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15 pages, 2134 KiB

Open AccessArticle

What Can Be Changed Through Contact? Possessive Syntax in Megleno-Romanian and Eolian Compared

by Sara N. Cardullo and Ștefania Costea

Languages 2024, 9(12), 373; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages9120373 - 9 Dec 2024

Viewed by 402

This article explores the order of possessives with respect to nouns in Megleno-Romanian, a branch of Daco-Romance, and Eolian, a variety of southern Italo-Romance. Both are in intense language contact situations, the former with the south Slavonic varieties of Bulgarian and Macedonian, the [...] Read more.

This article explores the order of possessives with respect to nouns in Megleno-Romanian, a branch of Daco-Romance, and Eolian, a variety of southern Italo-Romance. Both are in intense language contact situations, the former with the south Slavonic varieties of Bulgarian and Macedonian, the latter with the southern Italo-Romance variety of Sicilian along with southern regional Italian. In particular, we show that while superficially, both Megleno-Romanian and Eolian copied the patterns found in their respective contact languages, the situation is much more complex. Megleno-Romanian shows high noun movement with kinship terms and low noun movement with common nouns, a situation also found in south Slavonic. In the case of Eolian, younger speakers categorically lack N-to-D movement with kinship terms, reflecting the typical Sicilian pattern. In both cases, this gives rise to prenominal possessives, thus diverging from the most common position of possessives in Eastern Romance, which are generally postnominal in unmarked contexts. Ultimately, these case studies show that the position of possessives is epiphenomenal to the level of noun movement in the varieties under investigation. On this note, deeper structural borrowing concerning the nature of possessives (i.e., whether they have an adjectival or determiner value) did not emerge in our findings and is worthy of further investigation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Formal Studies in Balkan Romance Languages)

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38 pages, 2763 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Balkan Romance and Southern Italo-Romance: Differential Object Marking and Its Variation

by Monica Alexandrina Irimia and Cristina Guardiano

Languages 2024, 9(8), 273; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages9080273 - 14 Aug 2024

Viewed by 844

Abstract

The main goal of this article is to examine in detail an area of the grammar where standard Romanian, a Balkan Sprachbund language of the Romance phylum, and the Romance dialects of Southern Italy (here we used the dialect of Ragusa, in South-East [...] Read more.

The main goal of this article is to examine in detail an area of the grammar where standard Romanian, a Balkan Sprachbund language of the Romance phylum, and the Romance dialects of Southern Italy (here we used the dialect of Ragusa, in South-East Sicily) appear to converge, namely differential object marking (DOM). When needed, additional observations from non-Romance Balkan languages were also taken into account. Romanian and Ragusa use a prepositional strategy for differential marking, in a conjunctive system of semantic specifications, of which one is normally humanness/animacy. However, despite these unifying traits, this paper also focuses on important loci of divergence, some of which have generally been ignored in the previous literature. For example, Ragusa does not easily permit clitic doubling and shows differences in terms of binding possibilities and positions of direct objects, two traits that set it aside from both Romanian and non-Romance Balkan languages; additionally, as opposed to Romanian, its prepositional DOM strategy cannot override humanness/animacy. The comparative perspective we adopt allow us to obtain an in-depth picture of differential marking in the Balkan and Romance languages. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Formal Studies in Balkan Romance Languages)

13 pages, 409 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Mind the Gap! Null Modals (and Other Functional Verbs) in Finite Complementation in Italo-Greek

by Alessandro De Angelis

Languages 2024, 9(7), 249; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages9070249 - 15 Jul 2024

Viewed by 874

Abstract

Although Italo-Greek is characterized by a general retreat of infinitival complementation, it partly preserves the infinitive in restructuring contexts: a handful of functional auxiliaries—in an overt or covert form—allow for infinitival complements, with which they enter in a monoclausal union. Such a preservation [...] Read more.

