Stative vs. Eventive Participles in an Arbëresh Variety under the Influence of the Italian Language

Abstract

In this paper, I explore the properties and the uses of the past participles in the Arbëresh variety of S. Nicola dell’Alto, an Albanian dialect still spoken in Southern Italy, which has been in contact with Italo-Romance varieties for more than five centuries. The data are discussed in comparison to standard Albanian and the contact language, Italian. In Albanian grammar, there is only one type of participle: the past participle. It has both verbal and adjectival properties. As a verbal form, the participle is used in compound and in periphrastic tenses, in combination with both the auxiliaries KAM ‘have’ and JAM ‘be’. It can also be used in combination with other particles to create non-finite verbal forms such as gerund or infinitive or to build up temporal expressions. Finally, it can also be used after some modal impersonal verbs. Verbal participles never show agreement. Albanian participles can also be adjectival. All the adjectives derived by a participial verb take a linking article and always agree with the noun they modify in gender, number, Case and definiteness. The formal distinction of the verbal participles from adjectival participles seems to correlate with the aspectual properties of the construction: a verbal participle appears in eventive structures, whereas an adjectival participle occurs in stative structures. But, as we shall see, this is not always the case. Arbëresh participles have maintained the same morphological and syntactical properties of Albanian. They can be used both in stative and in eventive contexts, but in Arbëresh eventive passives, which are built up as in Italian rather than as in Albanian, the adjectival participles are always inflected. Agreement is obligatory in all the contexts where it is in Italian. This is a clear contact-induced change. The data presented in this paper show that Arbëresh, on the one hand, preserves features of Albanian grammar, whereas, on the other hand, it has undergone changes under the influence of the surrounding Italo-Romance varieties.

1. Introduction

In this paper, I analyse the properties and the uses of the past participle in eventive and stative contexts in the Arbëresh variety of S. Nicola dell’Alto, an Albanian dialect still spoken in Southern Italy which has been in contact with Italian and Italo-Romance varieties for more than five centuries. The data are examined in comparison to the equivalent data of standard Albanian (to which Arbëresh varieties are genetically related), and to Italian (a typologically distinct language), which is spoken by the entire community. Bilingualism is widespread among Arbëresh speakers. The use of two distinct languages within the same community has led to a heavy diglossia: each language is confined to a particular type of social interaction but with frequent patterns of code alternation and code switching. Arbëresh is used in informal contexts, such as the home and the local neighbourhood, while Italian is used in more formal contexts such as school, culture, administration, and church.

The impact of the language contact is mainly observed in the lexicon where the loanwords from Italian are particularly visible, but we can also find traces in the morphology and in the syntax. So, Arbëresh dialects, after many centuries of contact with Italian, have absorbed traits that are typical of this language.

The data considered here reveal three points of difference between Arbëresh and standard Albanian and similarities between Arbëresh and Italian: (1) In Arbëresh, unlike in standard Albanian, eventive passives are adjectival since they always display obligatory agreement on the lexical participle. (2) In Arbëresh, statives are always adjectival, like in Italian, whereas in standard Albanian, they can also be verbal. (3) The Arbëresh variety considered here, while retaining the same strategies found in Albanian for the realisation of non-active morphology, differs from Albanian and draws closer to Italian in the formation of passive sentences. So, Arbëresh, on the one hand, preserves features of Albanian grammar, while, on the other hand, has undergone changes under the influence of the surrounding Italo-Romance varieties.

This paper is structured as the following: Section 2 illustrates the distribution of verbal participles in Arbëresh, in Albanian, and in Italian. Adjectival participles are introduced in Section 3. Section 4 shows the differences between stative and eventive participles in standard Albanian. Section 5 shows the distribution of eventive and stative participles in Arbëresh, in comparison with Albanian and Italian. Section 6 deals with the structure of stative participles. Section 7 illustrates the differences between Arbëresh and Albanian passives and shows how Italian has played a role in the realisation of Arbëresh passive sentences.

2. Verbal Participles in Arbëresh/Albanian in Comparison with Italian

There is a long tradition in the literature that divides participles into two categories, i.e., verbal (1a) and adjectival (1b) passive participles:

(1)	a.	The door was opened
	b.	The door was open

A series of tests has been used to distinguish these two categories (Wasow 1977; Williams 1981; Bresnan 1982; Levin and Rappaport 1986; Kratzer 2000; Embick 2004). For example, adjectival participles can appear as complements of verbs such as become or seem, while verbal participles cannot (Wasow 1977, p. 339).

(2)	a.	The door seems open
	b.	*The door seems opened

Adjectival participles, unlike verbal ones, can occur after verbs of creation, such as build, create, make (Embick 2004, p. 357).

(3)	a.	This door was built open
	b.	*This door was built opened

Adjectival participles, unlike verbal participles, do not allow agentive by-phrases:

(4)	a.	*The door was open by John
	b.	The door was opened by John

Adjectival participles can appear in a prenominal position (Wasow 1977, p. 338):

(5)	The broken box sat on the table

Another test used to distinguish these two types of participles is their ability to support un-prefixation. It seems that verbal participles can take the prefix un-, while un-prefixation is more restricted with adjectival participles:

(6)	a.	An unopened door
	b.	*An unopen door

All these examples show that some participles are adjectives, while other are verbs.

In some languages, participles agree with the subject or the object of the clause, while in other languages, no agreement surfaces. In English, for example, there is never agreement on the past participle1, while in Italian2, participles inflect like adjectives both when they are adjectival (7) and when they are verbal (8). The relevant morphology is in bold.

(7)	a.	Il    bicchiere sembra  rott-o
		the glass   M  seem.3sg broken-msg
		‘The glass seems broken’
	b.	La   porta sembra   rott-a
		the door   seem.3sg broken-fsg
		‘The door seems broken’

(8)	a.	Il  bicchiere     è         stat-o         rott-o            da Gianni
		the glass         be.3sg  been-msg  broken-msg  by John
		‘The glass has been broken by John’
	b.	La porta  è         stat-a      rott-a          da Gianni
		the door be.3sg been-fsg broken-fsg by John
		‘The door has been broken by John’

Arbëresh and Albanian only have past participial forms, similar to the -ed form in English, which has both verbal and adjectival properties3. As a verbal form, the participle is used in compound and in periphrastic tenses4. In compound tenses, the participle can combine with both the auxiliaries kam ‘have’ and jam ‘be’. Arbëresh and Albanian use kam ‘have’ for transitives (9a), unergatives (9b), and unaccusatives (9c)5:

(9)	a.	Meri           ka           marrë lul-e-t
		Mary.nom have.3sg taken flower-pl-def.acc6
		‘Mary has taken the flowers’
	b.	Meri          ka           qeshur
		Mary.nom have.3sg laughed’
		‘Mary has laughed’
	c.	Meri           ka           ardhur
		Mary.nom have.3sg arrived
		‘Mary has arrived’

In Italian, the past participle, when combined with the auxiliary avere ‘have’, is used to form compound verbal tenses of transitives (10a) and unergatives (10b):

(10)	a.	Maria ha           preso i     fiori
		Mary have.3sg taken the flowers
		‘Mary has taken the flowers’
	b.	Maria ha          riso
		Mary have.3sg laughed’
		‘Mary has laughed’

Unaccusative verbs, instead, select the auxiliary essere ‘be’ and require agreement with the subject on the past participle:

(11)	a.	Maria è        arrivat-a
		Mary be.3sg arrived-fsg
		‘Mary has arrived’
	b.	*Maria è        arrivat-o
		Mary  be.3sg arrived-msg
		‘Mary has arrived’

In compound tenses, the Arbëresh/Albanian participle is uninflected, i.e., it agrees neither with the subject (9) nor with the object/theme (12), so it makes no distinction between masculine and feminine or singular and plural:

(12)	a.	Kam        marrë libr-i-n
		have.1sg taken  book-msg.def-acc
		‘I took the book’
	b.	Kam     marrë çantën
		have.1sg taken bag-fsg.def.acc
		‘I took the bag’
	c.	Kam        marrë libr-a-t
		have.1sg taken book-mpl-def.acc
		‘I took the books’
	d.	Kam        marrë çant-a-t
		have.1sg taken  bag-fpl-def.acc
		‘I took the bags’

The participle does not agree even when the direct object is moved to the sentence’s initial position and is resumed by a clitic:

(13)	a.	Libr-i-n                   e          kam        marrë
		book-msg.def-acc  cl.acc have.1sg taken
		‘The book, I took it’
	b.	Çant-ën                e          kam         marrë
		bag-fsg.def.acc  cl.acc have.1sg taken
		‘The bag, I took it’

Agreement is instead obligatory in Italian when the direct object is left-dislocated to the front of the sentence, and it is doubled by a clitic7:

(14)	a.	L’auto,        l’ho                lavat-a       /*lavat-o
		the car.fsg cl+have.1sg washed-fsg /washed-msg
		‘The car, I washed it’
	b.	Il     vestito,     l’ho             lavat-o         /*lavat-a
		the dress.msg cl+have.1sg washed-msg/washed-fsg
		‘The dress, I washed it’

Nothing can be inserted between the auxiliary and the participle, neither the direct object (15a) nor adverbial material (15b), as shown by the ungrammaticality of the following examples:

(15)	a.	*Kam      makin-ën         larë
		have.1sg car-fsg.def.acc washed
		‘I washed the car’
	b.	*Kam      gjithmonë larë       makin-ën
		have.1sg always      washed car-fsg.def.acc
		‘I always washed the car’

A partially similar pattern is found in Italian, where the adjacency between the auxiliary and the participle cannot be interrupted, for example, by a noun phrase (16a) or by some adverbials like oggi ‘today’(16b), whereas it is possible to insert adverbials like sempre ‘always’ or spesso ‘often’ (16c).

