Article published in:
Romance Languages and Linguistic Theory 2012: Selected papers from 'Going Romance' Leuven 2012Edited by Karen Lahousse and Stefania Marzo
[Romance Languages and Linguistic Theory 6] 2014
► pp. 199–222
‘Rippled’ low topics
A phonological approach to postfocal topics in Italian
This paper is concerned with low topics in the sentential left periphery. It builds on two main assumptions: (1) postfocal material is right-dislocated (Samek-Lodovici 2006); (2) fronted focus in Italian triggers a phonological process called ‘ripple effect of focus’ (Zubizarreta 2010). First, I will provide experimental evidence in favor of the second assumption and I will claim that a syntactic account of low topics is not tenable. Then, I will show that the free word order exhibited by postfocal constituents and the occurrence of low topics arise as side effects of the ripple effect of focus. This line of investigation argues in favor of a prosodic account of the phenomena at stake.
Published online: 18 December 2014
https://doi.org/10.1075/rllt.6.10tor
https://doi.org/10.1075/rllt.6.10tor
References
Benincá, Paola, and Cecilia Poletto
Bianchi, Valentina
Bocci, Giuliano
Bocci, Giuliano, and Cinzia Avesani
Boersma, Paul, and David Weenink
Cinque, Guglielmo
Costa, João
Cruschina, Silvio
Dalcher Villafaña, Christina
2006 “Consonant Weakening in Florentine Italian. An acoustic study of gradient and variable sound change.” Doctoral Dissertation, Georgetown University.
Ferreira, Fernanda
Frascarelli, Mara
Ghini, Marco
Giannelli, Luciano, and Leonardo M. Savoia
Göbbel, Edward
Gussenhoven, Carlos, and Toni Rietveld
Haegeman, Liliane
Hinterhölzl, Roland, and Diana Pili
Jun, Sun-Ah
Kanerva, Jonni
Kiss, Katalin É
Neeleman, Ad, and Hans van de Koot
Rizzi, Luigi
Ross, John R
1967 “Constraints on variables in syntax.” Ph.D. Dissertation, MIT.
Samek-Lodovici, Vieri
Sandalo, Filomena, and Hubert Truckenbrodt
Selkirk, Elizabeth
Selkrik, Elizabeth
Szendröi, Kriszta
Torregrossa, Jacopo
2012 “Encoding topic, focus and contrast: Informational notions at the interfaces.” Doctoral Dissertation, University of Verona.
Under review. “Postfocal Topics in Italian and Spanish: A Phonological Account.”
Cited by
Cited by 1 other publications
Cruschina, Silvio
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 04 july 2022. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.