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Chapter 6. The morphosyntax of Italian ethnic adjectives

Abstract

In this study, we address ethnic adjectives in Italian, challenging the dichotomy between ‘thematic’ and ‘classificatory’ ethnic adjectives recently posited by Alexiadou & Stavrou (2011). Drawing upon the frameworks of Manzini & Savoia (2011a), Manzini & Franco (2016), Franco & Manzini (2017b), Savoia et al. (2017), and Franco et al. (2020), we present a unified characterization of Italian ethnic adjectives. We propose that the derivational morphemes shaping these adjectives serve as a derivational counterpart of the genitive adposition “di” (of) (along with other types of obliques), sharing a common predicational core and signature with them. Furthermore, we suggest that the framework proposed for ethnic adjectives can be broadly extended to relational adjectives in general.

Abstract

In this study, we address ethnic adjectives in Italian, challenging the dichotomy between ‘thematic’ and ‘classificatory’ ethnic adjectives recently posited by Alexiadou & Stavrou (2011). Drawing upon the frameworks of Manzini & Savoia (2011a), Manzini & Franco (2016), Franco & Manzini (2017b), Savoia et al. (2017), and Franco et al. (2020), we present a unified characterization of Italian ethnic adjectives. We propose that the derivational morphemes shaping these adjectives serve as a derivational counterpart of the genitive adposition “di” (of) (along with other types of obliques), sharing a common predicational core and signature with them. Furthermore, we suggest that the framework proposed for ethnic adjectives can be broadly extended to relational adjectives in general.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Dedication v
  3. Table of contents vii
  4. Preface ix
  5. Chapter 1. Introduction 1
  6. Chapter 2. Oblique serial verbs in Creole/Pidgin languages and beyond 16
  7. Chapter 3. A syntactic interpretation of the applicative-causative syncretism 49
  8. Chapter 4. Axial Parts beyond space 73
  9. Chapter 5. Existential sentences in Romance based Creoles 114
  10. Chapter 6. The morphosyntax of Italian ethnic adjectives 134
  11. Chapter 7. The morphosyntactic interaction of kinship terms with evaluative morphemes in Italian 169
  12. Chapter 8. Conclusions 186
  13. Bibliography 188
  14. Subject index 215
Elementary Predicates and Related Categories
This chapter is in the book Elementary Predicates and Related Categories
https://doi.org/10.1075/la.285.c6

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Dedication v
  3. Table of contents vii
  4. Preface ix
  5. Chapter 1. Introduction 1
  6. Chapter 2. Oblique serial verbs in Creole/Pidgin languages and beyond 16
  7. Chapter 3. A syntactic interpretation of the applicative-causative syncretism 49
  8. Chapter 4. Axial Parts beyond space 73
  9. Chapter 5. Existential sentences in Romance based Creoles 114
  10. Chapter 6. The morphosyntax of Italian ethnic adjectives 134
  11. Chapter 7. The morphosyntactic interaction of kinship terms with evaluative morphemes in Italian 169
  12. Chapter 8. Conclusions 186
  13. Bibliography 188
  14. Subject index 215
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