(16)	a.	*Ho       l’auto     lavato
		have.1sg the car washed
		‘I washed the car’
	b.	*Ho       oggi    lavato    l’auto
		have.1sg today washed the car
		‘I washed the car today’
	c.	Ho          sempre/spesso lavato l’auto
		have.1sg always/often  washed the car
		‘I always/often washed the car’

In compound tenses, it is possible to move the direct object, but only in a position preceding the auxiliary. This movement reflects a difference in information structure. Preposing of the object corresponds to focalisation (17a) or left dislocation, with a co-referential resumptive pronoun (17b), but without agreement on the participle. Also in these cases, the adjacency between the auxiliary and the participle is not interrupted.

(17)	a.	MAKIN-ËN       kam       larë,      jo  këmish-ën
		car-fsg.def.acc have.1sg washed not shirt-fsg.def.acc
		‘I washed the car, not the shirt’
	b.	Makin-ën           e          kam       larë
		car-fsg.def.acc cl.acc have.1sg washed
		‘I washed the car’

With the auxiliary jam ‘be’, the participle is used to form the compound tenses of non-active verbs, both in Arbëresh and Albanian. Example (18) is the non-active present perfect of the verb laj ‘wash’:

(18)	Meri         është     larë
	Mary.nom be.3sg washed
	‘Mary washed’

In standard Albanian, the non-active verbal form characterises reflexives (18), anticausatives (19a), middles (19b), and passives (19c)8:

(19)	a.	Der-a            është hapur
		door-def.nom be.3sg opened
		‘The door opened’
	b.	Në atë  restorant  është  ngrënë mirë
		in  that restaurant be.3sg eaten  well
		‘In that restaurant we ate well’
	c.	Libr-i            është lexuar nga Ben-i      /prej Ben-it9
		book-def.nom be.3sg read  by Ben-nom/by  Ben-abl
		‘The book is read by Ben’

The Arbëresh variety considered here shares with standard Albanian the syntactic structure of reflexives, unaccusatives, and middles, but not the structure of passives, which will be investigated in Section 7.

Coming back to the compound tenses formed with the auxiliary jam ‘be’, we can see in (20) that, in this case, too, the participle is uninflected, so it does not agree with the subject of the sentence:

(20)	a.	Djal-i                    është    larë
		boy-msg.def.nom be.3sg washed
		‘The boy washed’
	b.	Vajz-a                 është     larë
		girl-fsg.def.nom be.3sg washed
		‘The girl washed’
	c.	djem-të          janë      larë
		boy.mpl-def.nom be.3pl washed
		‘The boys washed’
	d.	Vajz-a-t                janë      larë
		girl-fpl-def.nom be.3pl washed
		‘The girls washed’

The paradigm is different from the one we find in Italian, where the presence of the auxiliary essere ‘be’ imposes the agreement on the past participle:

(21)	a.	Il ragazz-o   si     è          lavat-o
		the boy-msg refl be.3sg washed-msg
		‘The boy washed’
	b.	La ragazz-a si     è         lavat-a
		the girl-fsg refl be.3sg washed-fsg
		‘The girl washed’
	c.	I   ragazz-i   si      sono    lavat-i
		the boy-mpl refl be.3pl washed-mpl
		‘The boys washed’
	d.	Le ragazz-e si     sono    lavat-e
		the girl-fpl refl be.3pl washed-fpl
		‘The girls washed’

Briefly, the verbal participle that occurs in Arbëresh/Albanian compound tenses never agrees with the subject or the object of the sentence.

3. Adjectival Participles

3.1. The Structure of Arbëresh/Albanian Adjectives

As we saw, in addition to having verbal properties, participles also have adjectival properties10. Before showing the contexts where they are adjectival, I will present the basic properties of Arbëresh and Albanian adjectives; then, I will consider the adjectival use of the participles.

Arbëresh and Albanian have two classes of adjectives: the class of adjectives which appear with a prefix, a free article, which agrees with the noun in gender (masculine or feminine), number (singular or plural), definiteness (definite or indefinite), and Case (nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, ablative)11, and a second class, without an article, that only displays gender and number inflection. The first class is exemplified in (22)–(25). In (22), the pre-articulated adjective modifies a definite masculine singular noun which is, respectively, marked with a nominative, accusative, and dative Case12:

(22)	a.	Djal-i                    i               urtë  flet            pak
		boy-msg.def.nom msg.nom wise speak.3sg little
		‘The wise boy speaks little’
	b.	Takova          djal-i-n                 e       urtë13
		meet.1sg.aor boy-msg.def-acc acc wise
		‘I met the wise boy’
	c.	I               dashë            libr-i-n                   djal-i-t                 të           urtë
		cl.dat.sg give.1sg.aor book-msg.def-acc boy-msg.def-obl msg.obl wise
		‘I gave the book to the wise boy’

In (23), the pre-articulated adjective modifies a definite feminine singular noun:

(23)	a.	Vajz-a                   e             urtë flet            pak
		girl-fsg.def.nom  fsg.nom wise speak.3sg little
		‘The wise girl speaks little’
	b.	Takova           vajz-ën                e      urtë14
		meet.1sg.aor girl-fsg.def.acc acc wise
		‘I met the wise girl’
	c.	I               dashë            libr-i-n                    vajz-ës               së        urtë15
		cl.dat.sg give.1sg.aor book-msg.def-acc girl-fsg.def.obl fsg.obl wise
		‘I gave the book to the wise girl’

In (24a), the pre-articulated adjective modifies a definite masculine plural noun, in the nominative and in the accusative Case. In (24b), the pre-articulated adjective modifies a definite masculine plural noun in the oblique Case:

(24)	a.	Djem-të                e            urtë flasin         pak16
		boy.mpl-def.nom pl.nom wise speak.3pl little
		‘The wise boys speak little’
	b.	Takova           djem-të                e          urtë
		meet.1sg.aor boy.mpl-def.acc pl.acc wise
		‘I met the wise boys’
	c.	U              dashë           libr-a-t                  djem-ve                të         urtë
		cl.dat.pl give.1sg.aor book-mpl-def.acc boy.mpl-def.obl pl.obl wise
		‘I gave the books to the wise boys’

In (25a), the pre-articulated adjective modifies a definite feminine plural noun, in the nominative and in the accusative Case. In (25b), the pre-articulated adjective modifies a definite feminine plural noun in the oblique Case:

(25)	a.	Vajz-a-t                 e            urt-a       flasin        pak
		girl-fpl-def.nom  fpl.nom wise-fpl speak.3pl little
		‘The wise girls speak little’
	b.	Takova          vajz-a-t                 e           urt-a
		meet.1sg.aor girl-fpl-def.acc fpl.acc wise-fpl
		‘I met the wise girls’
	c.	U             dashë              libr-a-t                   vajz-a-ve            të          urt-a
		cl.dat.pl give.1sg.aor  book-mpl-def.acc girl-fpl-def.obl fpl.obl wise-fpl
		‘I gave the books to the wise girls’

The adjectives without article are exemplified in (26)–(29).

