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It's different with you: Contrastive perspectives on address research
Edited by Nicole Baumgarten and Roel Vismans
[Topics in Address Research 5] 2023
► pp. 340–372

Chapter 14
Investigating address in regional varieties of Italian

Contrasting methodologies

| La Trobe University

In the context of great linguistic diversity characterising Italy, the case of singular V pronouns is a prime example of regional variation. Surprisingly, an updated and geographically comprehensive account – after Rohlfs’s study (1968) – is missing. This chapter contrasts the methodologies employed in two relevant studies, namely the LinCi project (Nesi & Poggi Salani 2013), and Bresin (2021). Common methodological issues are: comparability of data from the various research sites, authenticity of data, and generalisability of findings (connected to representativeness of samples). However, geographical comprehensiveness emerges as the most compelling methodological challenge in the Italian context. This chapter outlines the basic characteristics of an ideal methodology that would produce a geographically comprehensive account of address in Italian.

Keywords: methodology, regional variation, Italian, address pronouns, singular V pronouns, voi, Italian dialects
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Methodological background
    • 2.1Comparability of data
    • 2.2Authenticity and other validity considerations
    • 2.3Generalisability
  • 3.Linguistic background
    • 3.1Why regional variation in Italian
    • 3.2Local languages and regional varieties of Italian
    • 3.3Singular address pronouns in Italian and in local languages
    • 3.4Gap in the literature
  • 4.The LinCi project
  • 5.Bresin (2021)
  • 6.Discussion: Contrasting methodologies
    • 6.1Comparability in LinCi and Bresin (2021)
    • 6.2Authenticity, depth, and generalisability in LinCi and Bresin (2021)
    • 6.3Geographical comprehensiveness in LinCi and Bresin (2021)
    • 6.4An ideal methodology
  • 7.Conclusions
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 6 September 2023
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/tar.5.14bre
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