Inflectional uniformity in the present subjunctive in the dialects of central Friuli
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Martina Da Tos
Abstract
In the evolution of the Latin verb system into (Italo-)Romance varieties, affixal allomorphy based on inflectional classes (‘conjugations’) has normally been preserved (Maiden 2011). Yet the present subjunctive pattern looks exceptional: in this case, the original allomorphy has typically been neutralized, giving way to unprecedented, uniform patterns. A careful examination of data from the dialects of Friuli suggests that the inflectional changes leading to uniformity are due not to a propensity to destroy allomorphy, but to the fact that conjugational allomorphs are subject to some formal and distributional constraints, which, in this case, have been violated. These constraints crucially presuppose that inflectional affixes are signs that, under the right circumstances, can have ‘inflectional class’ as part of their content (Carstairs-McCarthy 1994).
Abstract
In the evolution of the Latin verb system into (Italo-)Romance varieties, affixal allomorphy based on inflectional classes (‘conjugations’) has normally been preserved (Maiden 2011). Yet the present subjunctive pattern looks exceptional: in this case, the original allomorphy has typically been neutralized, giving way to unprecedented, uniform patterns. A careful examination of data from the dialects of Friuli suggests that the inflectional changes leading to uniformity are due not to a propensity to destroy allomorphy, but to the fact that conjugational allomorphs are subject to some formal and distributional constraints, which, in this case, have been violated. These constraints crucially presuppose that inflectional affixes are signs that, under the right circumstances, can have ‘inflectional class’ as part of their content (Carstairs-McCarthy 1994).
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- The dialects of Italy at the interfaces 1
- Inflectional uniformity in the present subjunctive in the dialects of central Friuli 41
- The Inflected Construction in the dialects of Sicily 63
- Mixed paradigms in Italo-Romance 79
- Selection and morphology of expletive subject clitics in northern Italian dialects 101
- Can structural deficiency be parametrized? 113
- The morphosyntax-semantics interface and the Sicilian Doubly Inflected Construction 131
- Matrix complementizers in Italo-Romance 155
- On the syntactic encoding of lexical interjections in Italo-Romance 185
- A person split analysis of the progressive forms in some southern Italian varieties 203
- Contact-induced phenomena in the Alps 237
- N morphology and its interpretation 257
- Indefinite articles and licensing of nominals in two Slavic varieties 295
- Syntactic variation across Greek dialects 319
- Author index 357
- Language and place index 361
- Subject index 365
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- The dialects of Italy at the interfaces 1
- Inflectional uniformity in the present subjunctive in the dialects of central Friuli 41
- The Inflected Construction in the dialects of Sicily 63
- Mixed paradigms in Italo-Romance 79
- Selection and morphology of expletive subject clitics in northern Italian dialects 101
- Can structural deficiency be parametrized? 113
- The morphosyntax-semantics interface and the Sicilian Doubly Inflected Construction 131
- Matrix complementizers in Italo-Romance 155
- On the syntactic encoding of lexical interjections in Italo-Romance 185
- A person split analysis of the progressive forms in some southern Italian varieties 203
- Contact-induced phenomena in the Alps 237
- N morphology and its interpretation 257
- Indefinite articles and licensing of nominals in two Slavic varieties 295
- Syntactic variation across Greek dialects 319
- Author index 357
- Language and place index 361
- Subject index 365