(26)	a.	Djal-i                     guximtar  lufton       pa           frikë
		boy-msg.def.nom  brave.msg  fight.3sg without fear
		‘The brave boy fights without fear’
	b.	Presidenti                     takoi                 djalin guximtar
		president-msg.def.nom meet.3sg.aor  boy-msg.def-acc brave.msg
		‘The president met the brave boy’
	c.	I                dha               medhalj-en               djal-i-t                 guximtar
		cl.dat.sg give.3sg.aor medal-fsg.def.acc  boy-msg.def-obl brave.msg
		‘He gave the medal to the brave boy’

(27)	a.	Vajz-a                  guximtar-e lufton     pa          frikë
		girl-fsg.def.nom  brave-fsg  fight.3sg without fear
		‘The brave girl fights without fear’
	b.	Presidenti                      takoi                 vajzën  guximtar-e
		president-msg.def.nom meet.3sg.aor girl-fsg.def.acc brave-fsg
		‘The president met the brave girl’
	c.	I                   dha                   medhalj-en                   vajz-ës                     guximtar-e
		CL.DAT.SG give.3SG.AOR medal-FSG.DEF.ACC girl-FSG.DEF.OBL brave-FSG
		‘He gave the medal to the brave girl’

(28)	a.	Djemtë guximtar-ë luftojnë pa frikë
		boy.mpl-def.nom  brave-mpl   fight.3pl without fear
		‘The brave boys fight without  fear’
	b.	President-i                     takoi                 djem-të     guximtar-ë
		president-msg.def.nom meet.3sg.aor  boy.mpl-def.acc brave.mpl
		‘The president met the brave boys’
	c.	U              dha              medhalj-en              djem-ve                  guximtar-ë
		cl.dat.pl  give.3sg.aor medal-fsg.def.acc  boy.mpl-def.obl  brave.mpl
		‘He gave the medal to the brave boys’

(29)	a.	Vajz-a-t               guximtar-e luftojnë    pa         frikë
		girl-fpl-def.nom brave-fpl   fight.3pl without fear
		‘The brave girls fight without fear’
	b.	President-i                     takoi                vajz-a-t               guximtar-e
		president-msg.def.nom meet.3sg.aor girl-fpl-def.acc  brave-fpl
		‘The president met the brave girls’
	c.	U              dha                medhalj-en             vajz-a-ve             guximtar-e
		cl.dat.pl  give.3sg.aor medal-fsg.def.acc girl-fpl-def.obl brave-fpl
		‘He gave the medal to the brave girls’

As we can see, the adjectives without an article are only sensitive to gender and number. Their forms are the same for all the different Cases. They remain unchanged also in relation to definiteness.

Arbëresh and Albanian adjectives occur in a post-nominal position, both with definite and indefinite nouns. Example (30) shows the case of a pre-articulated adjective. Example (31) contains an adjective without an article:

(30)	a.	Djal-i           /një   djalë  i     urtë
		boy-msg.def/ a     boy  msg  wise
		‘The/a wise boy’
	b.	*I urtë djali/*Një i urtë djalë

(31)	a.	Djal-i             /një djalë idiot
		boy-msg.def /a     boy   idiot
		‘The/an idiot boy’
	b.	*Idiot djali/*Një idiot djalë

In Arbëresh and Albanian, both attributive and predicative adjectives agree in gender, number, and Case with the noun they modify17. The examples in (32) contain attributive adjectives (masculine and feminine) in the nominative Case. The examples in (33) exemplify the accusative Case. The examples in (34) correspond to the oblique Case.

(32)	a.	Djal-i                      i                urtë  shkon në shtëpi
		boy-msg.def.nom  msg.nom  wise  go.3sg in house
		‘The wise boy goes home’
	b.	Vajz-a                    e               urtë  shkon në shtëpi
		girl-fsg.def.nom  fsg.nom  wise  go.3sg in house
		‘The wise girl goes home’

(33)	a.	Takova          djal-i-n                 e              urtë
		meet.1sg.aor boy-msg.def-acc msg.acc wise
		‘I met the wise boy’
	b.	Takova           vajz-ën                 e           urtë
		meet.1sg.aor  girl-fsg.def.acc  fsg.acc wise
		‘I met the wise girl’

(34)	a.	I                  dashë             libr-i-n                   djal-i-t                 të            urtë
		him.cl.dat give.1sg.aor book-msg.def-acc boy-msg.def-obl msg.obl wise
		‘I gave the book to the wise boy’
	b.	I                  dashë             libr-i-n                   vajz-ës               së          urtë
		her.cl.dat give.1sg.aor book.msg.def-acc  girl-fsg.def.obl fsg.obl wise
		‘I gave the book to the wise girl’

(35)	a.	Djal-i                     është      i              urtë
		boy-msg.def.nom  be.3sg  msg.nom wise
		‘The boy is wise’
	b.	Vajz-a                     është   e            urtë
		girl-fsg.def.nom  be.3sg  fsg.nom wise
		‘The girl is wise’

3.2. Adjectival Participles

In Albanian and Arbëresh, all the adjectives derived by a participial verb take the linking article:

(36)	a.	i banuar	‘inhabited’
	b.	i botuar	‘published’
	c.	i ftuar	‘invited’
	d.	i harruar	‘forgotten’
	e.	i larë	‘washed’
	f.	i martuar	‘married’
	g.	i paguar	‘paid’
	h.	i thyer	‘broken’

The article is obligatory. Its absence gives rise to ungrammaticality:

(37)	*Djal-i           martuar/*larë/*plagosur/*harruar
	boy-msg.def  married/washed/blessed/forgotten
	‘The married/washed/blessed/forgotten boy’

These adjectives of participial origin always agree with the noun they modify in gender, number, Case, and definiteness.

(38)	a.	Djal-i                      i                martuar  punon   shumë
		boy-msg.def.nom  msg.nom  married work-3sg much
		‘The married boy works a lot’
	b.	Takova         djalin            e martuar
		meet.1sg.aor boy-msg.def-acc msg.acc  married
		‘I met the married boy’
	c.	I                dashë     libr-i-n           djal-i-t                 të            martuar
		cl.dat.sg. give.1sg book.def-acc boy-msg.def-obl msg.obl married
		‘I gave the book to the married boy’

(39)	a.	Vajz-a                   e              martuar punon      shumë
		girl-fsg.def.nom  fsg.nom  married work-3sg much
		‘The married girl works a lot’
	b.	Takova          vajz-ën                 e             martuar
		meet.1sg.aor  girl-fsg.def.acc  fsg.acc married
		‘I met the married girl’
	c.	I               dashë       libr-i-n                  vajz-ës                së         martuar
		cl.dat.sg. give.1sg book-msg.def-acc girl-fsg.def.obl fsg.obl married
		‘I gave the book to the married girl’

The pre-articulated adjectives derived by a participial verb can be prefixed with the negation pa (‘un’-), which cannot be attached to the other adjectives18. Compare the adjectives in (40) with those in (41):

(40)	a.	(i) pabanuar	‘uninhabited’
	b.	(i) pabotuar	‘unpublished’
	c.	(i) paftuar	‘uninvited’
	d.	(i) paharruar	‘unforgotten’
	e.	(i) palarë	‘unwashed’
	f.	(i) pamartuar	‘unmarried’
	g.	(i) papaguar	‘unpaid
	h.	(i) pathyer	‘unbroken’

(41)	a.	*(i) pabardh	‘not white’
	b.	*(i) paëmbël	‘not sweet’
	c.	*(i) pamadh	‘not big’
	d.	*(i) pashkurtër	‘not short’
	e.	*(i) pavogël	‘not small’

Participial adjectives can appear in attributive and predicative positions:

(42)	a.	Libr-i                       i               botuar      në Tiranë
		book-msg.def.nom  msg.nom published in Tirana
		‘The book published in Tirana’
	b.	Libr-i                       është     i             botuar
		book-msg.def.nom  be.3sg  msg.nom published
		‘The book is published’

Italian, too, has adjectives derived from participles. They must agree with the noun they modify according to gender (masculine or feminine) and number (singular or plural), both in attributive (43) and predicative (44) positions.

(43)	a.	Il  ragazz-o  sposat-o          lavora     a  Tirana
		the boy-msg  married-msg  work.3sg in Tirana
		‘The married boy works in Tirana’
	b.	La ragazz-a sposat-a      lavora      a  Tirana
		the girl-fsg married-fsg work.3sg  in Tirana
		‘The married girl works in Tirana’
	c.	I    ragazz-i     sposat-i       lavorano a  Tirana
		the boy-mpl  married-mpl work.3pl in Tirana
		‘The married boys work in Tirana’
	d.	Le ragazz-e  sposat-e       lavorano a  Tirana
		the girl-fpl   married-fpl work.3pl in Tirana
		‘The married girls work in Tirana’

(44)	a.	Il  ragazz-o    è         sposat-o
		the boy-msg   be.3sg married-msg
		‘The boy is married’
	b.	La ragazz-a   è          sposat-a
		the girl-fsg    be.3sg married-fsg
		‘The girl is married’
	c.	I  ragazz-i    sono     sposat-i
		the boy-mpl  be.3pl  married-mpl
		‘The boys are married’
	d.	Le ragazz-e  sono    sposat-e
		the girl-fpl   be.3pl married-fpl
		‘The girls are married’

4. Eventive vs. Stative Participles in Standard Albanian

As we saw, Albanian/Arbëresh participles can be both verbal and adjectival. Verbal participles never show agreement (cfr. (12)), while adjectival participles obligatorily agree with the noun they modify (cfr. (38) and (39)).