Although Italo-Greek is characterized by a general retreat of infinitival complementation, it partly preserves the infinitive in restructuring contexts: a handful of functional auxiliaries—in an overt or covert form—allow for infinitival complements, with which they enter in a monoclausal union. Such a preservation also triggers consequences for finite complementation. Indeed, those predicates that still select for infinitival complements may lack finite complementation, resulting in only the lexical embedded verb surfacing instead of the complex sentence AUX + na + finite verb: δen du ékame típote ‘he could not do anything to him’ (lit. ‘he did not do anything to him’). I claim that such an absence—which gives rise to a semantic or even a syntactic gap—depends on the effects of the restructuring rule, which creates a high level of dependency and interlacing between the matrix and embedded verbs. When finite complements gradually replaced infinitival ones, though only sporadically, some predicates stopped selecting for finite complements, ultimately depriving the sentence of modal and other functional specifications. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Formal Studies in Balkan Romance Languages)

19 pages, 439 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Effects of the Slavic–Balkan Contact on Lipovan Daco-Romanian

by Adnana Boioc Apintei

Languages 2024, 9(4), 122; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages9040122 - 29 Mar 2024

Viewed by 1407

Abstract

This paper offers both a descriptive account and an analysis of the possible consequences of linguistic contact between the Daco-Romanian variety spoken by the Lipovan community and Russian (starting from a fieldwork-based corpus study) regarding (low) verb movement in neutral readings, ultimately reflected [...] Read more.

This paper offers both a descriptive account and an analysis of the possible consequences of linguistic contact between the Daco-Romanian variety spoken by the Lipovan community and Russian (starting from a fieldwork-based corpus study) regarding (low) verb movement in neutral readings, ultimately reflected in the preference for [adv-v] word order. The situation identified in Lipovan Daco-Romanian will be compared with that of old and standard Daco-Romanian, Moldovan Daco-Romanian, and Russian. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Formal Studies in Balkan Romance Languages)

27 pages, 447 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Daco-Romanian Definite DPs at the Syntax-Phonology Interface

by Daniela Isac

Languages 2024, 9(3), 67; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages9030067 - 20 Feb 2024

Viewed by 1642

Abstract

In this paper I propose that the host of the definite suffix in Daco-Romanian languages like Modern Romanian, Old Romanian, Megleno-Romanian, Istro-Romanian, and Aromanian (DacRom) is determined at PF, as a consequence of the conditions that apply to the Spell-Out of chains. The [...] Read more.

In this paper I propose that the host of the definite suffix in Daco-Romanian languages like Modern Romanian, Old Romanian, Megleno-Romanian, Istro-Romanian, and Aromanian (DacRom) is determined at PF, as a consequence of the conditions that apply to the Spell-Out of chains. The relevant chains are the result of an Agree relation obtained between the [def] feature of the D head and a matching feature of other heads within the DP, such as N and A. I propose that Agree chains are subject to restrictions that are similar to those affecting movement chains, so no new mechanisms need to be posited in order to account for the overt realization of the suffixal definite article in DacRom. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Formal Studies in Balkan Romance Languages)

10 pages, 350 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Wh-Interrogative Clauses in Istro-Romanian

by Ramona Cătălina Corbeanu and Ionuț Geană

Languages 2024, 9(2), 64; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages9020064 - 17 Feb 2024

Viewed by 1201

Abstract

This paper focuses on the syntax of interrogative clauses in Istro-Romanian. The aim is to determine the parametric settings for V-to-C, subject placement (SVO or VSO) and the target for constituent movement under discourse triggers. The findings indicate that Istro-Romanian preserved the parametric [...] Read more.

This paper focuses on the syntax of interrogative clauses in Istro-Romanian. The aim is to determine the parametric settings for V-to-C, subject placement (SVO or VSO) and the target for constituent movement under discourse triggers. The findings indicate that Istro-Romanian preserved the parametric settings from Old Romanian, especially those that converged with the parametric settings in Croatian grammar. In particular, SVO can be explained only through inheritance, whereas VSO, lack of V-to-C and scrambling are a matter of both inheritance and convergence with Croatian. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Formal Studies in Balkan Romance Languages)

36 pages, 957 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Explorations in Aromanian Morpho-Syntax: NPs, Prepositional Contexts and Infinitives

by Leonardo Maria Savoia and Benedetta Baldi

Languages 2024, 9(2), 46; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages9020046 - 29 Jan 2024

Viewed by 1491

Abstract

The main topic of this article is the relationship between morphosyntactic contexts and nominal inflections in Aromanian varieties of southern Albania. These varieties have a specialized inflection in the plural definite and feminine singular nouns, associated with genitive, dative, and prepositional contexts, where [...] Read more.

