The prosodic features of pragmatic chillo in Neapolitan: implications for syntax and diachrony
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Claudia Crocco
Abstract
: Campanian varieties feature pragmatic uses of the demonstrative pronoun chillo. This paper investigates the prosodic properties of chillo in Neapolitan given their relevance for syntactic and pragmatic analysis. Specifically, we aim i) to assess the presence of the tonal movement on the different uses of chillo; ii) to verify the lack of an overarching prosodic contour on pragmatic chillo and the DP it doubles; iii) to compare the data on Neapolitan chillo with those described for quello in regional Italian. To this end, a Discourse Completion Task was carried out by four Neapolitan speakers. It is shown that chillo is consistently pitch-accented in its pragmatic and non-deictic pronominal uses, unlike when it functions as a determiner. Additionally, a prosodic boundary is present between agreeing chillo and the DP it doubles. Several prosodic features conspire to realise this boundary, although not all markings necessarily co-occur simultaneously. The results presented in this study on Neapolitan chillo go in the same direction as those obtained on quello in informal Neapolitan Italian. Finally, we argue for a possible historical link between chillo as a subject pronoun and chillo doubling a subject DP.
Abstract
: Campanian varieties feature pragmatic uses of the demonstrative pronoun chillo. This paper investigates the prosodic properties of chillo in Neapolitan given their relevance for syntactic and pragmatic analysis. Specifically, we aim i) to assess the presence of the tonal movement on the different uses of chillo; ii) to verify the lack of an overarching prosodic contour on pragmatic chillo and the DP it doubles; iii) to compare the data on Neapolitan chillo with those described for quello in regional Italian. To this end, a Discourse Completion Task was carried out by four Neapolitan speakers. It is shown that chillo is consistently pitch-accented in its pragmatic and non-deictic pronominal uses, unlike when it functions as a determiner. Additionally, a prosodic boundary is present between agreeing chillo and the DP it doubles. Several prosodic features conspire to realise this boundary, although not all markings necessarily co-occur simultaneously. The results presented in this study on Neapolitan chillo go in the same direction as those obtained on quello in informal Neapolitan Italian. Finally, we argue for a possible historical link between chillo as a subject pronoun and chillo doubling a subject DP.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- 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
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- 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