At first sight, this formal distinction of verbal participles from adjectival participles seems to correlate with the aspectual properties of the construction: (45a) and (46a), which contain a verbal participle, correspond to eventive structures, while (45b) and (46b), containing an adjectival form, are statives, since they describe the state resulting from the event expressed by the verb19.

(45)	a.	Der-a                    është    hapur
		door-fsg.def.nom be.3sg open
		‘The door opened’
	b.	Der-a                      është    e            hapur
		door-fsg.def.nom  be.3sg  fsg.nom open
		‘The door is open’

(46)	a.	Fush-a-t                 janë     mbuluar me ujë
		field-fpl-def.nom  be.3pl covered with water
		‘The fields covered with water’
	b.	Fush-a-t                 janë    të          mbuluar-a  me  ujë
		field-fpl-def.nom be.3pl pl.nom covered-fpl with water
		‘The fields are covered with water’

A series of tests has been used in order to show the distinction between eventive and stative interpretation. I will apply some of these tests to standard Albanian to show that Albanian, too, supports this traditional classification. Then, I will come back to Arbëresh.

The first test I consider for separating stative participles from eventive participles is their distribution after some verbs of creation, such as build, make, and create (Embick 2004). Only stative inflected participles can appear in the complement of these verbs; eventive uninflected participles cannot.

(47)	a.	Der-a                   ishte             ndërtuar   e            mbyllur
		door-fsg.def.nom be.3sg.impf built     fsg.nom closed
		‘The door was built closed’
	b.	*Dera ishte ndërtuar mbyllur

Statives are compatible with the adverbial ‘still’, while eventives are not. In (48), akoma/ende ‘still’ forces a stative interpretation of the participle.

(48)	a.	Meri  është akoma/ende e        martuar
		Mary be.3sg     still     fsg.nom married
		‘Mary is still married’
	b.	*Meri është akoma/ende martuar

Stative participles can appear in the complement of a raising verb like seem (Wasow 1977); eventives cannot.

(49)	a.	Der-a                    duket        e     mbyllur
		door-fsg.def.nom seem.3sg fsg  closed
		‘The door seems closed’
	b.	Vazo-ja                duket         e    thyer
		vase-fsg.def.nom seem.3sg  fsg broken
		‘The vase seems broken’
	c.	*Dera duket mbyllur
	d.	*Vazoja duket thyer

Stativity requires an adjectival participle that agrees with the noun, both in attributive (50) and predicative interpretations (45b):

(50)	a.	Nga der-a                       e            hapur hyjnë       dy  vajza
		from door-fsg.def.nom fsg.nom open   enter.3pl two girls
		‘Two girls enter through the open door’
	b.	*Nga dera hapur hyjnë dy vajza

Another indication of stativity comes from haben-passives, i.e., constructions whose structure is have DP V-ed. They are familiar in English (51a) as well as in Italian (51b):

(51)	a.	Ben has his leg broken
	b.	Ben ha           la  gamba rotta
		Ben have.3sg the leg    broken
		‘Ben has his leg broken’

In these constructions, which are characterised by a possessive-like relationship of the subject with the object, the participle expresses the state of the object.

In Albanian haben-passives, agreement on the participle is obligatory as we expect it to be in statives:

(52)	a.	Beni ka         këmb-ën             e            thyer
		Ben have.3sg leg-fsg.def.acc fsg.acc broken
		‘Ben has his leg broken’
	b.	*Beni ka këmbën thyer

Eventive participles, instead, display other characteristics. They can be modified by some temporal adverbials, while statives cannot20.

(53)	a.	Meri është  martuar dje
		Mary be.3sg married yesterday
		‘Mary (got) married yesterday’
	b.	*Meri është   e   martuar dje
		Mary be.3sg  fsg married  yesterday

Eventive participles can be modified by a PP-agent, while stative participles are incompatible with it:

(54)	a.	Hajdut-i                  është  arrestuar nga polic-i
		thief-msg.def.nom  be.3sg arrested  by  policeman-msg.def
		‘The thief was arrested by the police’
	b.	*Hajduti është i arrestuar nga polici

Another test that has been used in the literature in order to show the difference between statives and eventives is the possibility/impossibility of allowing prefixation with un-. Un-prefixation is generally admitted with eventives but it is very restricted (Wasow 1977; Embick 2004) or impossible (Kratzer 1994) with statives.

(55)	a.	The island was uninhabited by humans
	b.	The unopened door
	c.	*The unopen door

In Albanian, un-prefixation is not a good diagnostic since it is compatible with both eventives (56) and statives (57).

(56)	a.	Ajo erdhi               e     paftuar  nga askush
		she come.3sg.aor fsg uninvited by  nobody
		‘She came uninvited by anyone’
	b.	Ishull-i                      është   i       pabanuar   nga njerëzit
		island-msg.def.nom  be.3sg msg uninhabited by people
		‘The island is uninhabited by humans’

(57)	a.	Meri   është   e   pamartuar
		Mary   be.3sg fsg  unmarried
		‘Mary is unmarried’
	b.	Fustan-i                   është    i     palarë
		dress-msg.def.nom  be.3sg msg unwashed
		‘The dress is unwashed’

Another useful test to show the difference between statives and eventives is provided by the behaviour of the verb remain. Embick (2004) has observed that the verb remain only takes stative complements and, as such, it cannot license agentive by-phrases.

(58)	a.	*The door remained opened by John
	b.	The door remained opened

The corresponding Albanian verb mbes, like the English verb remain, does not support agentive by-phrases.

(59)	a.	*Der-a          mbeti                   e    hapur  nga Beni
		door-fsg.def remain.3sg.aor fsg opened by  Ben
		*The door remained opened by Ben
	b.	Dera mbeti e hapur

All these tests seem to prove that Albanian, too, has the traditional dichotomy of stative vs. eventive participles. These tests also show that stative contexts require inflected participles, while eventive sentences require verbal participles.

At first sight, it seems that agreement is obligatory when the construction is stative, while uninflected participles occur in eventive constructions. However, a closer look into the properties of Albanian shows that this conclusion is inappropriate because, in this language, stativity does not always imply adjectivehood. In Albanian, even sentences whose stativity is obvious can be realised with a verbal participle that occurs in an uninflected form. This is shown precisely by the behaviour of the stative verb mbes ‘remain’. As we can see in the examples in (60), in Albanian, agreement on the participle is not obligatory. All the sentences are fully grammatical.

(60)	a.	Der-a            mbeti                   hapur  /e      hapur
		door-fsg.def remain.3sg.aor opened/ fsg opened
		‘The door remained opened’
	b.	Vajz-a           mbeti                  ulur  /e  ulur      mbi një karrige
		girl-fsg.def remain.3sg.aor seated/fsg seated on   a  chair
		‘The girl remained seated on a chair’

What Albanian shows is that the participle occurring in statives can be both verbal and adjectival. Other examples of stative sentences are in (61)–(63). As we can see, they can contain both a verbal uninflected participle or an adjectival inflected participle. There is no semantic difference between the two sentences of each pair.

(61)	a.	Shikonte      një vajzë     të             veshur  me  fustan        të             kuq
		look.3sg.impf a  girl.fsg fsg.indef dressed with dress.fsg fsg.indef red
		‘He was looking at a girl wearing a red dress’
	b.	Shikonte një vajzë veshur me fustan të kuq

(62)	a.	Ushtar-i                     mbeti                 me    duar-t                    e    ngritur-a
		soldier-msg.def.nom remain.3sg.aor with hand.fpl-def.acc fpl raised-fpl
		‘The soldier remained with his hands up’
	b.	Ushtari mbeti me duart ngritur

(63)	a.	Erdhi         një djalë    i    lyer               me   baltë
		came.3sg.aor a  boy.msg msg smeared with mud
		‘A boy smeared with mud came’
	b.	Erdhi një djalë lyer me baltë

In these sentences, which describe the state of the DPs vajzë ‘girl’, duart ‘the hands’, and djalë ‘boy’, the participle can appear with or without agreement.

Summing up, in standard Albanian, participles never inflect when they are verbal, i.e., when they occur in eventive structures (in transitives, unaccusatives, middles, and passives). Conversely, in stative sentences, participles can be both inflected and uninflected.

