Syntactic Variation and Verb Second: A German dialect in Northern Italy: 201 (Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today) - Hardcover

Cognola, Federica

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 9027255849 ISBN 13: 9789027255846

Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Co, 2013

Synopsis

This monograph investigates the syntax of the finite verb in Mòcheno, a minority language spoken in a German speech island of Northern Italy. Basing her study on detailed new data collected during extensive fieldwork, and focusing on finite verb movement; on multiple access to the left periphery; on pro licensing and on the distribution of OV/VO word orders, the author refutes the traditional view that the syntactic variation found in Mòcheno is due to the presence of two competing grammars as a consequence of contact with Romance varieties and accounts for the peculiarities of Mòcheno syntax within a theory couched in the framework of Generative Grammar. This book contributes to our understanding of the verb-second phenomenon and sheds new light on the asymmetries between Old Romance and Germanic verb-second languages. A useful tool for all linguists working on both theoretical and comparative syntax and to anyone interested in language variation, dialectology and typology.

Edition details

• Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Co
• Publication date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 9027255849
• ISBN 13: 9789027255846
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 337