Parameters and the design of the Language Faculty
Northern Italian partial null subjects
Following
Berwick and Chomsky (2011), parameters are degrees of freedom
open at the externalization (EXT) of syntactico-semantic structures (SEM) by sensorimotor systems (PHON) (
Section 1). Within this framework, in
Section 2 I focus on a case study
concerning Northern Italian subject clitics, also raising the well-known question how to reconcile observable microvariation with
the desideratum of a reduced number of (macro)parameters.
Sections 3
reviews recent relevant models of parameterization, the Rethinking Comparative Syntax model (ReCoS,
Biberauer et al. 2014) and the Parameters & Schemata model (
Longobardi 2005,
2017).
Sections 4–
5 return to the case study, taking the reductionist view that
parameters may be just categorial cuts, such as the 1/2P vs 3P split, interacting with externalization and other general
principles of grammar.
Article outline
- 1.From the foundational work of the 80s to evolutionary linguistics
- 2.A case study: Partial null subject in Northern Italian varieties
- 3.Some recent models: The ReCoS project, Longobardi’s Schemata
- 4.Manzini and Savoia’s account of Northern Italian partial null subjects
- 5.Microvariation and macrocategories
- Notes
-
References
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References (59)
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2021.
Resilient Subject Agreement Morpho-Syntax in the Germanic Romance Contact Area.
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► pp. 119 ff.

Manzini, M. Rita & Ludovico Franco
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