grammars. We give a precise measure of this minimal grammatical difference by performing a typological analysis in the framework of Optimality Theory, yielding the typological properties of the system, understood as the necessary and sufficient ranking conditions generating every single language of the typology (Alber & Prince, in preparation, see also Alber, DelBusso & Prince 2016). Minimal grammatical difference can then be defined as minimal change of the property values defining each language.
Abstract
In this paper the restrictions imposed on onset clusters in Standard German and Standard Italian are compared to the – minimally different – restrictions in the Germanic dialects of Tyrolean, Mòcheno and Lusern Cimbrian, and the Romance dialects of Trentino. Both standard varieties allow onset clusters with a sonority distance (SD, computed according to the sonority indexes proposed in Parker 2011) of 4, marginally 3 intervals, while the corresponding dialects allow for SD = 2. The observed pattern of microvariation can be understood as minimal variation between grammars. We give a precise measure of this minimal grammatical difference by performing a typological analysis in the framework of Optimality Theory, yielding the typological properties of the system, understood as the necessary and sufficient ranking conditions generating every single language of the typology (Alber & Prince, in preparation, see also Alber, DelBusso & Prince 2016). Minimal grammatical difference can then be defined as minimal change of the property values defining each language.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgements vii
- Introduction 1
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Part one: Synchronic variation in phonology and syntax
- Germanic and Romance onset clusters – how to account for microvariation 25
- The use of gerunds and infinitives in perceptive constructions 53
- Adverb and participle agreement 89
- Why a bed can be slept in but not under 119
- Deriving idiolectal variation 145
- On the variable nature of head final effects in German and English 177
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Part two: Diachronic variation in phonology and syntax
- Variation and change in Italian phonology 205
- Which clues for which V2 237
- Parameter typology from a diachronic perspective 259
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Part three: On the relationship between language variation and language change in bilingual settings
- Attrition at the interfaces in bilectal acquisition (Italian/Gallipolino) 295
- Little v and cross-linguistic variation 317
- On language acquisition and language change 337
- Index 371
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgements vii
- Introduction 1
-
Part one: Synchronic variation in phonology and syntax
- Germanic and Romance onset clusters – how to account for microvariation 25
- The use of gerunds and infinitives in perceptive constructions 53
- Adverb and participle agreement 89
- Why a bed can be slept in but not under 119
- Deriving idiolectal variation 145
- On the variable nature of head final effects in German and English 177
-
Part two: Diachronic variation in phonology and syntax
- Variation and change in Italian phonology 205
- Which clues for which V2 237
- Parameter typology from a diachronic perspective 259
-
Part three: On the relationship between language variation and language change in bilingual settings
- Attrition at the interfaces in bilectal acquisition (Italian/Gallipolino) 295
- Little v and cross-linguistic variation 317
- On language acquisition and language change 337
- Index 371