5. Eventive and Stative Participles in the Arbëresh Variety of S. Nicola dell’Alto in Comparison with Standard Albanian and Italian

At first sight, Arbëresh seems to be similar to Albanian since it requires an uninflected verbal participle in eventive structures (a-examples) and an inflected adjectival participle in stative sentences (b-examples):

(64)	a.	Maria osht    martuer
		Mary  be.3sg married
		‘Mary (got) married’
	b.	Maria osht   e   martuer
		Mary be.3sg  fsg married
		‘Mary is married’

(65)	a.	Der-a            osht      hapur
		door-fsg.def  be.3sg open
		‘The door opened’
	b.	Der-a           osht      e     hapur
		door-fsg.def be.3sg fsg open
		‘The door is open’

(66)	a.	Tac-a           osht    çar
		cup-fsg.def be.3sg broken
		‘The cup broke’
	b.	Tac-a         osht       e    çar
		cup-fsg.def be.3sg fsg broken
		‘The cup is broken’

Evidence for this distinction comes from modification. Arbëresh statives, built up by means of an inflected participle, allow for the presence of the adverbials ankora ‘still’ and sempre ‘always’ (67)21, while eventives, which contain a verbal uninflected participle, do not support them (68):

(67)	a.	Maria osht  ankora/sempre  e  martuer
		Mary be.3sg still/always      fsg married
		‘Mary is still/always married’
	b.	Der-a                    osht   ankora/sempre  e   hapur
		door-fsg.def.nom be.3sg still/always      fsg open
		‘The door is still/always opened’
	c.	Tac-a                   osht   ankora/sempre  e   çar
		cup-fsg.def.nom be.3sg still/always       fsg broken
		‘The cup is still/always broken’

(68)	a.	*Maria osht ankora/sempre martuer
	b.	*Dera osht ankora/sempre hapur
	c.	*Taca osht ankora/sempre çar

Stative inflected participles can appear in the complement of the raising verb duket ‘seem’; eventives cannot.

(69)	a.	Maria duket     e   martuer
		Mary seem.3sg fsg married
		‘Mary seems married’
	b.	Der-a         duket           e   hapur
		door-fsg.def seem.3sg fsg open
		‘The door seems open’
	c.	Tac-a       duket    e   çar
		cup-fsg.def seem.3sg fsg broken
		‘The cup seems broken’

(70)	a.	*Maria duket martuer
	b.	*Dera duket hapur
	c.	*Taca duket çar

Statives do not support agentive PPs, but they can contain instrumental PPs:

(71)	a.	*Ghiter-a       osht    e   shkruer ka Maria
		letter-fsg.def be.3sg fsg written by Mary
		‘The letter is written by Mary’
	b.	Ghiter-a        osht    e     shkruer me  laps-i-n
		letter-fsg.def be.3sg fsg written with pencil-msg.def-acc
		‘The letter is written with the pencil’

Eventive participles, on the other hand, can be modified by temporal adverbials like yesterday or on Sunday, while statives cannot.

(72)	a.	Maria osht    martuer dje/të djelin
		Mary  be.3sg married yesterday/on Sunday
		‘Mary (got) married yesterday/on Sunday’
	b.	*Maria osht e martuar dje/të djelin

All these examples show that Arbëresh statives require the participle to be obligatorily inflected, in contrast with eventives that contain verbal participles.

Up to now, the Arbëresh dialect considered here seems to behave like standard Albanian (cfr. (45)). However, it differs from Albanian in two points: (1) in Arbëresh, the sentences whose stativity is obvious can only be realised with an adjectival participle that occurs in an inflected form. (2) In Arbëresh, eventive participles are verbal in reflexives, anticausatives, and middles but not in passives, which require inflected adjectival participles. In both these two points, Arbëresh does not match standard Albanian but the dominant language, Italian. The kind of variation present in the Arbëresh dialect is a clear case of contact-induced change. The Italian grammar is considered to be mainly involved in the change in the Arbëresh participial constructions.

As for the first point, if we compare Arbëresh with its genetically related language, Albanian, we can see that the Arbëresh structures having a stative interpretation differ from their counterparts in the Albanian examples in (61)–(63), since stativity, in Arbëresh, requires adjectival participles. So, in this variety, the stative examples with uninflected participles are all ungrammatical.

(73)	a.	*Vrehj            një vajzë   veshur  me  vest             të              kuq-e
		look.3sg.impf a   girl.fsg dressed with dress.fsg fsg.indef red-fsg
		‘He was looking at a girl wearing a red dress’
	b.	*Surdat-i                    rrihj                     me  dor-a-t                  ngretur
		soldier-msg.def.nom remain.3sg.impf with hand-fpl-def.acc raised
		‘The soldier remained with his hands up’
	c.	*Ka        ardhur një djalë     lyer     me  botë
		have.3sg came   a  boy.msg  smeared with mud
		‘A boy smeared with mud came’

These examples become grammatical if the uninflected verbal participle is replaced with the adjectival one, i.e., a pre-articulated adjective that agrees with the noun it accompanies.

(74)	a.	Vrehj              një vajzë  e    veshur  me  vest           të              kuq-e
		look.3sg.impf a girl.fsg fsg dressed with dress.fsg fsg.indef red-fsg
		‘He was looking at a girl wearing a red dress’
	b.	Surdat-i                      rrihj                   me  dor-a-t                      e    ngretur-a
		soldier-msg.def.nom remain3sg.impf with hand-fpl-def.acc fpl raised-fpl
		‘The soldier remained with his hands up’
	c.	Ka      ardhur një djalë         i     lyer        me   botë
		have.3sg came  a  boy.msg  msg smeared with mud
		‘A boy smeared with mud came’

So, while Albanian can have an uninflected participle in stative contexts, this Arbëresh variety cannot. It must always have inflected participles.

The same phenomenon is present in Italian, where stative constructions display obligatory agreement on the lexical participle (75), while the uninflected versions are ungrammatical (76).

(75)	a.	La  port-a    è          apert-a
		the door-fsg be.3sg open-fsg
		‘The door is open’
	b.	Le  port-e    sono       apert-e
		the door-fpl be.3pl open-fpl
		‘The doors are open’
	c.	Il  cancell-o   è         apert-o
		the gate-msg  be.3sg open-msg
		‘The gate is open’
	d.	I   cancell-i sono      apert-i
		the gate-mpl be.3pl open-mpl
		‘The gates are open’

(76)	a.	*La porta è aperto
	b.	*Le porte sono aperto
	c.	*I cancelli sono aperto

That in Arbëresh stativity implies adjectivehood is further shown by the behaviour of a class of adjectival participles in -m, a suffix that attaches to a Romance/Italian base. These participles are pre-articulated. Some examples are in (77):

(77)	a.	i distruxhirm < distruxhiri < (It. distruggere ‘to destroy’)	‘destroyed’
	b.	i ferirm < feriri < (It. ferire ‘to hurt’)	‘hurt/injured’
	c.	i pitarm < pitari (Romance dialects pittare ‘to paint’)	‘painted’
	d.	i dobarm < dobari (Romance dialects dobbare ‘to repair’)	‘repaired’
	e.	i avizarm < avizari (It. avvisare ‘to notify/advise’)	‘advised’
	f.	i fisarm < fisari (It. fissare ‘to attach’)	‘attached’
	g.	i firmarm < firmari (It. firmare ‘to sign’)	‘signed’
	h.	i shukarm < shukari (It. asciugare ‘to dry’)	‘dried’
	i.	i gonfiarm < gonfiari (It. gonfiare ‘to inflate’)	‘inflated’
	j.	i rovinarm < rovinari (It. rovinare ‘to ruin’)	‘ruined’

Their characteristic is that they can only be used as adjectives in stative contexts:

(78)	a.	Shpi-a            osht      e    distruxhirm-e
		house-fsg.def be.3sg fsg destroyed-fsg
		‘The house is destroyed’
	b.	Kuadr-i                osht     i    fisarm        te muri
		painting-msg.def be.3sg msg fixed.msg at wall.def
		‘The painting is fixed to the wall’
	c.	Ghiter-a        osht     e    firmarm-e
		letter-fsg.def be.3sg fsg signed-fsg
		‘The letter is signed’

Their use in verbal contexts, such as the active perfect (79), or in reflexive/unaccusative sentences, is ungrammatical (80).