The main topic of this article is the relationship between morphosyntactic contexts and nominal inflections in Aromanian varieties of southern Albania. These varieties have a specialized inflection in the plural definite and feminine singular nouns, associated with genitive, dative, and prepositional contexts, where it is preceded by a Possessive Introducer. We present a detailed picture of the microvariation that characterizes the different systems. The broad syncretism that emerges suggests a rethinking of the syntactic status of inflections and the notion of Case. Our approach assumes that morphology is based on Merge within the syntactic computation and that sub-word elements are provided with interpretable content. This theoretical model will also guide us in the study of prepositions and their distribution. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Formal Studies in Balkan Romance Languages)

40 pages, 1051 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Exploring Microvariation in Verb-Movement Parameters within Daco-Romanian and across Daco-Romance

by Ștefania Costea and Adam Ledgeway

Languages 2024, 9(1), 19; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages9010019 - 8 Jan 2024

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1812

Abstract

This article reviews some of the principal patterns of morphosyntactic variation within Daco-Romanian and across Daco-Romance in support of a distinction between low vs high V-movement grammars variously distributed in accordance with diatopic variation (Daco-Romance: west vs east, Aromanian: north vs south), diachronic [...] Read more.

This article reviews some of the principal patterns of morphosyntactic variation within Daco-Romanian and across Daco-Romance in support of a distinction between low vs high V-movement grammars variously distributed in accordance with diatopic variation (Daco-Romance: west vs east, Aromanian: north vs south), diachronic and diagenerational variation (Megleno-Romanian) and endogenous vs exogenous factors (Istro-Romanian). This approach, which builds on the insights of the Borer–Chomsky conjecture, assumes that the locus of parametric variation lies in the lexicon and the (PF-)lexicalization of specific formal feature values of individual functional projections, in our case the clausal heads T and v and the broad cartographic areas that they can be taken to represent. In this way, our analysis locates the relevant dimensions of (micro)variation among different Daco-Romance varieties in properties of T and v. In particular, we show that the feature values of these two heads are not set in isolation, inasmuch as parameters form an interrelated network of implicational relationships: the given value of a particular parameter entails the concomitant activation of associated lower-order parametric choices, whose potential surface effects may consequently become entirely predictable, or indeed render other parameters entirely irrelevant. In this way we can derive properties such as verb–adverb order, auxiliary selection, retention vs loss of the preterite, the availability of a dedicated preverbal subject position, the distribution of DOM, and the different stages of Jespersen’s Cycle across Daco-Romance quite transparently, based on the relevant strength of T and v in individual sub-branches and sub-dialects. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Formal Studies in Balkan Romance Languages)

31 pages, 1751 KiB

Open AccessArticle

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

by Giuseppina Turano

Languages 2024, 9(1), 3; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages9010003 - 19 Dec 2023

Viewed by 1703

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. [...] Read more.

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. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Formal Studies in Balkan Romance Languages)

20 pages, 4610 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Subjunctives in Romanian Languages: Micro-Parametric Variation in Complement CPs and the Periphrastic Future

by Gabriela Alboiu and Virginia Hill

Languages 2023, 8(4), 267; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages8040267 - 14 Nov 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1523

Abstract

This paper aims to (i) establish the micro-parametric variation in the development of the subjunctive CP in Romanian languages (Daco-Romanian/DR; Aromanian/AR; Megleno-Romanian/MR; Istro-Romanian/IR) and (ii) account for derivations in which the subjunctive is integrated into the formation of the periphrastic future in these [...] Read more.

This paper aims to (i) establish the micro-parametric variation in the development of the subjunctive CP in Romanian languages (Daco-Romanian/DR; Aromanian/AR; Megleno-Romanian/MR; Istro-Romanian/IR) and (ii) account for derivations in which the subjunctive is integrated into the formation of the periphrastic future in these languages. Briefly, the analysis points out that the subjunctive CP in Romanian languages can display a split Fin (unlike in other Balkan languages) and that the remerging of the split Fin finds itself at different stages: complete in DR, but incomplete at different degrees in AR, MR, and IR. The compatibility of the subjunctive morphology with the derivation of the periphrastic future follows from the semantic bleaching and grammaticization of the volitional ‘will’ and ‘have’ verbs, together with the Balkan Sprachbund subjunctive mood marking, which combine in a monoclausal construction via a serial verb derivation to compositionally check a Fin marked [+finite, modal]. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Formal Studies in Balkan Romance Languages)

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