On the feminine plural definite article and the interrogative conjugation in the dialect of Berbenno (BG)
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Adriano Salvi
Abstract
This paper examines two phenomena of the morphology and syntax of the Eastern Lombard dialect of Berbenno (Province of Bergamo): the feminine plural definite article and the interrogative conjugation. Bergamasco dialects usually feature a convergent target gender system, which is limited to the definite article, and an interrogative conjugation. In contrast, the present study will, on the one hand, show that the former characteristic is not prevalent in the dialect of Berbenno, which instead exhibits partial polarity. The study of microvariation within the Imagna Valley, where the locality under investigation is situated, provides supporting evidence for a gradual transition from a target gender system displaying partial polarity with el to one with ol (def.sg.m = def.pl.f). On the other hand, as will be demonstrated, the interrogative conjugation is still regularly attested, but for some conservative speakers – primarily due to emigration or long stays abroad (mainly in Switzerland) – there is a competing structure for posing questions, in which the subject clitic co-occurs with the interrogative inflectional morpheme -i. This element can be traced back to the 1sg of monosyllabic inflected verb forms ending with a vowel, from where it spread to 1pl and third person cells as an interrogative marker. Finally, it will be shown that only the most innovative speakers employ the declarative conjugation forms in interrogative structures and are shaped by urban Bergamasco with respect to their definite article system.
Abstract
This paper examines two phenomena of the morphology and syntax of the Eastern Lombard dialect of Berbenno (Province of Bergamo): the feminine plural definite article and the interrogative conjugation. Bergamasco dialects usually feature a convergent target gender system, which is limited to the definite article, and an interrogative conjugation. In contrast, the present study will, on the one hand, show that the former characteristic is not prevalent in the dialect of Berbenno, which instead exhibits partial polarity. The study of microvariation within the Imagna Valley, where the locality under investigation is situated, provides supporting evidence for a gradual transition from a target gender system displaying partial polarity with el to one with ol (def.sg.m = def.pl.f). On the other hand, as will be demonstrated, the interrogative conjugation is still regularly attested, but for some conservative speakers – primarily due to emigration or long stays abroad (mainly in Switzerland) – there is a competing structure for posing questions, in which the subject clitic co-occurs with the interrogative inflectional morpheme -i. This element can be traced back to the 1sg of monosyllabic inflected verb forms ending with a vowel, from where it spread to 1pl and third person cells as an interrogative marker. Finally, it will be shown that only the most innovative speakers employ the declarative conjugation forms in interrogative structures and are shaped by urban Bergamasco with respect to their definite article system.
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