(79)	a.	*Ai ka           distruxhirm shpi-në
		he  have.3sg destroyed  house-acc.def
		‘He has destroyed the house’
	b.	*Ai ka            fisarm kuadr-in           te muri
		he  have.3sg fixed painting-acc.def  at wall.def
		‘He has fixed the painting to the wall’
	c.	*Ai ka          firmarm ghiter-in
		he have.3sg signed  letter-acc.def
		‘He has signed the letter’

(80)	a.	*Djal-i       osht  ferirm
		boy-msg.def be.3sg injured.msg
		‘The boy injured’
	b.	*Shpi-a       osht     distruxhirm-e
		house-fsg.def be.3sg  destroyed-fsg
		‘The house destroyed’
	c.	*Vest-a-t        janë   shukarm-e
		clothes-fpl-def  be.3pl dried-fpl
		‘The clothes dried’

In verbal contexts, only a –(u)r participle is possible, on the same verbal base:

(81)	a.	Ai ka           distruxhirtur shpi-në
		he have.3sg destroyed    house-acc.def
		‘He has destroyed the house’
	b.	Ai ka          fisartur kuadr-in             te mur-i
		he have.3sg fixed   painting-acc.def at wall-def
		‘He has fixed the painting to the wall’
	c.	Ai ka           firmartur ghiter-in
		he have.3sg signed  letter-acc.def
		‘He has signed the letter’

(82)	a.	Djal-i            osht   ferirtur
		boy-nom.def be.3sg injured
		‘The boy injured’
	b.	Shpi-a             osht    distruxhirtur
		house-nom.def be.3sg destroyed
		‘The house destroyed’
	c.	Vest-a-t                janë   shukartur
		clothes-pl-nom.def be.3pl dried
		‘The clothes dried’

The forms in -m do not support un-prefixation. This seems to confirm the general pattern that un-prefixation is not productive with statives.

(83)	a.	*Kuadr-i              osht    (i)    pafisarm
		painting-msg.def be.3sg  (msg) unfixed.msg
		‘The painting is not fixed’
	b.	*Shpi-a           osht    (e)   papitarm-e
		house-fsg.def be.3sg  (fsg) unpainted-fsg
		‘The house is not painted’

Un-prefixation is instead possible when the −(u)r participle is used:

(84)	a.	Der-a               osht     padobartur
		door-nom.def  be.3sg  unrepaired
		‘The door is not repaired’
	b.	Shpi-a              osht      papitartur
		house-nom.def be.3sg  unpainted
		‘The house is not painted’

The adjectival participles in -m show the same syntactic behaviour of those inherited from Albanian, when used in stative contexts: they can support the adverbial modifiers ankora ‘still’ o sempre ‘always’ (85a); they support instrumental PPs (85b); they can appear in the complement of the raising verb duket ‘seem’ (85c); they do not support an agentive PP (85d); and they do not support temporal adverbials like yesterday or on Sunday (85e).

(85)	a.	Der-a            osht   ankora/sempre e   rovinarm-e
		door-fsg.def be.3sg still/always     fsg ruined-fsg
		‘The door is still/always ruined’
	b.	Ghiter-a          osht     e   firmarm-e me  laps-in
		letter-fsg.def  be.3sg  fsg signed-fsg with pencil-acc.def
		‘The letter is signed with the pencil’
	c.	Der-a            duket    e  rovinarm-e
		door-fsg.def seem.3sg fsg ruined-fsg
		‘The door seems ruined’
	d.	*Der-a           osht   e   rovinarm-e ka Maria
		door-fsg.def be.3sg fsg ruined-fsg  by Mary
		‘The door is ruined by Mary’
	e.	*Ghiter-a        osht    e   firmarm-e  të djelin
		letter-fsg.def be.3sg fsg  signed-fsg on Monday
		‘The letter is signed on Monday’

This class of adjectives seems to confirm that Arbëresh statives obligatorily require inflected participles.

The second point of difference between Arbëresh and Albanian is related to eventive participles of passive sentences, which will be presented in Section 7.

6. The Structure of Statives

As we saw, one of the tests traditionally used in order to distinguish statives from eventives, i.e., adjectival participles from verbal participles, is their behaviour with respect to certain types of modifiers. Statives are not compatible with modifiers like PP-agents or certain temporal adverbials, whereas eventives are compatible with both.

This difference seems to derive from the different basic structures of the two constructions and from their derivation: statives contain adjectival participles that are formed in the lexicon. They have a reduced structure or possibly no event structure, like adjectives (Wasow 1977; Rapp 1996; Kratzer 2000; Embick 2004). Statives behave like simple copular sentences that do not project an event. In statives, there is no verbal structure, therefore they do not allow the possibility to attach an agentive PP. Eventive participles, instead, are compatible with agentive PPs and this provides evidence for the presence of a verbal structure including a VoiceP projection or an AspP projection. Eventives such as The glass was broken by John have a structure containing an agent (John) and a theme (glass), similar to that of an active verb. Briefly, one of the ideas widely assumed in the literature is that adjectival participles are derived from the lexicon, while verbal participles are built in the syntax.

Kratzer (1994; 2000, p. 392), using data from German, argues that adjectival participles do not form a uniform class. Some of them involve a certain amount of verbal structure, as is shown by the fact that they can be modified by manner adverbials, while simple adjectives cannot.

(86)	a.	Die Haare waren immer noch schlampig gekämmt
		the hairs    were    still               sloppily     combed
		‘The hair  was  still sloppily combed’
	b.	*Die Haare waren schlampig fettig
		‘The hair was sloppily greasy’

For adjectival participles that are compatible with adverbial modification, she proposes a structure where a VP is embedded under an AP projection. Adverbials are adjoined to a VP. Since the adjectival head applies to the entire verb phrase, Kratzer refers to them as Phrasal Adjectival Participles. The structure she proposes, cited by Anagnostopoulou (2003, p. 6), is the following:

On the other hand, Kratzer (1994), cited by Anagnostopoulou (2003, p. 6), also notes that negated participles cannot be modified by adverbials:

(88)	*Das  Haar war hässlich ungekämmt
	‘*The hair  was  ugly      uncombed’

These adjectival participles are Lexical Adjectival Participles, lacking the VP projection where adverbs should attach. They have the following reduced structure, reported by Anagnostopoulou (2003, p. 6):

Thus, adjectival participles can be both phrasal or lexical.

Verbal participles, instead, are compatible with agentive by-phrases. The presence of a PP-agent indicates that these sentences have a different structure, involving a VoiceP where the external argument is merged (Anagnostopoulou 2003, p. 7):

The idea that participles do not form a uniform class is also endorsed by Anagnostopoulou (2003), Alexiadou and Anagnostopoulou (2008), and Alexiadou et al. (2014) on the basis of some Greek data. These authors show that Greek has two morphologically distinct classes of adjectival participles: -menos and -tos participles. -Menos participles support both adverbial modifiers and agentive PPs because they have a phrasal structure. Adverbials and PPs are contained in the VP projection embedded under the participial affix -menos. Instead, -tos participles do not license adverbials and agentive PPs because they have the structure of lexical adjectival participles. The affix -tos attaches to V rather than to VP; therefore, there is no room available for the agentive PP. Furthermore, these authors, using a series of tests, and following Kratzer (2000), divide -menos participles in two subclasses: target and resultant state participles22. So, they identify three different types of adjectival participles: lexical -tos participles, without verbal/eventive structure; -menos target state participles; and -menos resultant state participles. All three types contain a stativizer head, but they differ in the position at which this head is attached. -Tos participles involve root attachment of the stativizer head (Alexiadou and Anagnostopoulou 2008, p. 38):

Target state -menos participles involve a vP projection embedded under the stativizer head. The v head is necessary to license the manner adverbs that can modify such constructions (Alexiadou and Anagnostopoulou 2008, p. 38):

Resultant state -menos participles involve a VoiceP projection where agentive PPs can be hosted (Alexiadou and Anagnostopoulou 2008, p. 39):

Verbal participles, on the other hand, differ from stative adjectival participles with respect to eventiveness (Anagnostopoulou 2003).

Albanian and Arbëresh participles have been studied by Manzini and Savoia (2018, p. 290), who assume that participles have a verb root followed by a thematic vowel in addition to an element that is the lexicalisation of an Asp category. Then, a participial form like that in (94a) has the structure in (94b):

For adjectival participles, which are characterised by the presence of the article, Manzini and Savoia (2018, p. 290) assume the structure in (96). The article that precedes the participle is analysed as a D element (a linker in Manzini and Savoia’s terms). When the participle realises an adjectival form, it is embedded under the D linker:

(95)	I    veshur
	msg dressed
	‘Dressed’

(96)	[D  i  ] [Asp  veshur]

For the combination of the participle with the auxiliary jam ‘be’ (in reflexives, middles, unaccusatives, and passives), Manzini and Savoia (2018, p. 278) assume a reduced structure that does not involve the Asp/Event/Voice layer. This is the reason why it is impossible to have a DP external argument. In this case, the external argument surfaces as an oblique. The example the authors use is from the dialect of Shkodër, in Northern Albania:

(97)	a.	Jan      mlu       prej   s           am-s
		be.3pl covered  by    fsg.abl  mother-fsg.abl
		‘They have been covered (by mother)’
	b.	Jan [[VP   mlu DP]    [PP prej s ams]]

In combination with the auxiliary kam ‘have’ (in active perfects), Manzini and Savoia (2007, 2018) maintain the same structure even if active perfects have a nominative subject. The idea of the authors is that kam results from the incorporation of an oblique preposition into jam ‘be’, à la Kayne (2000). The possessor raises out of the participial clause:

(98)	a.	E           kan           mlu
		him.cl have.3pl  covered
		‘They have covered him/her’
	b.	DP kan [[PP  P   DP]    [VP mlu ]]

If we consider the characteristics of the stative contexts in the Arbëresh variety presented here, we can see that there is solid evidence for a verbal structure: statives support adverbs like ankora ‘still’ and sempre ‘always’ and instrumental PPs. Since adverbs and instrumental PPs adjoin to VP, I conclude that Arbëresh statives involve a VP projection, necessary to license these elements. At the same time, the fact that statives do not permit agentive by-phrases is a clear indication that statives lack a VoiceP projection, where the agentive PP generates. Therefore, I assume that the adjectival head, in statives, embeds a VP and not a VoiceP. Furthermore, given that statives contain pre-articulated adjectival forms, their structure must also include a projection hosting the article, a D head.

