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Italian Dialectology at the Interfaces
Edited by Silvio Cruschina, Adam Ledgeway and Eva-Maria Remberger
[Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today 251] 2019
► pp. 155–183

Matrix complementizers in Italo-Romance

| University of Cambridge
| University of Cambridge

Based on uncharted evidence from Italo-Romance, we describe and discuss three types of matrix clauses, i.e. jussives, concessives and optatives, which reveal a certain degree of consistency but also display different patterns of microvariation. We show how such clauses may be introduced by complementizers, whose insertion is strictly dependent on the utterance of speech-act material at the outset of the sentence. The variation in the overt realization of the complementizers and the utterance of initial interjections convey different pragmatic information. We finally interpret the morpho-syntactic behaviour of jussive, concessive and optative matrix clauses through the interplay of three semantico-syntactic variables, i.e. beyond-Force, Mood and Modality.

Keywords: matrix clauses, left periphery, speech act, complementizers, Italo-Romance
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Complementizers in matrix clauses in southern Italian dialects
    • 2.1Jussive clauses
    • 2.2Concessive clauses
    • 2.3Optative clauses
  • 3.Microvariation in matrix clauses
    • 3.1The status of mi and cu
    • 3.2The role of intonation
  • 4. beyond-Force, Mood and Modality
  • 5.Interpreting jussives, concessives and optatives
    • 5.1Jussive clauses
    • 5.2Concessive clauses
    • 5.3Optative clauses
    • 5.4Three variables for a unified interpretation
  • 6.Conclusions
  • Acknowldgement
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 5 February 2019
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/la.251.08col
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