Syntactic and functional broadening of the reflexive markers in Romance: for a typological approach
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Annamaria Chilà
Abstract
The paper investigates the syntactic and functional (i.e., referential) broadening of reflexive pronouns derived from Latin se/sibi in Romance languages from a typological and Romance-oriented perspective. Such a broadening, already attested in Latin, entails a sort of switch in the referential domain, so that the reflexive pronoun loses its original coreferential bond to the Subject of the main clause, and turns into an anaphoric pronoun, as shown by data from different diachronic stages of Western Romance languages and varieties ([Mediaeval] Castilian, [Mediaeval] Gallo-Italic, Occitan, Portuguese, Campidanese Sardinian, and Southern Calabrese). From a morphological perspective, the referential broadening of the outcomes of Latin se is shown to have been triggered by their morphological underspecification: lacking gender, number and case, they overspread as mark of 1st and 2nd person, both sing. and pl. From a referential perspective, it is demonstrated that the Romance outcomes of Latin ✶illu underwent a functional realignment as to the original functions codified by Latin ille. This realignment has brought them closer to the outcomes of Latin se, thus making them available for the expression of anaphoric reference.
Abstract
The paper investigates the syntactic and functional (i.e., referential) broadening of reflexive pronouns derived from Latin se/sibi in Romance languages from a typological and Romance-oriented perspective. Such a broadening, already attested in Latin, entails a sort of switch in the referential domain, so that the reflexive pronoun loses its original coreferential bond to the Subject of the main clause, and turns into an anaphoric pronoun, as shown by data from different diachronic stages of Western Romance languages and varieties ([Mediaeval] Castilian, [Mediaeval] Gallo-Italic, Occitan, Portuguese, Campidanese Sardinian, and Southern Calabrese). From a morphological perspective, the referential broadening of the outcomes of Latin se is shown to have been triggered by their morphological underspecification: lacking gender, number and case, they overspread as mark of 1st and 2nd person, both sing. and pl. From a referential perspective, it is demonstrated that the Romance outcomes of Latin ✶illu underwent a functional realignment as to the original functions codified by Latin ille. This realignment has brought them closer to the outcomes of Latin se, thus making them available for the expression of anaphoric reference.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Introduction 1
- Variation and change in transitivity alternations and argument realization in Italo-Romance 9
- Syntactic and functional broadening of the reflexive markers in Romance: for a typological approach 33
- The prosodic features of pragmatic chillo in Neapolitan: implications for syntax and diachrony 55
- On the surprising origin of what-particles in Italian dialects 79
- On the evolution of mesoclisis in the imperative in Western Lombard varieties 107
- Inflectional classes in Istriot: a first systematisation in diachrony and synchrony 127
- Parlare le cose: structural aspects and syntactic-semantic disambiguation of some Italo-Romance verba dicendi in a diachronic and synchronic perspective 143
- The mass neuter of Praianese: new data and some insights 163
- Differential possessive marking in Italo-Romance 187
- On the feminine plural definite article and the interrogative conjugation in the dialect of Berbenno (BG) 213
- Pseudo-coordination and cu-finite construction in Salento: a case of syntactic reanalysis 233
- Differential object marking in the dialects of Southern Calabria 255
- Language index
- Name index
- Subject index
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Introduction 1
- Variation and change in transitivity alternations and argument realization in Italo-Romance 9
- Syntactic and functional broadening of the reflexive markers in Romance: for a typological approach 33
- The prosodic features of pragmatic chillo in Neapolitan: implications for syntax and diachrony 55
- On the surprising origin of what-particles in Italian dialects 79
- On the evolution of mesoclisis in the imperative in Western Lombard varieties 107
- Inflectional classes in Istriot: a first systematisation in diachrony and synchrony 127
- Parlare le cose: structural aspects and syntactic-semantic disambiguation of some Italo-Romance verba dicendi in a diachronic and synchronic perspective 143
- The mass neuter of Praianese: new data and some insights 163
- Differential possessive marking in Italo-Romance 187
- On the feminine plural definite article and the interrogative conjugation in the dialect of Berbenno (BG) 213
- Pseudo-coordination and cu-finite construction in Salento: a case of syntactic reanalysis 233
- Differential object marking in the dialects of Southern Calabria 255
- Language index
- Name index
- Subject index