As for the structure of the Arbëresh stative sentences, I will assume they involve a small clause23 hosting both the DP and the stative adjective, and that the adjectival participle embeds a VP, as is shown by the position of adverbial and PP modifiers.

(100)	a.	Der-a             ish                 e   çar        dje
		door-fsg.def  be.3sg.impf fsg broken yesterday
		‘The door was broken yesterday’
	b.	Ghiter-a         ish                 e  firmarm-e  me laps-in
		letter-fsg.def  be.3sg.impf fsg signed-fsg with pencil-acc.def
		‘The letter was signed with the pencil’

The same structure is assigned to Albanian stative contexts.

Verbal participles, instead, support agentive PPs, as is shown by the following example taken from standard Albanian:

(102)	Hajdut-i          është   arrestuar nga polic-i
	thief-nom.def  be.3sg  arrested  by  policeman-def
	‘The thief was arrested by the police’

These elements clearly involve a VoiceP projection, where the external argument can be merged.

7. Eventive Passives in Albanian, in Arbëresh, and in Italian

As we saw in Section 5, the Arbëresh variety of S. Nicola dell’Alto has two types of participles: (a) verbal uninflected participles that appear in active perfects, in combination with the auxiliary kam ‘have’ (104), or in reflexives (105a), middles (105b), and unaccusatives (105c), in combination with the auxiliary jam ‘be’.

(104)	Maria ka          hapur   der-in
	Mary have.3sg opened door-fsg.acc.def
	‘Mary opened the door’

(105)	a.	Maria        osht  larë
		Mary.nom be.3sg washed
		‘Mary washed’
	b.	Te ai   ristorant  osht  ngron mirë
		at that restaurant be.3sg eaten well
		‘In that restaurant we ate well’
	c.	Der-a                           osht         hapur
		door-nom.def  be.3sg opened
		‘The door opened’

(b) Adjectival pre-articulated participles appear in stative contexts:

(106)	a.	Der-a             osht      vjetur     e   hapur
		door-nom.def be.3sg remained  fsg opened
		‘The door remained opened’
	b.	*Dera osht vjetur hapur

There is another context using adjectival pre-articulated participles: passive sentences. Before moving on to the Arbëresh passives, I will present the strategies with which passive sentences are built up in standard Albanian.

In Albanian, passive sentences are formed with a non-active morphology, which is the same that we find in reflexives, anticausatives, and middles. It can be realised in three different ways:

(1) by means of inflectional affixes attached to the verb, in the present and in the imperfect of the indicative, in subjunctive and conditional moods. This strategy is exemplified in (107), which contains the indicative present and imperfect tenses.

(107)	Vajz-a          la-het                        /lah-ej                          nga motr-a
	girl-nom.def wash-3sg.prs.nact /wash-3sg.impf.nact  by  sister-def
	‘The girl is/was washed by her sister’

(2) by means of the invariable clitic u in the aorist, in the admirative present and perfect tenses, in the optative present tense, in imperatives, gerunds, and infinitives. This second strategy is exemplified by the aorist in (108). When the clitic u is used, the verb has the same person inflection as the active voice.

(108)	Vajz-a             u       la                  nga motr-a
	girl-nom.def  nact wash.3sg.aor by sister-def
	‘The girl was washed by her sister’

(3) with the auxiliary jam ‘be’ followed by the past participle in compound tenses. This strategy is exemplified in (109).

(109)	Vajz-a           është          /ishte          /qe              larë       nga motr-a
	girl-nom.def be.3sg.prs/be.3sg.impf/ be.3sg.aor washed by sister-def
	‘The girl is/was washed by her sister’

What is interesting here is the structure in (109), built up with a simple perfect, i.e., a single instance of the auxiliary jam ‘be’ (in the present, in the imperfect, or in the aorist), combined with a participle that is not inflected. This is shown in the following examples.

(110)	a.	Vajz-a                 është          /ishte          /qe            larë        nga motr-a
		girl-fsg.def.nom be.3sg.prs/be.3sg.impf/be.3sg.aor washed by sister-def
		‘The girl is/was washed by her sister’
	b.	Vajz-a-t                 janë          /ishin          /qenë        larë    nga motr-a
		girl-fpl-def.nom be.3pl.prs/be.3pl.impf/be.3pl.aor washed by sister-def
		‘The girls are/were washed by their sister’
	c.	Djal-i                   është           /ishte           /qe           larë         nga motr-a
		boy-msg.def.nom be.3sg.prs/be.3sg.impf/be.3sg.aor washed by sister-def
		‘The boy is/was washed by his sister’
	d.	Djem-të                 janë          /ishin          /qenë             larë      nga motr-a
		boy.mpl-def.nom  be.3pl.prs/be.3pl.impf/be.3pl.aor washed by sister-def
		‘The boys are/were washed by their sister’

The Arbëresh variety of S. Nicola dell’Alto has maintained the three strategies for the realisation of the non-active morphology: it uses inflectional affixes (111a), the reflexive clitic u24 (111b), and the auxiliary jam ‘be’ + the participle (111c). I exemplify the three strategies with a reflexive construction.

(111)	a.	Maria lah-et
		Mary wash-3sg.prs.nact
		‘Mary washes’
	b.	Maria  u    la-ftë
		Mary   nact wash-3sg.opt
		‘May Mary wash herself’
	c.	Maria osht      larë
		Mary be.3sg.prs washed
		‘Mary washed’

In spite of this morphological similarity, the Arbëresh variety presented here differs from standard Albanian since the non-active morphology, in this dialect, is licit in reflexives (112a), anticausatives (112b), and middles (112c), but not in passives (112d).

(112)	a.	Maria la-het                      /osht   lar
		Mary  wash-3sg.prs.nact/be.3sg washed
		‘Mary washes/washed’
	b.	Der-a    ha-pet                     /osht   hapur
		door-def open-3sg.prs.nact /be.3sg opened
		‘The door opens/opened’
	c.	Te ai  ristorant  ha-het                    /osht  ngron mirë
		in that restaurant eat-3sg.prs.nact /be.3sg eaten well
		‘In that restaurant we ate well’
	d.	*Maria la-het                   /osht  lar      ka joma
		Mary  wash-3sg.prs.nact/be.3sg washed by mother.the
		‘Mary is/was washed by her mother’

As is shown in (112d), Arbëresh passive sentences cannot be constructed with morphological affixes or even with a single form of the auxiliary jam ‘be’ followed by the participle. Notice that in no Arbëresh dialect can the passive be formed with morphological affixes or by means of the invariable clitic u. The majority of dialects form the passive with the auxiliary jam ‘be’ + a participle (Turano 2023). This is shown by the examples in (113) from the variety of S. Demetrio Corone (Calabria):

(113)	a.	*Mesh-a  thu-het        ka Peshk-u
		mass-def say-3sg.prs.nac. by bishop-def
		‘The mass is said by the bishop’
	b.	*Mesh-a  u   tha        ka Peshk-u
		mass-def nact say.3sg.aor by bishop-def
		‘The mass was said by the bishop’
	c.	Tribunal-i qe        ngrëjtur ka popull-i
		court-def  is.3sg.aor built    by people-def
		‘The court was built by the people’

In the Arbëresh variety of S. Nicola dell’Alto, the only way to form passive sentences is by using analytical structures built up with a double compound perfect, containing two auxiliaries: a finite form of the auxiliary kam ‘have’25 + the participle of the auxiliary jam ‘be’ + the participle of the lexical verb. These forms correspond to a pluperfect like has/had been washed.

(114)	a.	Maria ka                /kish          qon  e   lar     ka jom-a
		Mary have.3sg.prs /have.3sg.impf been fsg washed by mother-def
		‘Mary has/had been washed by her mother’
	b.	*Maria osht        /ish         lar     ka jom-a
		Mary  be.3sg.prs/be.3sg.impf washed by mother-def
		‘Mary has/had been washed by her mother’

This passive configuration, which is different from that of standard Albanian, is modelled on the equivalent Italian constructions. In Italian, too, passive sentences are built up with a double compound perfect, containing two auxiliaries: a finite form of the auxiliary essere ‘be’ + the past participle of the auxiliary essere ‘be’ (in an inflected form) + the participle of the lexical verb.

