This article is concerned with what are known as inferential constructions, i.e. clauses where the expressions it’s (just) that or it’s not that have gained the function of discourse markers. Similar expressions also exist in Romance. The corresponding construction in Spanish is introduced by es… read more
The object of study of this paper is a Romance construction characterized by the presence of the complementizer in root clauses and by an evidential or epistemic meaning (i.e. C-constructions). In these structures, the complementizer is preceded by a functional element that morphologically… read more
In this paper we investigate the distributional, morphosyntactic, and semantic properties of a particular construction found in Romance, as well as in other languages such as English. This construction involves a class of elements that appear in sentence-initial position and that are followed by… read more
We argue that some word order phenomena in Romanian and Sardinian are the result of a checking operation in the left periphery involving verum focus (i.e., focus on the polarity component of the sentence). In particular, this operation accounts for some word order patterns found in polar questions.… read more
The aim of this paper is to describe the syntax and semantics of Focus Fronting (FF) constructions in a range of Romance languages, including both regional and diachronic varieties, in order to reclassify these constructions on the basis of a common comparative ground. I shall begin with a look at… read more
This paper emphasizes the strong and weak points of the analyses of the Latin perfect and future participles proposed so far. Relying on traditional historical studies, I show that diachronic developments can explain certain grammatical features also in synchronic morphological structure and that… read more