(115)	a.	Maria è       stat-a      lavat-a       dalla     madre
		Mary be.3sg been-fsg washed-fsg by+the mother
		‘Mary has been washed by her mother’
	b.	*Maria è        lavat-a       dalla     madre26
		Mary  be.3sg washed-fsg by+the mother
		‘Mary is washed by her mother’

Another interesting fact that characterises this variety of Arbëresh is the obligatory agreement on the past participle of the lexical verb27.

(116)	a.	Vajz-a        ka                   /kish                qon   e     lar         ka jom-a
		girl-fsg.def have.3sg.prs/have.3sg.impf  been fsg washed by mother-def
		‘The girl is/was washed by her mother’
	b.	Djal-i       ka                     /kish               qon   i      lar            ka jom-a
		boy-msg.def have.3sg.prs/have.3sg.impf been msg washed by mother-def
		‘The boy is/was washed by his mother’
	c.	Vajz-a-t     kanë                /kishin            qon   të    lar-a             ka jom-a
		girl-fpl-def have.3pl.prs/have.3pl.impf  been fpl washed-fpl by mother-def
		‘The girls are/were washed by their mother’
	d.	Djem-të     kanë                /kishin            qon   të    lar           ka jom-a
		boy.mpl-def have.3pl.prs/have.3pl.impf been mpl washed by mother-def
		‘The boys are/were washed by their mother’

Examples in which the participle is uninflected are ruled out.

(117)	a.	*Vajza ka/kish qon lar ka joma
	b.	*Djali ka/kish qon lar ka joma
	c.	*Vajzat kanë/kishin qon lar ka joma
	d.	*Djemtë kanë/kishin qon lar ka joma

A similar characterisation is found in Italian. Agreement between the participle and the subject is obligatory, as shown by the contrast between (118) and (119):

(118)	a.	La  ragazz-a  è        stat-a       lavat-a         dalla madre
		the girl-fsg   be.3sg been-fsg  washed-fsg by+the mother
		‘The girl has been washed by her mother’
	b.	Il ragazz-o   è       stat-o       lavat-o         dalla madre
		the boy-msg be.3sg been-msg washed-msg by+the mother
		‘The boy has been washed by his mother’
	c.	Le ragazz-e  sono  stat-e         lavat-e     dalla   madre
		the girl-fpl  be.3pl  been-fpl washed-fpl by+the mother
		‘The girls have been washed by their mother’
	d.	I ragazz-i   sono    stat-i         lavat-i          dalla   madre
		the boy-mpl be.3pl been-mpl washed-mpl by+the mother
		‘The boys have been washed by their mother’

(119)	a.	*La ragazza è stato lavato dalla madre
	b.	*Le ragazze sono stato lavato dalla madre
	c.	*I ragazzi sono stato lavato dalla madre

Thus, the Arbëresh examples in (116) contrast with the Albanian ones in (110), since the agreement in Arbëresh is obligatory even though the participle has verbal properties, as it is in eventive passive structures. In Arbëresh, both stative and eventive passive participles have the morphology of adjectives. Both statives and eventives contain inflected participles.

A closer look into the properties of Arbëresh participles shows that the main difference between statives and eventives is not only related to the verbal or adjectival nature of the participle. The difference between the two interpretations also depends on the verbal tense that can occur in these constructions: with a simple perfect, the sentences can only be interpreted as statives (120).

(120)	a.	Der-a                      osht          e  çar
		door-fsg.def.nom  be.3sg.prs  fsg broken
		‘The door is broken’
	b.	Der-a                 ish                 e  çar
		door-fsg.def.nom be.3sg.impf fsg broken
		‘The door was broken’

Statives require a single instance of the finite auxiliary jam ‘be’ + an inflected adjectival participle. The uses of a simple perfect in (120) express a present or past state. The present in (a) leads to the interpretation that the state of the door still holds at the moment of the utterance: the door is in a broken state. The past in (120b) means that the state of the door was held at some point in the past but it is probably no longer broken at the moment of speaking.

As statives, the sentences in (120) do not allow for the presence of agentive by-phrases or instrumental PPs.

(121)	a.	*Der-a                  osht            /ish             e     çar        ka Beni/ka er-a
		door-fsg.def.nom be.3sg.prs/be.3sg.impf fsg broken by Ben/by wind-def
		‘The door is/was broken by Ben/by the wind’
	b.	*Der-a                  osht            /ish             e   çar           me martel-in
		door-fsg.def.nom be.3sg.prs/be.3sg.impf  fsg broken with hammer-def.acc
		‘The door is/was broken with the hammer’

Sentences with a compound perfect, instead, are interpreted as passives. As passives, they admit the presence of agentive by-phrases or instrumental PPs.

(122)	a.	Der-a                     ka                 qon  e  çar          ka Beni/ka er-a
		door-fsg.def.nom have.3sg.prs been fsg broken by Ben/by wind-def
		‘The door has been broken by Ben/by the wind’
	b.	Der-a                     ka                 qon   e   çar         me  martel-in
		door-fsg.def.nom have.3sg.prs been  fsg broken with hammer-def.acc
		‘The door has been broken with the hammer’

The examples in (122) imply termination of the action/event. They are instances of resultative reading. They are perfective in a narrow sense.

However, in (122), the eventive passive reading is forced by the presence of the agentive PP in (a) and by the instrumental PP in (b). With other types of modifiers, the double perfect can also be interpreted as stative. This is the case, for example, for an adverbial like a long time.

(123)	Der-a                     ka                  qon  e   çar    për shumë mot
	door-fsg.def.nom have.3sg.prs been fsg broken for much time
	‘The door has been broken for a long time’

The temporal adverbial in (123) triggers a stative interpretation: it means that the state of the door was held at some point in the past, but it no longer holds at the moment of speaking.

Similar facts hold for Italian. The sentence in (124a) can only be interpreted as passive, while the sentence in (124b) has a stative interpretation.

(124)	a.	La porta è        stat-a        rott-a         da Ben/dal vento/col martello
		the door be.3sg been-fsg broken-fsg by Ben/by+the wind/with+the hammer
		‘The door has been broken by Ben/by the wind/with the hammer’
	b.	La porta è         stat-a       rott-a         per molto tempo
		the door be.3sg been-fsg broken-fsg for much  time
		‘The door has been broken for a long time’can

Coming back to Arbëresh, an interesting fact to note is that the class of participles in -m, which cannot be used in active sentences, can also be used in passives, suggesting that a stativizing adjectival head is present in eventive passives:

(125)	a.	Shpi-a                     ka          qon  e   pitarm-e   ka Beni
		house-fsg.def.nom have.3sg been fsg painted-fsg by Ben
		‘The house has been painted by Ben’
	b.	Ghiter-a                  ka          qon   e  firmarm-e ka diretor-i
		letter-fsg.def.nom have.3sg been fsg signed-fsg by director-def
		‘The letter has been signed by the director’

In summary, we have seen that eventives like (122) differ from statives by two points: (a) they allow a by-phase (ka Beni ‘by Ben’) and (b) the DP dera ‘the door’ is merged as the complement of the verb, inside the VP. These two elements, plus the presence of adverbial modifiers like dje ‘yesterday’ and vjet ‘last year’, which refer to the time at which the event occurs, and the presence of instrumental PPs like me martelin ‘with the hammer’, clearly indicate that a verbal component is present in these structures. In addition to a VP layer, eventive passives also contain a VoiceP projection where the by-phrase is merged. Moreover, I assume that in eventive passives, AP is also projected (remember that eventive passives are interpreted as statives once we add a temporal adverbial (cfr. (123)). Therefore, in eventive passives, the AP embeds a VP-shell embedded under a VoiceP projection.

The agreement on the participle can be considered as a Spec-Head agreement activated by the direct object dera, which, moving to the subject position, passes through the specifier of the AP projection. This process is similar to the past participle agreement found in Romance languages (Kayne 1989; Belletti 2017).

In summary, Arbëresh resembles Albanian in having verbal participles in reflexives, anticausatives, and middles but it is different from Albanian in passives, since Arbëresh passives require adjectival participles, like in Italian. In the Arbëresh dialect of S. Nicola dell’Alto, the syntax of passive structures has been remodelled so that it also matches Italian in requiring a double compound perfect.

In addition to that, Arbëresh statives, too, are constructed with structures similar to the Italian type, partially different from the Albanian type. The influence of the dominant language is responsible for this contact-induced change on the Arbëresh linguistic system.